Aird named top Aggie
Utah Statesman: Does winning this award again give you any momentum going into Friday’s game against Idaho?
Ali Aird: Honestly, not really. I think it is cool. I would really like to see our team go as far as possible, and I think we haven’t reached our potential yet.
US: What is your biggest motivating factor?
AA: Rivalry, because Idaho talks a lot of crap about us. They think that we’re worth nothing. That is a lot of motivation to go out there and beat them.
US: Which comes more naturally to you, scoring or rebounding?
AA: The rebounding is more natural. It is just instinct to box out and go after the ball.
US: How much would a Big West Tournament bid mean to your team, especially because of how the season started, and this being the first women’s team at Utah State in 17 years?
AA: That would mean so much to us. I think it would be really awesome if we went there in our first year. The whole media thing about it being our first year and us being able to go to conference would just make the whole year even better. I think we’ll realize how big the tournament is there, and how anyone can beat anyone. If we go there being a young team, we’ll realize what level we’re playing on.
US: Now it is nearing the end of the season, what are some of your fondest memories of this year?
AA: I think one of the greatest games was against Cal Poly that we won with like 0.2 seconds left when Christina [Zdenek] hit that [three-pointer]. One of my other favorite games was the Long Beach game at Long Beach. Everyone worked together on defense. It was really cool to see our defense click like that. It was the first time all season that it happened for the whole 40 minutes.
US: What are some things that you and your teammates are going to have to do to improve next year?
AA: We’re working a lot better as a team, and our defense can always be improved. Our consistency is a bit off right now. Always keeping people out of the middle, containing penetration and the post always fronting.
US: How much is having this first year under your belts going to help you in the coming seasons?
AA: It will help out a lot, because we know what other people can play like. It will help us know what we can achieve. It might make us work harder in the off season as well.
US: What are you going to do when the season ends and you won’t have practices or games taking up your time?
AA: Get a job and work. Be a normal person. You can get away from basketball. It will be weird to have lots of free time.
US: After a season like this, if you don’t get a spot in the Big West Tournament, will this season be a success?
AA: Yeah, it totally will. But we still have the opportunity to end the season good. We can still play a good game against Idaho and still finish off strong. Maybe we haven’t done the best we wanted to, but I think it is a success. We have bonded as a team for sure. Everyone can tell that we are all really good friends and we get along really well. I think that is an important thing, too.
US: How does it feel to be a major part of building a team that didn’t even exist last year?
AA: It is really fun. I like being a part of it in the first year.
US: Is there one facet of your game that you’re going to work on and improve for next year?
AA: For sure. I don’t know if you noticed, but at the beginning of the year, I was really proud of being a good free-throw shooter and having a high free-throw percentage because I’ve never done that. I was so proud of that more than anything else, then I completely lost it and now I’m at 60 percent. So I really want to work on that and be a consistent free-throw shooter.
-kcaustin@cc.usu.edu