USU women’s hoops tops CSU

The women’s basketball team upset conference No. 1 seed Colorado State Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies were ranked seventh in the conference before the face-off with the Rams.

Head coach Jerry Finkbeiner called it the “best win in five years” from his young team.

Freshmen Olivia West and Eliza West contributed to the win tonight with 13 and 16 points, respectively.

“For us to get that win, it’s really an upset, that’s what we wanted,” Eliza said.

The performance from Olivia West was slightly more unexpected, as she has only recently gained more playing time.

“Coming into the game, coach told me I would be coming in pretty early and he told me I needed to shoot,” Olivia said. “I’ve been working on my shot so I was being confident and luckily I hit the shots.”

Freshman Shannon Dufficy also played a big role in the Aggies’ win with 17 rebounds — her personal best.

“Some games we’ve played and relied on one player or a couple players to shoot, but I think tonight everyone stepped up,” Dufficy said. “It shows what we’ve got to give in this conference.”

Utah State will head to Laramie to face the Wyoming Cowgirls Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cowgirls are currently No. 2 in the conference and USU will be looking to extend its winning streak to five.

“Coming off three wins already, I feel like we’re really in the moment,” Eliza said. “We knew that if we just stuck to what we know best, we can take down any team and we just proved it tonight.”

— paige.cav@hotmail.com