Aggies go 2-0 on Texas road trip

After dropping five-consecutive games, the Utah State women’s basketball teams bounced back in Texas this week with two wins on the road. USU posted a 62-56 win over UTSA Wednesday, and on Saturday, a 57-41 victory over North Texas.

Shannon Dufficy led the way with another double-double in USU’s win over UTSA, scoring 17 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Her work on the glass was especially impactful, and helped the Aggies score 23 second chance points and 40 points in the paint, 14 more than the Roadrunners.

Dufficy has been a force in the paint all year, and this was her fourth double-double on the season.

The Aggies jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Roadrunners battled back and outscored USU 13-8 in the second to make it a one-possession game, 25-23 going into halftime.

A huge third quarter by the Aggies, however, put them up by nine heading into the final period, and a solid fourth kept them in the lead to win the game 62-56, snapping their losing streak.

In their second game of the week, Utah State benefitted from yet another impactful performance from Hailey Bassett-Meacham. She scored 15 points in 21 minutes on an efficient 6-10 shooting.

In fact, the entire Aggie team shot the ball well, going 23-48 from the floor and shooting 50 percent from three. This, coupled with a stifling defensive effort which limited North Texas to shooting under 30 percent from the field, led to one of USU’s most complete efforts of the season.

Once again, the Aggies started strong in the first quarter but surrendered the lead late in the second, but a 9-1 run to end the first half put USU up 27-20.

A strong first half was followed by an even more impressive second half, as Utah State outscored the Mean Green 17-10 in the third and 13-11 in the fourth for a final of 57-41. The Aggies are now 4-5 on the season.

Utah State will look to extend their winning streak at home on Saturday at 2 p.m. against in-state rival Utah Valley University.