Utah State women’s basketball falls to Wyoming
The Utah State Aggies women’s basketball team fell to the Wyoming Cowgirls 64-45 on Wednesday night. The loss dropped the team to 7-20 on the season and 2-14 in Mountain West play. Now in last place in the Mountain West Conference, the Aggies sit three games behind Air Force with only two games remaining in the season.
Disappointing first half
The Cowgirls ran the show early on in the first quarter, opening the game on a 10-0 run, leaving the Aggies scrambling. It wasn’t until the 5:32 mark in the first that the Aggies scored on a free throw by senior forward Marlene Aniambossou. The Cowgirls quickly scored again, but the dam had burst and the Aggies scored six unanswered points to end the quarter, cutting the Cowgirls lead to 13-7.
Unable to score, the Aggies continued to fall behind and were outscored 15-6 in the second quarter. It was an especially troublesome quarter for the Aggies, as they did not make a field goal in the entirety of the quarter. The team took 12 shots, missing all 12, and didn’t put up a single three-pointer. The six points the team put up all came from free throws and ended the half trailing 28-13.
Aggies showing signs of life
The third quarter was much more competitive than the previous two; the Aggies started the scoring when senior forward Hailey Bassett was sent to the foul line, making one of her two foul shots. While the Aggies were unable to gain an advantage in the quarter, they traded baskets -scoring 18 points to the Cowgirls 19.
Having discovered that, if they continued to only shoot from inside, they would most likely not score for the rest of the game they expanded their range. After taking seven of their 11 shots from behind the arc, the team made three. Junior guard Emmie Harris made two of the 3-pointers, while sophomore Steph Gorman made one. The added spacing allowed them to make three of their five shots from inside, but the scoring did not allow them to pull any closer and the Aggies trailed 47-31.
Wyoming holds on to win
The fourth quarter was more contested as well, but the Aggies regressed offensively, scoring only 14 points to the Cowgirls 17. Despite their success from behind the line in the third quarter, the Aggies shied away from the arc in the third quarter, taking four three-point shots and making only one.
Overall, the Aggies shot 27 percent from the field overall and 30 percent from behind the line. Aniambossou led the Aggies, in scoring, with 13 points and Bassett was right behind her with 10.
Looking ahead
From here on out, the Aggies will be playing for pride, as they are stuck in last place in the Mountain West Conference with two games left this season. Their next game is on Feb. 24, when the team faces San Jose State.