Aggie women lose clash with Titans
No matter how the game starts for Utah State’s women’s basketball team, nearly every game is decided in the last 10 minutes, as was the case against Cal State Fullerton as the women fell 68-69 at the Spectrum last night.
Once again, in what has become a standard for their games, the Aggie women posted an amazing comeback in the last three minutes of the game. With just 3:36 left to play in the game and down by eight, the Aggies went on a 10-0 run. A layup by Ali Aird, with an assist from Virginia Jennings, gave USU a 66-64 lead, the first in the game for the Aggies, with just 50 seconds left.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, the lead didn’t last for very long, as the Titan’s Meghann Keathley took the ball down and hit a three with just 31 seconds left on the clock. Brittany Tressler regained the lead for the Aggies with just nine seconds left, but the Titans gave the ball to their leading scorer, Tamara Quinn, who took the ball all the way to the basket and won the game with a heartbreaking layup.
“We’re getting sick of comebacks,” Tressler said. “We can’t always count on last-minute shots and good comebacks all the time.”
Utah State Head Coach Raegan Pebley thought along the same lines.
“We always have comebacks,” she said. “It was defense that hurt us from the beginning to the very last possession. We were just flat on defense.”
The defense was painful. The Aggies had trouble not knowing where the shooters were as well as staying with the ball.
Every time CSF shot the ball from the three-point line they were wide open and had virtually all day to shoot. The Titans were 10-of-17 from the three-point line, with four of those coming in from CSF senior Jamie Wagner.
“Go look at our bulletin board in the locker room,” Pebley said. “All it says by her name is three-pointer.”
Wagner hung around the perimeter all night, shooting only from behind the arc, and making 4-of-5 three-pointers for 12 points. Coming into the game, Wagner was only averaging 2.1 points. The only shot that Wagner missed all night came with less than a minute left and allowed the Aggies their comeback.
“That is why she was recruited here by the former coach, she can shoot,” said Cal State Fullerton Head Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah. “But she has had trouble because she is not real quick.”
Another strong force from behind the arc was Keathley, who made 3-of-7 three-pointers and put 17 points up on the board.
The Aggies did manage to keep Fullerton’s leading scorer, Quinn, from getting a lot of shots, allowing her only nine points.
USU had a strong night on offense, despite the loss. Aird had 18 points and 13 rebounds, pulling her third-straight double-double. She was a strong force in the second half, making two key free throws with less than two minutes left to bring the Aggies within two, for the first time since the 10-minute mark in the first half.
Christina Zdenek made her presence known and managed to tally 12 points for the team, with eight of those coming in the second half.
Tressler and Hagen showed strong support off the bench, scoring seven and nine points, respectively. Tressler was key in the last two minutes, making two free throws to tie the game at 64, then scoring a layup to give the Aggies a 68-67 lead, their last one of the game.
“This is a real credit to Utah State, too,” Jeremiah said. “They have done a real nice job with their team. They are well-coached and they play hard. A one-point game proves that. I think we are pretty evenly matched.”
The crowd of 586 at the game at times sounded as loud as a crowd at a USU men’s basketball game. Almost.
“[The crowd] was so awesome and I hate it that we lost,” Jennings said. “That’s the kind of arena that you dream about playing in. They were just awesome.”
The Aggies’ next game is against UC Riverside on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Spectrum.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu
Aggie Christina Zdenek tries to drive on Fullerton guard India Mcdaniel. Utah State was down by seven at the half, but fell by one to the Titans at the Spectrum Thursday. (Photo by John Zsiray)