Aggie women win on the islands
Junior guard Devyn Christensen scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Utah State women’s basketball team to its fourth-straight win Saturday 69-55 over Hawaii.
“Devyn is always intense and focused,” said head coach Raegan Pebley. “She is very competitive. It helps us get victories.”
Christensen had a fast start, scoring the first 15 points for USU in the first seven minutes of play. The Wahine struggled on offense as the Aggie defense held the Wahine to 31.3 percent shooting in the first half.
Utah State used an 8-3 run to push its lead to double digits and Christensen capped the stretch on a layup for a 23-13 lead with 10 minutes left in the half. The Caldwell, Idaho, native outscored Hawaii for the first 13 minutes of the game.
Utah State led 32-25 when senior forward Ashlee Brown scored six straight points to finish the half, and the Aggies led 38-25 going into the break.
The Wahine hit 2 of 10 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes and 3 of 10 free throws. The Aggies — ranked No. 2 in the WAC in free-throw percentage — hit 7 of 9 free throws in the first half and were 5 of 13 from 3-point range.
Pebley said the team has continued to get better since the start of conference play.
“I am proud of how our team has improved,” Pebley said. “They are committing themselves defensively, improving in rebounding, and our bench was great tonight.
The lead grew in the second half as the Aggies defense held Hawaii’s top scorer Kamilah Jackson to two points in 35 minutes of play. Breanna Arbuckle led the Wahine with 19 points in the game, but was the only player to reach double figures for Hawaii.
Christensen hit a 3-pointer, with 10 minutes to play, to give USU its largest lead of the game at 60-41. Hawaii answered with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 11 but got no closer the rest of the way.
Four players scored at least 11 points for USU, including senior guard Brooke Jackson, who finished with 16 points, eight in each half. Brown and senior forward Maddy Plunkett each added 11.
Utah State finished 50 percent from behind the 3-point line, including 4 of 5 in the second half, and 40.7 percent from the field.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 15-6 and 6-1 in WAC play. The Wahine dropped to 8-14 this season and 3-4 in the WAC.
“We took care of the ball,” Pebley said. “There was ball security, there was a good understanding of clock management. We were able to utilize clock while playing aggressive.”
Utah State returns to the Spectrum on Feb. 9 against Louisiana Tech. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu