Aggies beat Colorado State on Senior Night
The last game of the Aggies’ regular season was a win at home against Colorado State, 70-59, on a Monday.
A Monday.
Yet the USU women’s basketball team was not lacking in fans for the game, many students showing up at 7:00 p.m. on a Monday in the middle of their semester because the contest also marked the last home game ever for seniors Rachel Brewster and Deja Mason.
“It’s bitter sweet,” Brewster said. “I’m super excited for what I have ahead of me, but I’m definitely going to miss Logan.”
USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner singled out the players’ commitment to the USU program and the resulting paradigm shift of staying and playing the full four-years which occured because of their loyalty. “Those two girls with my tenure here at Utah State will always be a special pair to me because of that,” he said.
And, on a Monday, the fans showed up for the two four-year Aggies who are wrapping up careers which placed them in the record books, Brewster as the fourth leading scorer in Aggie history with 1275 points and counting and Mason as the all-time school leader in blocks with 179 with perhaps more to come in postseason play.
“I don’t think they realize how much we notice it,” Brewster said of the crowd, “it was really, really cool to have all those people here tonight.”
The pair’s last game in the Spectrum ended with a win, but the outcome was in doubt for much of the first half.
After falling behind early in the game to a barrage of CSU three’s, USU clawed their way back into the contest, and two consecutive steals and subsequent fast break layups from guard Olivia West incited the crowd and propelled the Aggies to a nine-point run in the middle of the second period.
“I want our fans to know that they have impact on wins and losses,” said USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner.
The quarter ended favoring the Aggies, 34-31, after a buzzer beater launched from near half court by guard Eliza West dropped in.
The Aggies never trailed again and had built a 15-point lead, 53-38, heading into the final period.
The closest the Rams came to bridging the gap in the fourth quarter was 12-points with 2:39 remaining and 11 at the end, losing the game, 70-59.
“When we get a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, don’t stop,” Finkbeiner said, “cut the head off, so to speak, and finish the game.”
A career high 29 points for junior forward Shannon Dufficy, who has now broken the record for most double-doubles in a season, along with Eliza West, who had eight assists and is now only three away from becoming the all-time leader in the statistic in school history, led the Aggies to victory.
“Winning is contagious,” Mason said, “the energy and the feeling of winning is also contagious, and that’s what we have now.”
USU hopes so, as have now won four straight heading into the Mountain West tournament which begins March 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.