Aggies down Aztecs in thriller
The Utah State women’s basketball team led from opening tip to final buzzer Wednesday, beating conference opponent San Diego State 79-69 and snapping a four-game losing skid. The Aggies improve to a 5-9 conference record while the Aztecs drop to 6-7.
Senior Jennifer Schlott led all scorers with 33 points on 9-of-19 shooting and did it all on an upset stomach.
“She played a little bit sick tonight. We brought a bucket over at the first timeout,” said head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. “She still put together two good halves.”
Schlott added seven assists and two steals in a solid effort. She now owns the Mountain West record for points scored in league play.
USU struck first with a Makenlee Williams 3-pointer. Williams scored the Aggies’ first eight points and led all scorers at halftime with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-8 from distance.
“Mak had the best first half of her career here at Utah State,” Finkbeiner said. “She did all the little things right and set herself up to half a really good first half.”
USU’s scored 27 points off of 21 Aztec turnovers for the game, a credit to the Aggies’ aggressive defense. Elise Nelson, who finished the game with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, provided the Aggies with several key hustle plays throughout the game.
“Elise’s stat line won’t get anybody’s attention, but she had as much to do with this win as Schlott did over 40 minutes,” Coach Finkbeiner said. “She’s always the fiber of our team.”
Less than three minutes into the second half, Aztec guard Ariell Bostick was carried off the court and into the locker room with an injured left knee. Bostick did not return.
SDSU regrouped after the injury and made a strong push to pull within six points of the Aggies, the smallest margin of the second half, but back-to-back baskets by Franny Vaaulu silenced the Aztec run.
USU takes on the Fresno State Bulldogs and former head coach Reagan Pebley at 3 p.m. Saturday in California.
– logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @Logantj