Aggies topple top team in MWC, Boise State
Winning team! Losing Team! Winning team! Losing team!
The chants rained down in the Spectrum on Saturday, with USU students pointing in unison from the Aggie bench to Boise State’s and then back again. It’s easy to feel good when your team is about to beat the number one ranked squad in their conference, which is just what the Utah State women’s basketball team did on Saturday, picking up a win against Boise State, 81-68.
“One of the coolest moments was hearing some of our student body say, ‘loser team, winner team’” USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. “Winning’s fun.”
Handing Boise State their fourth loss of the season, and just the second in MW play, was a total team effort from Utah State.
The Aggies had four players score in double-digits, and senior guard Rachel Brewster and junior forward Shannon Dufficy both tied their career highs in points, Brewster with 22 and Dufficy with 26.
“Rachel Brewster had an amazing first half, and Shannon Dufficy had an amazing second half,” Finkbeiner said, “and we had two really good complements to them, Steph Gorman and Olivia West.”
The opening half and especially the first quarter belonged to Brewster. She had their first six points and 10 of their first 12. The period was also a good one for USU, as they shot 10-16 from the field. The period ended with the Aggies up, 24-14.
“It started off really well,” Brewster said of her night, “and (I) just had a lot of confidence for the rest of the game.
The Broncos went on a run to start the second quarter, and a pair of free throws by BSU’s Marta Hermida early in the period tied the game at 24. From there, the remainder of the quarter, as well as much of the game, was a battle. The quarter ended with with a two-point USU advantage.
Before the Broncos were forced to intentionally foul in the final minutes of the game, the two teams were waging war throughout the second half. Two Steph Gorman threes late in the fourth, however, put the Aggies up by eight points with 2:09 left in the game, and USU made their free throws down the stretch to win, 81-68.
“Up to this point in time, we can beat anybody on a given night, the problem is we can also lose to anyone on a given night,” Finkbeiner said.
The Aggies hope this game provides a spark for them as they travel to play San Diego State on Wednesday and with the MW tournament looming.