Cougars tame women’s basketball team in Provo
Despite having four players score in double digits, the Utah State women’s basketball team’s comeback effort fell just short Tuesday night. The Aggies traveled to Provo to take on in-state rival BYU in a closely contested game. The Cougars came away victorious 81-77.
“Our goal this pre-conference season is to get better every game out and we have been in gradual slopes in the positive direction,” said USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. “I challenged our girls this last week we have to change that positive slope into a sharper incline where we get better and better quicker and quicker.”
USU is now four games below .500 with a 2-6 record while BYU is sitting even at 4-4 on the season.
The Aggies had a balanced offensive attack with four players scoring 15 or more points. Senior’s Devyn Christensen and Jenna Johnson combined for 36 points, junior Jennifer Schlott had 16 points and freshman Mackenlee Williams chipped in with 15 points.
The Cougars got strong contributions from guards Haley Steed and Kim Parker Beeston. Steed finished the game with 22 points and 12 assists while Beeston had 14 points, five assists and four rebounds.
“Williams blew that freshman tag off of her tonight,” Finkbeiner said. “If she replicates this in the games to come, we have a pretty good player right there. Mack became a Division I player tonight.”
It was a much better shooting game for the Aggies as they converted on 48 percent of their shots and were 43 percent from beyond the arc. USU continued its strong defensive play, forcing 18 turnovers.
“We have a goal in two weeks to stop learning and to start performing at a consistent level in which we are happy with,” Finkbeiner said. “We are getting real close to that. Our game plan is coming together and our team is coming together.”
The Aggies haven’t beaten the Cougars since Dec. 7, 1978 and BYU holds a 31-3 record against USU.
“I could tell that our girls had a deep respect for what happens here, but at the same time I know there was a lot of emotion and the girls wanted to win bad tonight,” Finkbeiner said. “I reminded them we hadn’t beat Brigham Young since 1978. I was still in college.”
USU came out strong to start the game and held the lead for nine minutes before the Cougars came storming back. A lay-up by Schlott got things started for the Aggies. Following a BYU turnover, Williams hit a 3-pointer to give USU an early 5-0 advantage.
The Aggies pushed the lead to 11-5 with 15 minutes remaining in the half after a jumper by Christensen. BYU kept chipping away at the lead and eventually gained it 15-13 with 11 minutes left.
In the final 10 minutes, the teams traded baskets and were even tied four times before halftime. With just under six minutes remaining and the game tied at 26-26, the Cougars took control of the game and pushed the lead to 11 with 59 seconds left.
A trey from freshman Stephanie Bairstow before the halftime buzzer cut the BYU lead to 39-31 and keeping the Aggies in striking distance of regaining the lead.
Williams led all USU players at the break with 10 points. Christensen and Schlott each chipped in with seven points. The Cougars were paced by Steed and Beeston with nine and eight points respectively.
As the second half began, it looked as though BYU was poising itself to go on a major run and blow the game wide open. The Cougars opened up a 46-34 lead after a 3-pointer by Beeston.
USU chipped into the lead, cutting it to single digits on multiple occasions. A 3-point shot by Kylie Maeda pushed the lead back to 13, but the Aggies would rally.
Led by their senior leaders in Christensen and Johnson, USU pulled within one point on two occasions. The first was at the 8:25 mark when Christensen tipped the ball in to make it 60-59. BYU scored on the next possession, but Johnson came right back and hit a pair of free-throws to cut the margin to one with seven minutes to play.
“Devyn and Jenna will get the credit but Schlott and Vaaulu created a lot of things off the dribble out in front,” Finkbeiner said. “Devyn, Jenna and Franny are our big three and they have to show up every game, and they did a good job tonight.”
Johnson’s free-throws were as close as USU got as BYU held on to make free-throws down the stretch and seal the victory.
“I don’t moral victories,” Finkbeiner said. “It wasn’t a moral victory, but it was a game in which our Aggies played hard and really played well for about 32 minutes of the 40. We just couldn’t finish.”
The Aggies will now turn their attention to Saturday when they take their road trip to South Bend, Ind. to take on Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are ranked No. 5 in the nation are the national runners-up from last year’s NCAA Women’s Tournament. The Irish lost to Baylor 80-61.
Notre Dame is 5-1 on the season and are winning by a margin of 26 points per game. They have defeated two nationally ranked teams in Ohio State and UCLA.
The Fighting Irish took on No. 3 Baylor on Wednesday night in a rematch of last year’s final. The Bears handed Notre Dame its first loss of the season 73-61.
The Irish have a balanced offensive attack with four players averaging 12 or more points per game.
The game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. local time tip-off.
– jborba@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @jborba15