Fourth quarter Air Force surge extends Aggie losing streak
The Utah State University women’s basketball team lost its fourth straight game on Wednesday night, this one 62-45 to the Air Force Falcons. In what had been a closely-contested game until the fourth quarter, the Aggies eventually succumbed to tired legs. The loss dropped Utah State’s overall record to 5-11 on the season and 0-5 in Mountain West-play.
The opening quarter began with an 8-0 run by the Falcons in the first four minutes. It looked as though the Aggies were initially overwhelmed by the Falcons’ perimeter movement, and they did not contest open corner-threes. That was not the case, as the run was stopped with a block by senior forward Hailey Bassett and a hustle-rebound by freshman guard Faith Brantley. The Aggies battled back to within two with a 6-0 run of their own. From then on, the Aggies and Falcons went back and forth on the scoresheet. The quarter ended with the Aggies down by three, 16-13.
The second quarter began at a frantic pace, with the Aggies committing a turnover, a foul and missing two threes in the first minute alone. Despite their struggles, the Falcons did not fare much better, turning the ball over and missing a layup. But it was the Aggies who were the first team to score on a three by senior forward Lindsey Jensen-Baker.
However, Utah State began to give up ground to the Falcons and a third foul by Jensen-Baker at the 4:22 mark of the quarter prompted interim head coach Ben Finkbeiner to sub her out, placing the majority of the responsibility to score on Bassett. Bassett was up to the challenge and, in the final three minutes, she dominated the Falcons.
On the offensive end, she scored six points — four came from quick post moves and two were scored on a highly contested free-throw-line jump shot. On the defensive end, she smothered the Falcons inside. She sent back two shots, one right before the buzzer thus preserving the tie. The blocks brought her in-game total to three, and to within seven of 100 career blocks, a milestone she is well aware of.
After the game, Basset stated “I definitely see the numbers… I’d much rather win a basketball game, but I mean it’s pretty cool. That’s my goal — to reach 100.”
At the end of the half, the score was tied 26-26 and the momentum was in the Aggies’ favor due to end-of-quarter heroics by Bassett, which gave her a team-high 13 points. The persistent hustle of senior forward Marlene Aniambossou who, despite playing just eight minutes in the half, scored eight points, grabbed three rebounds, drew two charges and accrued a team-high plus-minus of nine.
The Aggies and Falcons went back and forth in the third quarter, trading baskets up until the six-minute mark, when Air Force took a slight edge. Losing Jensen-Baker to foul trouble, once again, at the nine-minute mark seemed to shift the focus of the Aggies to clamping down on the defensive end. The team exerted much effort and hustled on the defensive end, exemplified best by Aniambossou running down the court to defend a fast break, all while holding her recently fallen off shoe above her head with five minutes left. The Aggies held the Falcons to 12 points, but were unable to get much going themselves, scoring just nine in the quarter.
In the fourth, the Aggies looked tired and the Falcons began pulling away; it seemed as though the Aggies had just run out of steam.
Finkbeiner was quick to give out the same sentiments.
“It’s reached the point where it’s just disappointing that it’s not [lasting] all game long.”
Taking advantage of the apparent sputtering out, the Falcons scored 24 in the quarter and the Aggies looked powerless to stop them. They allowed easy floaters off drives into a wide-open interior and committed errors and turned over the ball frequently. This allowed Air Force to grab easy points on the fast break and the quarter ended with the Falcons out-scoring the Aggies 24-10.
The Aggies did look good for three quarters but were unable to play well enough to allow for their poor fourth quarter. Part of their struggles may have been due to a lack of three-point shooting, as the team knocked down just two of their 14 attempts. However, the most glaring issue was their tiring out in the fourth quarter, ultimately leading to the Aggies losing 62-45.
Twitter: @Crooked_sports