Free throws give Ag women home win
Women’s basketball brought their record to 1-1 Friday night with a win over the Idaho State University Bengals.
With 2.9 seconds left in the second half, and a tied score, junior guard Taylor Richards stepped up to the free-throw line. Bringing home the win, 85-83, Richards concluded the game with a career high of 26 field goals.
“There definitely was some pressure,” Richards said in a post-game radio interview. “I knew I had to come out aggressive, and I just had to keep shooting no matter what.”
Junior forward Jamelah Brown put up 18 points for the team, along with sophomore forward Lindsey Freeze’s 17 points. Senior guard Brittany Phillips helped out with her 14 points and career-high six rebounds.
By halftime, the Aggies had a lead of 41-33. The second half push by ISU left USU trailing 55-51 with 14:25 to play in the game. Refusing to give in to defeat, they rallied to get the game back in their favor. The score went to 81-77 in favor of the Aggies as the final minute of the game approached, Richards was then fouled with 25.8 seconds remaining.
“It was a great team effort,” Head Coach Raegan Pebley said in a radio interview, “and we needed a team effort to beat Idaho State – they’re good.”
Junior point guard Danyelle Snelgro was taken out of the game due to injury, not being able to move laterally, turning corners for lay-ups or plant for a pull-up, Pebley said.
ISU concluded the game with a 60.8 field goal percentage, shooting 67.9 percent in the second half alone. Free throw percentage was 72.2, compared to USU’s 93.3 percent from the line. Junior center Natalie Doma concluded the game with a career-high 33 points.
The Aggies have broken a seven-game losing streak in season competition, which has followed the team since last season. No matter the outcome of a game, the team will continue to look to the future, not bothered by past losing stigmas. Positivity during the game, especially when the other team gets a scoring run, is the main focus.
“We’re going to play to win,” Pebley said, ” and we’re going to keep trying to do that in order to help shed that identity from last year.”
USU will host the 2-0 Weber State University Wildcats on Tuesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum at 7 p.m. Weber opened with a 64-67 exhibition loss to the Utah Pride, followed by a 86-54 win over Fort Lewis College. Regular season play continued as they defeated Northwest Nazarene 90-75 and Northern Iowa 69-58.
Following their game against Weber State, the Aggies will have five games on the road, starting in Moraga, Calif., with Saint Mary’s College. They will return to the Spectrum on Dec. 20 when they face off against the University of Portland.