Just out of reach: Utah State women lose second-straight game to Fresno St.

Utah State women’s basketball lost its second-straight game on Saturday falling 67-61 to Fresno State at home.

“It put us in a hole being down 19 early in the second quarter against the second best team in the conference,” said USU coach Jerry Finkbeiner. “We have a really talented starting five but we’re having issues starting halves.”

A poor first quarter left the Aggies doubled up by the Bulldogs 28-14. Fresno St. connected on 5 of 7 attempts from behind the 3-point arc in the quarter and shot 61 percent from the floor to build up the lead.

“Getting off to a really rough start is mainly what put the game away,” said sophomore guard Funda Nakkasoglu. “We had good second and third quarters. It was just those slumps throughout the game that really put us back.”

Brittany Aikens and Alex Furr led the charge for the Bulldogs. They both hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter and Furr also tallied six assists. The Aggies leading scorers after one had only four points, both Deja Mason and Katie Toole.

By the half, USU had trimmed the FS lead down to eight.

Utah State continued to rely on its defense for a second half comeback. With just under two minutes to play, USU cut the deficit to two, 59-61, after a Tijana Djukic layup. Fresno St. matched the layup with one of its own to give them a four point lead and the Aggies then went cold at the wrong time.

“The focus of the other players getting defensive stops at the right times brought us back into the game,” Nakkasoglu said. “I think those also lacked in the last two minutes. Those were also what let the game get away from us in the end.”

Utah State didn’t score again until Lindsey Jensen connected on a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left. FS hit the majority of its free throws down the stretch of the game and came away with a six-point win, despite being outscored or tied in all the quarters except the first.

The Aggies are now 11-14 on the season and 6-8 in the Mountain West. USU has just four more regular season games before the MW tournament begins on Mar. 7. Fresno State is 12-2 in the MW and 16-9 overall, the two teams will meet again for the regular season finale on Mar. 4 in Fresno.

USU’s next game will be on Wednesday at home against Nevada, it tips off at 7 p.m.

– kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com

Twitter: @kalen_taylor