Lady Aggies get second chance against Broncos
Lady Aggie basketball and its 3-2 conference record invade WAC first-place Boise State University tonight at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.
A 30-year wait for their 5-0 record brings the Broncos to new territory. For their WAC season opener, Boise State defeated the Aggies 80-70 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Four Broncos went into double digits in the game, including sophomore guard Jessica Thompson, the recently named WAC Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 15, who posted a huge 24 points.
The Broncos’ most recent victory came on Jan. 20 in Honolulu, Hawai’i, where they beat the Rainbow Wahine 62-53. This win was the first for the Broncos in Hawai’i and brought the team to their best season beginning since their 10-0 1977-78 season in the Northwest Women’s Basketball League. A win over Louisiana Tech University, 68-47, helped seal their WAC winning streak.
“They’re turning heads across the country,” USU Head Coach Raegan Pebley said in a post-game radio interview after beating San Jose State Jan. 20. “Upsetting La Tech at La Tech is nothing that you can really just say was a fluke. You really have to come in and play well to do that, and they did that, and they beat them badly. And they’ve continued to play well.”
This will be the first repeat opponent game for USU after facing the Broncos on home turf to open the season. Marking the 100th game since the regrouping of the women’s basketball program for the 2003-04 season, this match-up will also be the 100th game for senior forward Brittany Hagen.
USU remains on top of free throw percentage in the WAC with a composite .711 for the entire team. Junior guard Taylor Richards is in sixth place in assists and 14th for her scoring in the WAC standings.
An Aggie win over San Jose State University moved the team to 7-10 overall. Their only loss in the last four games has been to the Lady Techsters of Louisiana Tech University, 69-54.
“I thought the team played well at La Tech, with the exception of rebounding,” Pebley said. “We played well enough to win that game, and if we can do that in a very hostile environment like La Tech, we should be able to do it in Boise.”
Play against the Broncos has left the series at 10-2 in favor of BSU. The last time the Aggies won was in 1978 with an annihilating score of 100-71. Taco Bell Arena has offered little mercy to the Aggies as they have only won one game at BSU on Dec. 20, 1975.
“We need to, kind of, have a new recommitment,” Pebley said. “We’ve won three games. Is that good enough? Or are you going to recommit yourself to getting better? Now we’re going to do a second round. You’re playing against the best team in our conference. You’re going to have to work that much harder.”
-eawads@cc.usu.edu