Lady Ags suffer second straight loss
Falling to 3-4 in Western Athletic Conference play and 7-12 overall, Aggie women’s basketball suffered its second loss in a row to the University of Hawaii, 62-57.
Junior guard Taylor Richards once again led in scoring, making 3-of-3 key 3-point shots, including one just prior to the halftime buzzer from deep behind the line. Richards totaled 13 points for the game as one of two Aggie players to put up double figures, the other being senior forward Brittany Phillips with 11.
Going into the locker room with a halftime score of 25-22 for Hawaii, the Aggies appeared to be in good shape to find the lead after the break. For Richards, the 3-pointer at the tail end of the first might have given her cause to celebrate, but then the second half began.
“I thought it was going to be a good feeling,” Richards said, “but as soon as we came out, we had a few reps, it looked like we were flat again. It’s something we’re working on. You can’t put two halves together, and so now that we’re starting put halves together a little bit, we can’t start ’em. So we’re just trying to find our rhythm.”
Hawaii kept their offensive groove throughout the game with driving force Tanya Smith, who led her team with 24 points. Hawaii also boasted two other players in double figures, senior forward Pam Tambini with 10 and the 3-pointer powerhouse Megan Tinnin who was 4-for-6 from the 3-point line, giving her 17 points total.
The Rainbow Wahine gave up a few shots to the Aggie defense but managed to stay on top, pulling ahead every time USU attempted to fight back. The gap usually held at 10 points, with the Aggies back-building to within four and then losing their momentum to pull ahead.
“Our defense really helps us create some scoring,” Head Coach Raegan Pebley said. “It’s just really tough to hit shots when you’re missing inside ones. It’s tough to hit your perimeter shots, because that stuff starts to creep into your head.”
“You’ve just got to play through it all,” Richards said. “When you go in, you know that you’ve got to do your part and, you know, produce while you’re in there.”
Next up for the lady Aggies is San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 3. This starts off a three-game away schedule for USU. The team returns to the Spectrum on Feb. 15 to host Nevada.
-eawads@cc.usu.edu