The Aggies couldn’t climb the Mountaineers
This evening at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum the Utah State Aggies clashed against the Western Colorado Mountaineers in a 51-49 loss for the Aggies that came down to a game-winning three.
The Aggies started Ivory Finley, Cheyenne Stubbs, Macy Smith, Skye Miller and Tiairra Hill-Brown.
The Mountaineers started Ivey Schmidt, Alyssa Eckroth, Jayda Maves, Rachel Coclman and Brooklyn Seymour.
The Aggies won the tip-off and took control early as Stubbs scored a deep three-point shot to open up the scoring.
The Western Colorado defense was strong as the Aggies turned the ball over leading to the Mountaineers capitalizing on two buckets.
The Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run to finish out the opening quarter with a lead of 10-13 over the Aggies.
The Mountaineers came into the second quarter playing aggressive defense as Seymour scored a breakaway from a steal, extending their lead to 15-10.
With 6:22 left to play in the first, Stubbs scored a three-pointer to spark some crucial offense.
Tañedo added a three-pointer of her own at the 1:32 mark to break a two-minute scoring drought for the Aggies.
The half ended with a scoreline of 26-18 in favor of the Mountaineers. The Aggies shot 21% from the field, and 24% from three. The Mountaineers were perfect from the free throw line compared to the Aggies 50 percent.
USU’s Smith opened the third quarter with a quick three-pointer to bring the crowd into the game.
The Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run extending their lead to 29-21.
Aggies coach Kayla Ard called a timeout and made adjustments that saw a taller group take the court.
Miller broke the Mountaineer scoring run with a layup.
USU began playing a high-pressure double-team defense that made the Mountaineers turn the ball over a total of three times before forcing Mountaineers coach Adam Jacobson to call his own time out.
Miller capitalized on a breakaway chance but was fouled on her way to the rim. Miller converted both free throws, sparking a 6-0 run.
Miller wasn’t finished yet as she came up with a crucial block that prevented the mountaineers from scoring a layup.
The Aggies cut the score deficit to 39-37 as the horn sounded ending the third quarter.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Finley leveled the scoreline with a jump shot.
Stubbs continued her heat check as she scored a layup at the 6:32 mark to give the Aggies the lead for the first time since the first quarter. Stubbs would end the night with 16 leading her team.
Smith extended the lead for USU with a solo drive through the Mountaineer defense. This forced Jacobson to use another timeout.
Hill-Brown scored a hard bucket in the paint and drew a foul. She converted the free throw extending the Aggies lead to 49-43.
The Mountaineers converted two free throws after a foul on the Hill-Brown.
Rachel Cockman scored a three-pointer to pull the Mountaineers back within one point with 45 seconds left.
Mountaineer Jayda Naves scored a three-pointer with only three seconds left. This would be the game-winner as Stubbs could not convert a layup at the end of regulation.
“Our kids were playing hard,” Ard said. “We need to be locked in from the jump.”
Ard added that the team needs to put together a full 40 minutes in order to be successful and that she believes they can.
The Aggies will be back in action against the UNLV Rebels, on Saturday, Dec. 30.