Time to start the season
Taking the night by storm, the women’s basketball team celebrated victory in a 74-58 exhibition win against Dixie State College in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Friday night.
Junior center Lydia Whitehead helped the lead scoring 12 points in a quarter against the rivals, while setting a fast for her home team with six rebounds and two assists in the first 14 minutes of the game. Keeping up to pace, senior guard Ana Pares and sophomore forward Amber White scored 12 points, with Alice Coddington at 11 points.
“The team is really uniting. Our girls have been working hard on our offense. We started off strong and ended strong. With more practice we should be ready for our away games. All in all it was a good game,” Whitehead said.
Dixie tried to keep pace with the Aggies with a three-pointer by Shanae Vaifanua before the Aggies dallied in with 11 straight points. USU extended the lead to 18 at 23-5 on a layup by Whitehead before the team hit the locker room. Dixie closed the half with a 16-8 run still lagging behind the Aggies.
Before intermission, Pares and Whitehead both had 10 points for Utah State. Overall, the Aggies shot 35.5 percent from the field (11-31), 33.3 percent from the three-point range (2-6) and 63.6 percent from the free throw line (7-11).
Dixie followed by 20 percent in the first-half (5-25), and made only 3-of-12 three pointers, 8-of-10 free throws tying to take the Aggies lead. Dixie State scored the first five points of the second-half to get within five at 31-26 before Utah State went on a 9-2 run to increase its lead to 12 at 40-28. USU’s largest lead of the game came with 8:22 remaining on a layup by White to make the score 58-36. The Rebels cut the deficit to 14 with less than a minute to play before freshman center Banna Diop scored the final two of her nine points on a 16-foot jumper from the top of the key to make the final 16 points.
“Our newcomers all bring very specific and unique traits to our program. Chelsea Burns stretches out the defense with her three-point shooting ability, while Banna Diop adds size to our improving inside game. Zana Williams brings creavity, ball handling and the ability to score, and Stacey Howard’s versatility and defensive presence are great assets and additions,” said head coach ReaganPebley.
Utah State finished the game by shooting 38.7 percent from the field (24-62), 36.4 percent from three-point range (4-11), and 75.9 percent from the free throw line (22-29), while Dixie State shot 30.2 percent from the field (16-53), 23.8 percent from three-point range (5-21) and 72.4 percent from the free throw line (21-29). Utah State also out-rebounded Dixie State, 45-36. The Aggies also had 13 assists, 19 turnovers, four blocks and 11 steals, while the Rebels had 10 assists, 21 steals, four blocks and 11 steals.
The Aggies now gear up for their season opener Friday, Nov. 14, in the Spectrum against Portland.
–c.child@aggiemail.usu.edu