Turnovers spell doom for Aggie women’s basketball
In four minutes of play, the Utah State women’s basketball team had four points and four turnovers.
The rest of the first half didn’t get much better for the Aggies as they turned the ball over 10 more times in the first 20 minutes of the Aggies’ 52-63 loss to the Cal State Northridge Matadors Thursday night in California.
It was the first time the Aggies have lost to CSUN. Before Thursday, Utah State had led the series against the Matadors 3-0. Northridge extended its winning streak to six games while Utah State lost its second game in a row.
The Ags jumped out to an early lead, but the Matadors took control of the game only moments later. Utah State led one more time at 9-8, but a 14-4 run put the Matadors up by nine and kept them there.
The half ended with Utah State down by eight, 30-22.
Taylor Richards was the most productive player for the Ags in the first half with six turnovers and seven points. She finished the game with a double-double – 12 points and 12 turnovers.
The second half started out almost exactly like the first. Utah State scored the first basket, but CSUN was able to build upon its lead.
For the first couple minutes of the second half, it seemed like the Aggies were going to be able to stay in the game. But for 10 minutes in the middle of the half, Utah State all but sat back and watched as Northridge ran away with the game.
Once again, USU had trouble controlling the ball. It tallied up 13 more turnovers during the second half and finished the game with 26.
The Aggies were undermanned for much of the second half. Two players, Ali Aird and Kahlie Quinones, had to leave the game because they were bleeding after fouls. Camille Brox also spent several minutes on the bench with four fouls, one a technical, halfway through the second half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kahlie Quinones sparked an offensive spurt for the Ags in the final three minutes of play that brought USU to within 11.
Baskets from Christina Zdenek brought the Ags to within eight with less than one minute left. But the CSUN lead was too much for the Aggies to overcome as time ran out. Zdenek finished the game with 12 points.
Ofa Tulikihihifo led the way for the Matadors with 19 points, nine from behind the arc. LaJoyce King was the only other Matador in double digits with 14 points.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu