USU women basketball wins big at home
Behind a career-high 22 points from sophomore Brittany Tressler, the Utah State women’s basketball team defeated the Pacific Tigers 67-48 in the Spectrum Thursday night.
“She’s just lighting it up,” freshman Taylor Richards said of Tressler’s performance. “I know when I get her the ball in that corner it’s in every time. I just can count on that.”
Fourteen steals by the Aggies with another 11 turnovers from the Tigers, propelled the Ags to their biggest conference win so far this season.
With the win, the Ags improve to 7-6 on the season and 2-2 in conference play.
After a tough week of practices with the players adjusting to being back in school and trying to balance that with basketball, head coach Raegan Pebley said she was not confident going into the game.
“It was nice to see us play that way,” Pebley said. “We’ve had some pretty bad practices this week. After today’s practice I was a lot more confident going into the game. I was really proud of how they played tonight.”
The team’s performance at both ends of the court was sparked by Richards’ several steals in the first four minutes of play.
For the rest of the first 10 minutes, the Ags kept up an aggressive defense that forced several turnovers by Pacific.
“I think it started with Taylor,” Tressler said of Richards’ play. “At the beginning she was so aggressive and that helps us out so much.”
However, the Tigers were able to post 20 points in the last 10 minutes of the first half and brought the game to within nine at the buzzer.
“We had Taylor and Camille [Brox] in foul trouble,” Pebley said of the comeback posted by Pacific. “Those two did so much to help our defense. When we didn’t have them in, [Pacific] started scoring. At least we held on to a lead.”
“Usually we let teams back in the game because it’s almost like we’re surprised that we’re so far ahead [and so we keep] playing to not get behind,” Richards said. “So we came out aggressive and strong. We kept going at them instead of playing at their level.”
In the beginning of the second half, it looked like Pacific would be able to stay in the game after two layups by junior Tina Sanerivi, who finished the game with 19 points, to bring the game to within six.
But the Ags fought back came out strong on both offense and defense for the rest of the half.
“We’re proud of how we did in the second half,” Pebley said. “We didn’t let them back into it, we stayed pretty steady.”
The Ags ended the game with 14 steals while shooting 42.9 percent from the field. Richards and Ali Aird each added 11 points for the Ags while Tressler led the team in rebounds with seven.
“Anyone can beat anyone in this conference, so it’s nice that we can get those at home,” Pebley said.
Sanerivi led the way for the Tigers with her 19 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore Tanya Green was the only other player for Pacific in double digits for the night, adding 10 points for their offense.
The Aggies will next face CS Northridge Saturday night at home. Last season, two of Utah State’s five wins were against Northridge. However, the Ags will not be facing the same team they did last year.
Currently, Northridge is one of the top teams in the conference and will be difficult for the Aggies to beat.
“They’re the hottest team in our conference,” Pebley said. “Just like we’ve improved, Northridge has improved. We can’t assume that this is the same team that we saw last year.”
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu