USU women’s basketball beats Boise St. 58-56
The Utah State University Aggies women’s basketball team won 58-56 on the back of a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback against the Boise State Broncos on Saturday afternoon. The win brought the Aggies’ season record to 7-17 and their Mountain West Conference record to 2-11.
Dominant first quarter for Aggies
The two teams battled in the first quarter and the Broncos took a quick 6-2 lead, but sophomore guard Steph Gorman was fouled on a three-point shot and sank all three foul shots. The Aggies traded baskets with the Broncos, but the their willingness to shoot from three began to open up the paint, making the Aggies hard to stop. The quarter ended with the Aggies up 15-12, with Gorman accounting for nine of the 15 points.
Aggies own the 2nd quarter
Despite Boise State scoring the first three points, the second quarter belonged to the Aggies who went on a 12-0 run. During the run, they scored from deep and both Gorman and senior guard Lindsey Jensen-Baker made three-point shots. Senior forward Hailey Bassett and freshman guard Faith Brantley also scored from inside. The Broncos would make a three before the second quarter ended, but the Aggies won the quarter 13-7 and the half 28-19. For the Broncos, their 19 points were the second-lowest the team had scored in a half during this season.
Broncos bounce back
Despite carrying a lead into the third quarter, the Aggies experienced a reversal of fortune. The Broncos never took their foot off the petal and erased the Aggie lead, while building a lead of their own. In the quarter, the Aggies were outscored 21-8, and the Broncos took a 40-36 lead into the fourth.
During fourth, it looked as though the Broncos would pull away and hand the Aggies their 12th loss in conference play. With three minutes left, the Broncos held an 11 point lead with the score at 54-43.
But then lightning struck.
Turnovers prove costly
With 2:56 remaining, junior guard Emmie Harris was fouled on a three-point shot. Not content with the three points, Harris stole the ball on the next play and made an and-one-layup on the fast break. After making the free throw, the Bronco lead was cut to five points.
The Broncos came down the court on the following possession and missed an ill-advised three-point shot. The resulting rebound was grabbed by the Aggies and senior forward Marlene Aniambossou made a jump shot on the other end, cutting the lead to a three-point 54-51 point lead for the Broncos. Another miss by the Broncos, another rebound by the Aggies and put the ball in their hands with 1:17 left on the clock.
Down to the wire
On the offensive side, the Aggies put the ball in Gorman’s hands, who hit a big three-point shot to tie the game at 54. Then, the Broncos called a timeout to think of a strategy and try to cool the white-hot Aggies. Out of the timeout, the Broncos attempted to give themselves the lead on a three-point shot, but missed and the rebound was grabbed by Basset.
They advanced the ball into half-court and ran clock. A quick cut and a darting pass allowed Aniambossou to make what appeared to be the game-winning layup with two seconds left on the clock. The Broncos however, weren’t ready to give up quite yet.
They called a time out and advance the ball to their side of the court, and passed the ball into the paint and made a layup to tie the game up at 56-56. The score only took 0.6 seconds off the clock, allowing the Aggies to call a timeout of their own and advance the ball into the front court.
Late-game heroics by Aniambossou
Bassett was set as the inbounder in front of the scorer’s table and struggled to get the ball in, four seconds into the five-second count, she found Aniambossou in with her back to the basket on the right-side baseline. The ball was passed, and two Broncos came to defend, Aniambossou turned, put up the shot, which went through the net as the buzzer sounded and Aniambossou was mobbed by cheering teammates.
Final score: 58-56, Aggies with the victory.
The game was won not only on a buzzer-beater, but also on the great play of the Aggies throughout the game. Gorman lead the team with 20 points, and Aniambossou and Bassett both found themselves in double figures with 11 and 10 respectively. The three-point shot also played a big role, and the team continued the pattern of wins only coming in games with 15 or more three-point attempts.
Looking ahead
Next up, the Aggies have a two-game home stand, with games against Colorado State (Feb. 12) and Fresno State (Feb. 15).