USU women’s basketball earns home win against Dixie State
The Utah State Aggies’ women’s basketball team took on the Dixie State Trailblazers on Monday night and were able to come away with a 61-to-49 victory at home. The win pushed the Aggies to 3-4 on the season, the win also ended a four-game road trip and a two-game losing skid.
The Aggies started the first quarter with a 15-to-2 run, in which all five of the Aggie starters were able to score at least once, with redshirt-sophomore forward Taylor Franson scoring on two easy layups. However, despite the solid play to begin the quarter, the Aggies would allow the Trailblazers to make a 15-to-5 run of their own, and would end the quarter up only 20-to-17.
The Trailblazers would ride the momentum from the end of the first and go on a 14-to-6 run to begin the second quarter. Sophomore guard Steph Gorman put a stop to the bleeding, scoring eight unanswered points over two minutes, giving the Aggies the lead once again. Before the quarter ended, the Trailblazers made a three and the Aggies got a layup, and the teams ended the half tied 36-36.
The Aggies came out of the half with renewed confidence and put up seven unanswered points on the Trailblazers to start the quarter, prompting a timeout. Coming out of the timeout with a more competitive spirit, the Trailblazers would pull within one point at 44-43 but they were unable to fully recover from the Aggies’ run and would not tie the score or take the lead over the remainder of the game. The Aggies would pull away, winning the quarter 14-9 and ended the quarter with a 50-45 point lead.
The fourth quarter seemed like a formality for the Aggies; they would dominate in the quarter holding the Trailblazers to a mere four points. The play of Senior forward Hailey Basset stood out in the fourth quarter, as she scored six of the teams 11 points.
On the night, three players scored in double digits with Steph Gorman scoring a team-high 16, Hailey Basset scoring 15 and senior guard Lindsey Jensen-Baker scoring 11.
The Aggies also had several career highs on the night. Jensen-Baker had a career-high 11 rebounds along with her 11 points, her first double-double of her career. Basset had five blocks that beat out her previous high of four. In her first start of the season — the second of her career — Franson tied her career-high in minutes at 17; she also set 5 new career highs in points (6), field-goals made (3), field-goals attempted (6), rebounds (6), and steals (2).
As a team, the Aggies shot 36-percent from the field, 38.9-percent from three, and 75-percent from the free-throw line. They also out-rebounded the Trailblazers 46-30, the largest margin of the season.
In all, the Aggies were able to take down the Trailblazers through the excellent play of their starters and some solid help from the bench.
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