USU women’s basketball recap: Week 12

Last week, the Utah State University women’s basketball team faced off against the Wyoming Cowgirls and San Diego State Aztecs. The Aggies were unable to win in either game, leaving their record at 6-16 on the season and 1-10 in conference play. 

In their game against the Cowgirls, the Aggies struggled to score. They put up just 53 points to Wyoming’s 65; nor were the Aggies able to really gain a foothold in the game. Wyoming ended the first quarter with a 19-14 lead, the second 11-9, the two teams tied the third 14-14 and Wyoming won 65-54 in the end. Two Utah State players scored in double figures: senior guard Lindsey Jensen-Baker — who had 15 points — and senior forward Marlene Aniambossou who scored 10. No Aggie grabbed more than four rebounds in the game.

.@lindsey11jensen starting off the third quarter with a triple!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/XqRLuhe9TE

— USU Women's Hoops (@USUWBasketball) January 30, 2020

In their game against the Aztecs, the Aggies had similar issues on the offensive end, scoring just 51 points. Unlike their matchup against the Cowgirls, Utah State was unable to keep it close with its California opponent. The Aggies trailed after the first quarter 18-14 but tightened their defense in the second, allowing them to outscore the Aztecs 9-6. 

However, Utah State was unable to carry its defense into the second half and was outscored 21-13 in the third quarter. Nonetheless, the Aggies regained a small amount of ground in the fourth, scoring 15 to the Aztecs’ 14. In the game, both senior forwards Hailey Basset and senior Marlene Aniambossou scored 15 points. Sophomore forward Taylor Franson led the team in rebounds with seven on the night. 

A common theme in the Aggies’ two losses, as previously mentioned, was the team’s inability to score. This may have been due, in part, the team’s refusal to shoot the three. Over the course of both games, the Aggies took just eight and five shots from behind the arc respectively. Over the course of the season, Utah State has been hesitant to shoot from deep in general, averaging just five attempts per game.

Despite the low attempts, they shot a reasonable 38% from three over the past two games. In the five games prior, the Aggies had less than 15 attempts from the three-point line. It appears as though opposing defenses are beginning to effectively defend against the Aggies’ dedication to scoring inside; so not only are the Aggies not scoring from behind the arc, they’re not scoring inside either. When the team shoots less than 15 three-point attempts in a game their average point total decreases by four, down to 53 points as opposed to their season average of 57. It remains to be seen if Utah State will adjust its gameplan to compensate for opposing defenses, but for now, the team continues to be led by its veteran forwards.   

Twitter: @Crooked_sports