USU women’s basketball returns with high expectations
The Utah State women’s basketball team will kick off its 2011-2012 season with an exhibition game Friday, Nov. 4, hosting to Western New Mexico at 7 p.m..
Last season USU finished with an 18-15 record on the year, while going 10-6 in Western Athletic Conference play. The team also beat Arizona in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, before falling to in-state rival Brigham Young University in the second round.
Head coach Raegan Pebley earned WAC Coach of the Year honors in her eighth season as head coach and holds an 89-145 at Utah State.
The Aggies were led by junior forward Ashlee Brown, who started 26 games for Utah State and averaged a team-high 15.2 points per game, last season. Brown also led the team in rebounds with 8.4 per game.
Brown is back in the starting lineup for USU and was selected WAC Preseason Player of the Year by conference coaches.
Two of seven coaches also selected Utah State to finish first in the conference, while Louisiana Tech received five first-place votes and Fresno State was awarded the final first-place vote.
Utah State returns three starters from last season in Brown, junior center Banna Diop and junior guard Jenna Johnson. Entering their seventh season in the WAC, the Aggies return 10 players, including three of their top scorers.
Brown was last season’s WAC Newcomer of the Year and is one of four seniors on this year’s squad. Coming to Logan from University of California-Santa Barbara, the 6-foot forward led USU in scoring 13 times, including a 26-point performance in an overtime victory at Northern Arizona. She also scored 20 or more points nine times during the year.
Junior guard Devyn Christensen was second on the team in points per game, averaging 12.1, and set a Utah State single-season record in free-throw percentage, hitting 86.1 percent.
Christensen finished sixth in the conference for 3-point percentage last season, with 35.4 percent, and will provide USU with an outside threat.
Diop, a junior center from Senegal, averaged 9.5 points in 33 starts for Utah State and was second on the team for rebounds with 5.9 per game. The 6-foot-6, two-year veteran was also named to the 2010 Academic All-WAC team.
Senior guard Brooke Jackson transferred to Utah State from the University of Arizona and is in her first year as an Aggie. Originally from Mesa, Arizona, Jackson started her collegiate career at Mesa Community College before becoming a Wildcat. Jackson had a season-high 17 points against New Mexico and is averaging 7.6 points per game for her collegiate career.
Junior Guard Jenna Johnson started 33 games last season and averaged 6.6 points per game and 3.1 rebounds. Johnson, a native of Wasilla, Alaska, finished the season ranked second on the team in free-throw percentage, hitting 83.3 percent of her free-throws — second only to Christensen.
The Aggies set a school record last season with 10 wins in WAC Play, which included a 6-2 record at home, the two losses coming against Louisiana Tech and Fresno State.
USU was the only WAC team to win a postseason game last year, as Louisiana Tech and Fresno State each fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu