USU womens’ basketball squad finishes season with a pair of home games
After racing past Idaho on Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the USU women’s basketball team continues its home stand Thursday against Hawaii. The Aggies host the Wahine in their second-to-last game of the season.
When the two teams met in Hawaii Feb. 4, junior guard Devyn Christensen tallied 25 points — 17 in the first half — as the Aggies topped the Wahine 69-55. Senior guard Brooke Jackson added 16 points, as USU picked up its first win in Hawaii in four years.
Christensen leads the Western Athletic Conference in scoring with an average of 20.5 points per game, as well as 3-pointers per game with 2.7 makes from beyond the arc per game. Christensen is also ranked No. 2 in the WAC in 3-point field-goal percentage at 44.4 percent and free-throw percentage at 93.9 percent.
In the previous meeting, the Utah State defense held Kamilah Jackson to two points on 1-of-8 field-goal shooting. Jackson scores an average of 11.3 points per game for the Wahine, which is good for 12th best in the WAC.
The Aggies enter the game against Hawaii seeking their second-straight win after a loss to Fresno State on Feb. 18. USU holds an 18-8 record overall this season and sits three games behind Fresno at 9-3 in the WAC.
Utah State is ranked No. 1 in the conference in free-throw percentage at 75.9 percent, field-goal percentage at 46.4 percent, and 3-point field-goal percentage at 41.5 percent. The Aggies average 74.8 points per game, which is second best in the WAC behind Fresno State.
Hawaii is coming off of a 72-68 win against Nevada in which the Wahine erased a 7-point deficit in the final 12 minutes on Senior Night. The Wahine are 11-16 overall and 6-6 in conference play.
Utah State has been out-rebounded by an average of 2.4 rebounds per game this season, and Hawaii ranks No. 1 in the WAC in rebounds per game with 42.4. The Wahine have out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 4.3 per game, and they lead the WAC in defensive rebounds with 28.8 per game.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu