Utah State women’s basketball falls to UNLV

The Utah State University women’s basketball team lost in convincing fashion against the University of Nevada Las Vegas Lady Rebels on Wednesday, 69-45. The loss was the Aggies’ fourth-straight loss and dropped the team’s Mountain West record to 1-11, placing them in last place below the 2-8 Air Force Falcons.

The scoring in the first quarter was started by the Lady Rebels, who scored four-straight points. The Aggies eventually got on the board with 7:49 left in the first, on a layup by junior guard Emmie Harris.

However, the team did not score again until 3:58 left in the quarter. In the first six minutes of the game, the Lady Rebels went on a 13-2 run. After the run, the Aggies matched the UNLV point-for-point, bringing the score to 17-8 at the end of the quarter.

Any hope that the Aggies would come back in the second quarter was quickly extinguished as the UNLV jumped out on a 9-5 run in the first half of the second quarter. This would have been a manageable deficit for the quarter, had it not been for the fact that they allowed an 11-1 run in the final five minutes of the quarter.

There were several reasons for the Aggies’ inability to keep up in the second quarter, the foremost being the struggle to defend on the three-point line, allowing four threes. However, senior guard Lindsey Jensen-Baker did make the Aggies’ first three of the game halfway through the quarter. The Aggies went into the half trailing UNLV 39-14.

The Aggies came into the second half with a competitive spirit, as sophomore guard/forward Taylor Fransen opened the scoring early. Fransen converted on a fastbreak layup only 17 seconds into the game after the Aggies forced a turnover.

This sparked a fire under the team and Aggies went on an 11-2 run over a four-minute period. During the run, sophomore guard Steph Gorman made the team’s second, and final, three of the game.

After the run, the Lady Rebels regained their footing and scored five points before the quarter ended. Despite outscoring UNLV 17-11, the Aggies entered the final quarter trailing by 19. 

Leading 50-31, the Lady Rebels came into the fourth quarter looking to protect their lead and scored the first five points of the quarter; however, the Aggies responded by going on a 10-2 run. Unfortunately for the Aggies, the run was too little too late, and UNLV pushed back. The fourth quarter was won by the Lady Rebels, 19-14, and the home team won the game 69-45.

The play of senior forward Marlene Aniambossou was the silver lining in the Aggies’ loss. She ended the game leading the team in points and rebounds, with 14 and seven respectively. Jensen-Baker also had a good night scoring, recording 10 points.

Aside from Aniambossou and Jensen-Baker, the Aggies had struggles scoring, with only two players scoring more than six points. As a team, the Aggies only shot nine threes, continuing a trend of shying away from the three-point line and trying to force it in the paint.

While the team has great talent inside, the current system doesn’t seem to be working.  

Looking ahead

On Feb. 8, the Aggies have a game against the Boise State Broncos before returning home to Logan to face the Fresno State Bulldogs on the 15th.