Women Ags drop second straight
For six of the final eight minutes in Saturday’s game against UC Irvine, two Brittany Tressler free throws were all the Utah State women’s basketball team could muster.
After orchestrating a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead over the Anteaters midway through the second half, USU’s offense went AWOL and Irvine outscored the Ags 20-14 in the game’s final seven minutes to win 81-74.
For the Aggies, freshman guard Taylor Richards notched a career-high 20 points, but committed eight turnovers.
Head coach Raegan Pebley said a lack of intensity and focus was the cause of her team’s loss.
“We really had a lack of focus tonight,” Pebley said. “Most of our turnovers weren’t forced. The lack of focus ended up contributing to our inconsistency.”
In all, USU committed 24 turnovers Saturday, including 11 UCI steals.
Behind eight points from Richards, USU jumped out to an early seven point lead in the first half, but Irvine hung tough and took a one-point advantage into the locker room – 33-32.
The Aggies started the second half strong, outscoring the Anteaters 11-6 in the first five minutes of the period. UCI put together a 10-2 run of its own, but the Aggies answered with seven straight to reclaim a 60-59 lead.
On the ensuing possessions, Ashley Biggins hit a jump shot in the lane for the Anteaters and Kimberly Martin converted a layup to put UCI up 63-60; they wouldn’t trail again.
Despite a 4-5 performance from behind the arc for Tressler and a 12-point-nine-rebound effort from Freeman, the Ags went stagnant and UCI walked away with the win.
UCI was led by 24 points from Melissa Jacob, 19 from Angie Ned and 18 from Biggins. Lauren Yadon led the Anteaters with eight rebounds.
With the loss, the Ags fell to 14-12 overall and 9-8 in the Big West Conference. The Anteaters improved to 6-19 and 5-11 in conference.
USU now looks for a win over Idaho in its final game of the regular season.
A victory would ensure the fifth seed in the conference tournament, a likely matchup with either Cal Poly or Cal State Fullerton.
Friday’s game against Idaho tips off at 8 p.m.
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