Women earn third victory
After being blown out two nights before, many thought it improbable, maybe even impossible, that Utah State’s women’s basketball team could come back and defeat Long Beach State 63-60, but the Ags did just that.
It wasn’t easy for the Aggies though. A lay-up by freshman Brittany Hagen with just 28 seconds left on the clock put USU up by one, but the game wasn’t over yet.
With the 49ers in possession of the ball, LBSU’s Petra Glaser pulled down a failed three-point attempt but was unable to convert the basket, and the Aggies recovered.
Down by seven with just over 12 minutes left to play, the Aggies posted a 9-to-1 run that gave them the lead and the eventual win.
Freshman forward Brittany Tressler led the way for USU and led all scorers with a career-high 19 points in 34 minutes of play. In the last few minutes of play, Tressler put away four key free throws to give the Ags the lead.
“Tressler played with a fire that I’ve never seen before,” said Head Coach Reagan Pebley. “[Tressler] has grown up so much in the time we’ve had her. She has really toughened up mentally.”
Tressler said, “We’re just trying to play better every game. Coach told us to attack on the team and I trusted her and tried to do that.”
Tressler led a trio of Aggies that scored in double figures. Hagen’s game-saving lay-up gave her 10 points in the game, seven of which came in the second half.
Christina Zdenek was looking more like the scorer she was against Cal Poly, putting 15 points up on the board in 38 minutes of play. Zdenek was key in the first half, stealing the ball five times in the game’s opening minutes.
Terrin Johnston had a solid floor game for the second-straight outing. In 37 minutes Johnston had only four turnovers, a stat Pebley was pleased with and said she would like to see on a consistent basis.
“Our players really came out tonight with more fire,” Pebley said. “I think we did a lot of things better fundamentally, but it was our desire to win and the intensity we brought to the court that got us this win.”
USU kept things close in the first half and went into the locker room only down four, 33-29.
“I am proud of our girls,” Pebley said. “They played so hard tonight that win or lose I was going to be proud of them.”
Long Beach also had a trio scoring in double figures. Glaser led the way with 18 points, missing only one shot in the second half. Jayme Conner put away 13 points and Candice Wilson had 12. The Aggies shut down leading scorer Crystal McCutcheon allowing her only seven points. Coming into the game she averaged 12.
USU finally got its shooting percentage back up to par, shooting 46.9 percent from the floor to LBS’s 40.7 percent. The 49ers out-rebounded the Aggies 34-28 but it wasn’t as crippling as it has been in the past.
Ali Aird struggled offensively and finished the night with only six points. “Her Airdness” also had a rare showing from the line, going 0-4 for the night.
“This [win] feels so awesome, I am so proud,” Tressler said. “This is a feeling we’re never going to forget.”
The Aggies continue their four-game road trip next Thursday, traveling to Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. Hopefully they will be able to pull out another win against this team and will be ready to head to Anaheim in March.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu