Women out: Aggies lose to Irvine in first-round, stumble at game’s end
ANAHEIM, Calif. – It wasn’t the ending the Utah State women’s basketball team was hoping for – falling to UC Irving 63-75 Wednesday in the first round of the Big West Conference tournament.
The Anteaters were up by seven with a little more than 10 minutes left to play in the game. But the Aggies had a 15-2 run backed by three 3-pointers in a row – one from Kahlie Quinones and two from Brittany Tressler. The run gave the Ags a five-points advantage.
“I really felt that it would be the end of the game when we went on that run,” Tressler said. “[Angie] Ned and [Ashley] Biggins got into foul trouble and that was great, but we just lost it in the end.”
USU watched its lead slip away as the Anteaters started making baskets, especially free throws.
In the second half the Ags sent UCI to the line nearly 30 times.
“In the second half there were too many turnovers and somehow we allowed Irvine to get to the line 29 times,” Utah State Head Coach Raegan Pebley said. “Every player on this team had a turnover tonight and that shows the immaturity and youth of this team.”
In the final minutes of the game, Pebley said she went with a line up that has worked for the Aggies in close games they have had in other games this season.
“After the last media timeout, I went with a lineup that has been a solid close out rotation,” Pebley said, “but tonight it just wasn’t our best lineup.”
With 1:11 left to play in the game, the Aggies were down by six. They started fouling, trying to stop the clock. But Irvine made all its free throws and the Ags had trouble getting baskets from behind the arc.
The game was over for USU after Ned stole the ball with one minute left and put the Anteaters up by eight.
“It is a relief when you are hitting your shots,” Irvine’s Ned said. “We played well together and brought ourselves together as a team and got the win.”
In the first half, both teams were pretty well matched up. Both the Ags and Anteaters had trouble putting points up on the board until the final minutes of the first half.
But a 10-0 run with fewer than 10 minutes left to play gave the Ags a four-point advantage – their first lead of the game.
The Ags held the lead for the rest of the half until two free throws from Jacob with 28 seconds left to play tied the game at 24.
Tressler led the way for the Aggies with 13 points. Taylor Richards was the only other Aggie in double digits, finishing with 11 points.
Quinones and Ali Aird each put nine points up on the board for USU.
Irvine had four player in double digits. Ned led the way with 23 points. Biggins and Melissa Jacob each had 15 with Lauren Yadon putting up 13. Six of Jacob’s points came in the final 50 seconds of the game.
“I’m so proud of what this team has been able to do over the last year,” Pebley said. “We nearly tripled our win total from our first season and cut our loss total in half and that’s something to be proud of.”
With the win, Irvine advanced to the second round of the tournament, when, on Thursday, they lost to Idaho.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu
Aggie Ali Aird drives against an UC Irvine Anteater Wednesday afternoon during the Big West tournament. Aird scored nine points in the loss to Irvine. (Photo by Jessica Alexander)