Women win in Reno
The Utah State women’s basketball team pulled off the come-from-behind win Thursday, beating Nevada 84-72. Junior guard Devyn Christensen led all scorers with a season-high 27 points.
“(Christensen) played fearlessly,” said USU head coach Raegan Pebley. “She was an amazing leader out there. She helped us keep our confidence and played a really smart defensive game in the second half.”
Senior forward Ashlee Brown added a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies.
Forward Kayla Williams — who sat out the first meeting between the teams this season — scored five of Nevada’s first 13 points as the Wolf Pack jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first three minutes. The senior forward finished with 18 points.
Brown paced the Aggies in the first half with eight points, but the Aggie defense was unable to stop Nevada and trailed by as many as 10 in the first half. USU fought back and took a 32-30 lead on a 3-pointer by Christensen, but the Wolf Pack closed the half on a 16-4 run to take a 46-36 lead into halftime.
“Nevada came out hot,” Pebley said. “We weren’t doing things defensively that we needed to. We needed more poise and patience on offense. We didn’t have a good transition defense.”
Nevada’s momentum continued at the start of the second half as Williams scored on back-to-back possessions to start the second half. Senior guard Kate Kevorken added a 3-pointer as the Wolf Pack led by as many as 13 in the second half.
Down 10 with 12 minutes to play, Utah State went to work and chipped away at the deficit.
Brown scored three points during a 7-0 run by the Aggies, and USU pulled within three, but Nevada responded and pushed the lead back to eight on an old-fashioned 3-point play from Arielle Wideman.
The Aggies didn’t quit, though.
In a second half full of runs, Christensen led an 11-4 run over a stretch of four minutes. Christensen hit a pair of free throws to pull the Aggies within one, but Wideman answered at the other end to give Nevada a three-point edge with five-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Then, Brown took matters into her own hands.
“(Brown) had some great finishes,” Pebley said. “She had some great and-ones, had some great offensive board put-backs and worked hard and hustled.”
USU closed the game on a 15-0 run over final five minutes, as turnovers plagued Nevada. Brown put the Aggies ahead for good at 73-72, and Christensen pushed the lead to double-digits two minutes later on a three-point play.
The Utah State defense closed it out from there to complete the comeback and improve to 6-0 on the road in conference play.
USU out-rebounded Nevada 35-32 and outscored the Wolf Pack 42-36 in paint. The Aggies also forced 15 turnovers, which led to 27 points.
“It was a total gut-check win,” Pebley said. “It was amazing.”
The Aggies improved to 17-7 overall this season with the win, including 8-2 in WAC play. Nevada fell to 5-19 and 1-8 in the WAC.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu