Women’s basketball drops pair of games at Nugget Classic
This weekend the Utah State women’s basketball team traveled to Reno, Nev., to take part in the Nugget Classic, where they played two games, both against undefeated Pac-12 opponents. USU first played USC on Friday in a 55-46 loss, and Colorado on Sunday in another losing effort, 78-68.
From the tip, USU’s first contest was a game of runs. USC opened by scoring six-straight points, only to have their output matched by an eight-point run from the Aggies. The first half finished in like fashion, the Trojans going on a run late in the second quarter to gain an eight-point advantage, 27-19, but their effort was again paralleled by USU. The period ended with a personal 7-0 run by USU freshman guard Steph Gorman to make it only a one-point game, 27-26 going into halftime.
Utah State, struggled offensively for much of the game, and the second half featured several Aggie scoring droughts which were the true difference in an extremely competitive contest. It took USU over five minutes to get on the board in the third, but the Aggies were again able to battle back and take the lead late in the fourth quarter, one of just six lead changes in the game, 45-44. They would be held scoreless for much of the fourth as well, however, and only put up one more point the rest of the way.
USU’s defense held strong, and limited USC to shooting percentages of 37% from the field, and 26% from three, but were themselves limited to shooting just 36% from the floor. USU also turned the ball over 23 times to USC’s 17.
Gorman scored 14 points from the bench to lead the Aggies in the game. Sophomore guard Emmie Harris was the only other Aggie to reach double digits with 11 points.
The game pushed the Trojans to 5-0 on the season, and their win Sunday over Nevada kept them undefeated, finishing 2-0 on the weekend.
USU started to find their offensive rhythm a little more on Sunday in their second game, putting up 68 points on Colorado, 22 points more than their scoring output against USC. The improved offense wasn’t enough, though, as Colorado put up 78 to drop USU to 0-2 for the weekend.
The Aggies opened the game fast, gaining a 7-2 advantage for their only lead of the night. The Buffaloes had flipped the table by the end of the first, however, and an 11-point Nevada run helped them keep the lead for the remainder of the contest. The first half finished a lopsided 43-31.
The Aggies showed resilience in the second half, though, and while unable to recapture the lead, they made it a one-possession game, 66-63, giving the Buffs a scare in the fourth quarter.
Utah State shot 44% from the field on the game, but Colorado was an even more efficient 51% from the floor and a remarkable 50% from three, 12-24 on the game from behind the arc. The Aggies also lost the rebounding battle, grabbing 27 boards to Colorado’s 34, which led to a nine-point differential in second-chance points favoring the Buffaloes.
Junior forward Shannon Dufficy again had a great outing, posting 23 points on an efficient 8-13 shooting display en route to being named to the Nugget Classic All-Tournament team. Colorado had four players score in the double digits, with senior guard Kennedy Leonard tallying 17.
Like their Pac-12 counterpart USC, the Buffaloes went undefeated on the weekend after beating the same opponents in Nevada, 65-52, and USU. Colorado is now 5-0 on the season.
After starting the season strong, USU is now 2-4, having lost their past four games. The Aggies will look to break the losing streak in Portland, Ore., against the Portland Pilots at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.