Women’s basketball opens season with 72-61 road win over Washington State
The Utah State women’s basketball team opened its season with a bang, traveling to Washington State and beating the Cougars with a final score of 72-61.
After a quick start in the first quarter by USU with junior forward Hailey Bassett-Meacham leading the offensive effort by scoring the Aggies first four-points, the Aggies jumped out to an early 13-4 lead. The Cougars used a 13-2 run late in the quarter to take a 19-17 heading into the second.
The break did nothing to slow down the Cougars, and they stayed hot, extending their lead to six with a 4-0 run to start the second. WSU led by half a dozen points for much of the quarter; USU trailed by that margin at four separate occasions. Bassett-Meacham continued her first half dominance, however, totaling 17 points in the half and brought the Aggies back into a one-possession game, 35-32 to end the half.
The third featured much more tightly contested play for the majority of the period with Utah State cutting the WSU lead to just one point on two separate occasions. The back and forth play ended favoring Washington State, and the Cougars increased their lead from the second ending the third up 48-44.
The final quarter was all about USU junior guard Olivia West. She helped the Aggies recapture the lead for the first time since the first quarter, hitting a three to put Utah State up 54-53. She then iced the game after the Cougars were forced to intentionally foul her three times, hitting six consecutive free throws and putting the Cougars away for good. She had 16 points in the game which trailed only Hailey Bassett-Meacham’s contribution of 23 points–a new career high.
“It was amazing. Our whole team did amazing, and we all contributed in one way, and it was a really good team win,” Bassett-Meacham said following the game.
On the opposing side, junior forward Borislava Hristova led the Cougars in scoring, dropping 27 points in an efficient 10-18 shooting display.
Efficiency was a big theme in the Aggies’ night as well, as they went 10-10 from the free throw line.
Starting the season 1-0 is an encouraging note for the team, especially as it came on the road where the Aggies struggled mightily last year, going just 1-19.
“We struggled at times… but as a whole–the first game out on the road–our effort can’t be questioned,” said Utah State head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. “Our hustle, our intensity, everything came to play tonight; it was a really good win on the road for us.”
The Aggies will look to keep their record unblemished on Friday at 2:00 p.m. against Northern New Mexico in their first regular season home game of the year.