Women’s basketball picks up first conference win against Air Force
The Utah State Aggies women’s basketball team beat the Air Force Falcons 53-52 on the road Jan. 22. The win broke the Aggies six-game-losing-skid, bringing the team’s record to 6-13 on the season. The win also gave Utah State its first win in Mountain West conference play, improving its conference record to 1-7 on the season and one game closer to escaping from last place in the conference.
The Aggies’ sophomore guard Steph Gorman opened the scoring with a quick two points in the paint, but she was answered by Airforce guard Haley Jones. The Aggies traded buckets with the Falcons for much of the first and closed out the quarter on a 7-3 run. The score at the end of the first was 17-12, in favor of the Aggies.
Scoring runs aplenty in the second
The Aggies carried their run into the first two minutes of the second quarter, outscoring the Falcons 5-2. The Falcons, however, did not go down without a fight, going on a 7-2 run of their own. The run pulled the Falcons to within one point of the Aggies at 22-21, but USU took back control. The Aggies outscored the Falcons 7-to-0 in the final 3:40 of the first half and took a 29-21 lead into the break.
Back and forth in the third
For the entirety of the third quarter, neither the Aggies nor the Falcons scored without the other answering. Despite consistently trading baskets, the Aggies still grew their lead from eight to 12, as they managed to score first and last. In the quarter, the Aggies made four threes from only five shots, helping them push the score to 47-35.
Air Force cuts into USU’s lead
Air Force came to play in the fourth quarter, going on an 11-0 run in the first five minutes of the period, bringing the Falcons within one with a score of 47-46. During the run, the Aggies committed two turnovers and were blocked twice, unable to make shots when they were able to put them up.
The run was broken at the 4:51 mark with a paint jump shot by the Aggies senior forward Hailey Bassett, which gave the Aggies breathing room and cooled the Falcons down. After the run was broken, it appeared as though neither team could make a shot, but the drought ended on an Aggie score.
Late-game drama in the fourth
Then, with 2:13 left in the game, the Aggies scored again and went up 51-46. The lead was anything but safe, as Air Force made a quick three, bringing them within two points of the Aggies. Shortly after, a quick jump shot from Air Force guard Briana Autrey evened the score at 51. With 38 seconds to go in the game, Air Force fouled Bassett during a shot, sending her to the free-throw line.
With the game on the line, she made her two shots to put USU up 53-51. Air Force, however, was anything but done. After Bassett made both free throws, the Falcons called a time out, and with 26 seconds left in the game, the Aggies sent guard Kaelin Immel to the line. She made the first but missed the second, and the Falcons got the rebound.
Aggies hold on for the win
The Aggies played staunch defense and got the ball back with seven seconds left in the game, and at that point the game was won. When the buzzer sounded, the Aggies took home the victory by the score of 53-52.
Gorman comes up big
A big factor in the win was the contribution of Gorman, who had a team-leading 14 points. The Aggies also received 13 points from Bassett and 12 points from senior guard Lindsey Jensen-Baker.
Another factor was their three-point shooting. As a team, the Aggies made seven threes -as many as they accrued in their previous two losses- good for 43% shooting. The 21 points from three accounted for 40% of the team’s 53 points, the highest percentage in their last six games.
Looking ahead:
Next up for the Aggies is a matchup against the Colorado State Rams on Jan. 25. The game will take place in Fort Collins, Colorado and is slated to start at 2 p.m.