Women’s basketball splits first two games of season
With the score tied at 41-41 in the second half, the Utah State University women’s basketball club turned up its defensive intensity, holding Western Montana University scoreless over a six minute span en route to a 67-54 victory over the Bulldogs on Friday night in the HPER Building, Room 209.
It was the season opener for both teams. USU and UMU also played on Saturday with Western Montana avenging Friday’s loss 56-52.
“To hold them to a certain number of points was our goal, so that’s why [our defensive intensity] picked up a lot,” Aggie guard Tara Earl said.
Although the Aggies yielded more points to the Bulldogs in the second half than they did in the first, it was their defensive pressure on point guard Mandy Burns which allowed them to put the game away.
The smallest player on the court, Burns was a relentless presence in the first half, scoring 11 points and more importantly dictating the tempo for the Bulldog offense.
USU took note of that at halftime, Earl said, and held Burns to five points the rest of the way – with all five coming in the half’s first two minutes.
“Our main thing was we needed to communicate and keep track of her on the court,” Earl said. “[In the second half] we knew where she was at all times.”
“We tried to pull our defense out a little bit in order to contain her,” forward Katie Kimball said.
Led by forward Michelle Dyreng, the Aggies jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead. Dyreng was a force in the low blocks, scoring six of the team’s first 10 points on her way to a team-high 15 points.
WMU was able to keep the game close, drilling four three-point goals in the first half.
However, the three-ball also proved to be costly for the Bulldogs as several of them clanked off the rim and led to easy Aggie buckets in transition.
“We got a lot of good shots off our fast break, because our post players were running down the court like crazy,” Kimball said.
Several USU turnovers toward the end of the half also allowed WMU to stay close, and a Crystal Marshall bank-shot at the first-half buzzer cut the Bulldog deficit to 31-25 at the half.
The Bulldogs came out strong in the second half. Consecutive baskets by Burns, including a put-back on an offensive rebound in traffic, cut the Aggie lead to 31-30.
Western Montana appeared to have momentum when Shae Hutchinson cleaned up a missed free throw to give the Bulldogs a 41-38 advantage.
That’s when the Aggies and center Kathryn Symmes took over.
Consecutive three-point plays by Symmes put the Aggies up 44-41. After the Bulldogs scored to cut the deficit to 44-43, Symmes drove the baseline for an easy score and found Kimball off the double team for an easy deuce.
Symmes’s play seemed to spark the entire team as the Aggies outscored the Bulldogs 16-4 and increased their lead to 60-47.
During the span, Symmes blocked two shots and both Earl and Sara Lathem knocked down three pointers.
USU’s hustle was especially evident when point guard Calli Hancock made a gorgeous over-the-shoulder save to Symmes as the ball was going out of bounds for an easy bucket.
“It was our first game, everybody wanted it and it was a total team effort,” Earl said.
In addition to Dyreng’s 15 points, Symmes scored 11 points (all in the second half). The Aggies enjoyed great offensive balance with 10 players scoring throughout the course of the game.
Burns led the Bulldogs with a game-high 16 points. Jennifer Kearns scored 10 points, nine of them in the second half.