Women’s basketball splits road trip
The Utah State women’s basketball team got its regular season rolling this weekend on a two-game road trip to Wyoming and South Dakota State.
Aggies 62, Cowgirls 56
The Aggies opened their season on a high note Friday night, taking the Cowgirls of the University of Wyoming to a 62-56 win.
“This was a great win for our team,” said USU head coach Raegan Pebley. “This is a really tough place to come and win. They’ve got an amazing tradition. They have a great team, there’s a crowd, and you are playing at altitude. There are just a lot of challenges. I’m really proud of our team’s mental toughness, collectively.”
USU played better in the second half, scoring 46 points, than it did in the first, scoring 16 points.
Senior forward Ashlee Brown led the the Aggies to the win with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jennifer Schlott and senior center Maddy Plunkett were not far behind, scoring 12 points apiece. Freshman guard Kaitlyn Mileto led Wyoming in scoring with 13 points.
USU shot 22 percent from the field in the first half, making just six of 27 shots. Junior guard Devyn Christensen made the only 3-point shot of the half, while senior guard Brooke Jackson and freshman guard Elise Nelson put the team at 75 percent from the free-throw line for the half.
The Aggies, who only trailed by two points at halftime, began the second half on a 6-1 run and lead 25-19, about four minutes into the half. Wyoming regained the lead at one point and led 44-40, before USU went on an 11-2 tear to regain a lead it would not relinquish.
Both teams found themselves in foul trouble, especially in the second half. USU put the Cowgirls in a double-bonus situation in both halves, notching five in the first six minutes of the second half.
Brown and Jackson ended the game with four personal fouls each. Wyoming had two players, Mileto and junior forward Chaudra Sewell, fouled out in the second half.
USU was 20 of 59 from the floor in the game, including three of 11 from 3-point range, while UW hit 18 of 54 from the field, hitting seven 3-pointers. The Cowgirls out-rebounded the Aggies 42-39. USU added seven steals compared to Wyoming’s four.
“It was a team effort,” Pebley said. “It kind of came down to maybe who got to the foul line more. It was just such a close game — low scoring.”
Jackrabbits 84, Aggies 73
The Aggies had a tough opponent on tab in the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon. The Jackrabbits have made appearances in three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and received votes in last week’s USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
South Dakota State began the game on a 12-2 run, and the Aggies never threatened the lead in the 84-73 loss.
“On the bright side, I am really proud of how two games in a row on the road, when we were tested in different ways, our girls showed some good toughness mentally,” Peebley said.
Similar to Friday’s game, Brown led the Aggies. Brown topped her own career high of 26, with 31 points on 8 for 11 shooting from the field and 15 for 19 shooting from the free-throw line.
After the slow start, the points began to stack up, and the Aggies took off on a 6-0 run. They ended the half behind, at 39-24.
“This was a very physical game; and the first 10 minutes of the game, we spent the next 30 minutes recovering from,” Pebley said. “We actually outplayed them in those 30 minutes. The first 10 minutes of the game — and the first probably six possessions offensively in the second half — were ones we are going to learn a lot from.”
Free throws helped the Aggies keep the Jackrabbits somewhat close in the second half. USU hit 35 free throws, which accounted for nearly half of its points. USU shot 88 percent from the line, hitting all but one shot in the second half. Jackson made all seven of her shots.
While the Aggies drew a lot of fouls to pad their side of the scoreboard, they were just as quick to foul the Jackrabbits, with a total of 27 fouls. While no one fouled out, Brown, Jackson, Plunkett and Schlott all had four fouls each.
“We fought. We fought really hard,” Pebley said. “We showed a lot of character.”
The Aggies return to the Spectrum this week, taking on Weber State on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. They will then hit the road again, playing at University of California-Irvine on Saturday, Nov. 19.
– megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu