Women’s basketball team wins at Air Force
Freshman Taylor Richards led the Utah State women’s basketball team as it defeated the Air Force Falcons 72-68 Saturday in Colorado.
Up by 15 with a little more than three minutes to play, the Aggies were looking to put the game away. But the Falcons had other plans in mind.
In the las two minutes, the Falcons had a 15-2 run to bring the game to within three with 18 seconds left.
“I was getting a little nervous,” Richards said, “but I knew we would pull it out in the end. We kept our poise and we were ready.”
“Luckily, time ran out for us,” Utah State Head Coach Raegan Pebley said.
Until the last couple minutes, the Aggies were able to control the game. Up by 12 at the half, Utah State kept that lead for most of the second half, increasing it to as much as 16.
But the Falcons were able to stay in the game by rebounding, pulling down 47 to the Aggies’ 31.
“As soon as we thought we had one,” Richards said of the rebounding game, “they would creep up on us and get one.”
“It was somewhat embarassing for us seeing our team getting pushed out of defensive rebounding positions,” Pebley said. “That’s just us not being strong enough.”
Pebley said it was difficult to keep the momentum of the game going with all the fouls that were called.
Pebley also said she knew the game was going to come down to who was making free throws.
Each team spent a fair amount of time at the foul line. The Falcons made 15-27 free throws while the Ags made 24-34.
Richards led all scorers with 14 points, nine coming from behind the arc. Sophomore Brittany Tressler was the only other Aggie in double-digits with 12 points – six from the 3-point line. Four other Aggies contributed with at least nine points.
For the Falcons, Alecia Steele had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Ellen Jaeschke was the only other Falcon over with 12 points.
The Aggies stay on the road as they head down to the University of New Mexico tournament on Dec. 10-11.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu