Women’s basketball wins on road
Following Christina Zdenek’s 12-point effort against UVSC, head coach Raegan Pebley said she didn’t want to jinx her shooting guard’s break-out performance.
Zdenek followed it up by scoring 21 during Utah State’s 89-68 win over Southern Utah Friday.
“I had a little bit of trouble the first couple of games,” Zdenek said. “But I pushed through it and I’ve been working on it in practice.”
After falling behind early to the Thunderbirds, the Ags used a 22-4 run to take control of the game and never looked back.
Freshman point guard Taylor Richards added 15 points of her own to go along with two rebounds and five assists. Center Ali Aird recorded a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win.
Pebley said Richards has taken on a tremendous leadership role and the team has responded positively.
“It’s a lot of responsibility for a freshman,” Pebley said. “It’s like starting a freshman quarterback. And the team is responding really well to her. It’s something new for them to play with a point guard that is taking control of the team.”
Richards also put up solid numbers in the Aggies 75-59 win over UVSC, scoring eight points and bringing down seven rebounds. But, coming off the bench, Brittany Tressler stole the show in front of her hometown crowd Tuesday night.
Tressler, who played her high school basketball at Mountain View in Orem, scored 17 points on 7-14 shooting to give the Ags the win over the Wolverines.
“We practiced a lot on where our shots were going to be,” Tressler said. “I knew where I was going to get my shots.”
She said she was motivated and excited to play in front of her family and friends again.
“I just wanted to play well for them,” Tressler said. “I knew it could be the one and only time that they could see me play.”
In all, five Aggies scored in double digits against the Wolverines.
Kalhie Quinones scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds and Jessica Freeman scored 10.
Aird struggled in the first half, shooting 1-7 from the floor, but hit her free-throws and finished the game with 10 points.
“They had three people on her every time,” Pebley said of Aird. “I thought she did a good job holding onto the ball and finding the open player. I just thought it was a complete effort. Our scoring was so balanced.”
With Aird double and triple-teamed, the perimeter shooting of Zdenek and Tressler propelled the Ags to the win.
“It’s an in-state game,” Pebley said. “It’s against a team trying to build a Division I program just like us. It was nice to have our bench come in and play so well.”
The Ags now shift focus to a two-game road trip featuring games against Northern Colorado and Air Force over the weekend.
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