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Women’s hoops fall short to Nevada

Utah State freshman Funda Nakkasoglu led all scorers Wednesday night, but it wasn’t enough to fend off the Wolf Pack.

Nevada beat Utah State by 49-44 after a late comeback attempt by USU fell short.

“I’m really getting tired of these kind of games,” said Aggie head coach Jerry Finkbeiner after the game. “We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve grinded our way back in, and then we weren’t able to hit the big shots at the end and finish.”

With under two minutes to play, Julianne Anchlilng hit a 3-pointer and senior forward Franny Vaaulu got a steal which turned into two Anchling free throws at the other end. Nevada had the ball and a one-point lead with 15 seconds to play.

Utah State fouled Nevada guard Emily Burns. Burns was just 1-16 shooting on the night but made both of her free throws, giving Nevada a three-point advantage. Nakkasoglu missed a 3-point jumper on offense, and Nevada hit two more free throws to end the game.

“It’s kind of the normal thing for us right now,” Finkbeiner said. “But it cannot happen for us in the future. I’m disappointed that we can’t finish off a game, even on the road.”

Nevada center Mimi Mungedi led the game in rebounds and had a team-high 15 points. Coach Finkbeiner said the 6-foot-8-inch Mungedi had a big impact on his team’s ability to score in the paint. Mungedi was credited with four blocks but affected many more shots, according to Finkbeiner.

On defense Utah State held Nevada to a season-low shooting percentage just under 28 percent. However Nevada also held USU to 28 percent shooting. The Wolf Pack bench gave the team a scoring advantage, out-scoring the Aggie bench 16-8.

USU falls to 6-19 on the year and 3-8 in the Mountain West with six more conference games to go and the MW Tournament starting on Mar. 9.

“I challenged the older girls tonight to be the first ones on the court and the last ones to leave,” Finkbeiner said. “Their time is running out, so it’s time for them to make a push to the end.”

— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com

Twitter: @kalen_taylor