Women’s team just keeps on winning
Women’s basketball coach Raegan Pebley became USU’s all-time most winning coach in Utah State history in her sixth year with her 56th win coming at New Mexico State Thursday night, 69-52.
USU won their fourth straight game, beating Nevada, Boise State, Idaho and now Nevada a second time. The winning streak couldn’t come at a better time for the Aggies, who jump from sixth place in the WAC to tied for third. With the win, USU joins Nevada, Idaho and Boise State, three teams the Aggies have beaten in their winning streak, for third place in the conference.
Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro had another epic game, scoring 26 points in 33 minutes. The 26 points was just three points short of her career-high 29 that she scored against Nevada earlier this month. After the team-leading 26-point night, Snelgro creeps ever closer to the career 1,000-point mark – she now needs to score 13 points to push her to the millennia mark. With three games left in the regular season and Snelgro scoring 60 points in the last three, the question isn’t if it’ll happen but when.
“Her leadership is phenomenal,” Pebley said. “She’s playing like a great senior.”
USU led the first half by 10, 28-18, but the NMSU Aggies came out ready to play in the second half, going on a 24-6 run. Thursday night’s loss was only New Mexico State’s second conference home loss this year.
Ana Pares had another solid game, also, hitting four shots from three-point range and pulling in six rebounds in 32 minutes of play.
Rebounds have been a big part of USU’s game, Pebley said. This season USU is 11-1 when outrebounding their opponents.
The Aggies had a lot of help off the bench with 11 players seeing time on the court, eight of those with 10 minutes or more. The Aggies had 10 points coming from their bench in 51 minutes while NMSU’s bench played 47 minutes with zero points. USU dominated in the paint as well, with 18 points compared to New Mexico’s six. Utah State’s aggressive play led to 21 points from the free-throw line, shooting 87.5.
–c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu