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USU Loses To NMSU, 71-58, In Women's Basketball Clash Of The Aggies
Jan. 24, 2008
LOGAN, Utah - Despite a career-high 19 points from senior forward Jenny Gross, Utah State lost to New Mexico State, 71-58, in the clash of the Aggies Thursday night in Western Athletic Conference women's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. It was USU's fourth straight loss in dropping to 6-12 overall and 2-4 in WAC play while NMSU won for the sixth time in last seven games in improving to 14-4 overall and 4-1 in WAC action. Thursday's final score nearly mirrored the match-up between USU and NMSU on Jan. 12, won by the maroon-clad Aggies, 71-56, at Las Cruces, N.M. New Mexico State now leads the all-time series, 15-9. Gross was the only player wearing the home white to tally double-figures, as she was 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 at the free throw line for a new career high, surpassing her previous high of 18 set in last year's regular-season finale at Fresno State on March 3, 2007. Gross is averaging 15.3 points per game in the last three games. Junior guard Danyelle Snelgro had seven points to go with tying a season-high six assists as well as swiping five steals. Snelgro's five steals gives her 121 for her career, vaulting her to tied for No. 6 on USU's Career Steals list with Sharon Epps (1982-83), and needing just three more to break into the top four. NMSU had four players log double-digits, led by Sherell Neal's 18 points and eight rebounds, both game highs. Anikia Jawara had 16 points, while Hannah Spanich and Madison Spence tossed in 15 and 12 points, respectively. There were 12 lead changes through the first 24:38 of the game, before New Mexico State took the lead for good at 44-43 with 15:22 on the second half clock on a Neal layup and the maroon-clad Aggies pulled away for the win. Utah State closed to 53-50 at the 9:00 mark on a layup from junior forward Ndoumbe Diop, who made her first start of the season, but the home Aggies couldn't get any closer from there on out. NMSU ended the night shooting 26-of-49 (53.1 percent) from the field, after hitting 60.0 percent (15-of-25) of its first half shots. The visitors were just 2-of-8 (25.0 percent) behind the three-point arc and were 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) at the free throw line. USU shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor, netting a season-low 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from three-point land. At the charity stripe, the navy Aggies also were 14-of-19 (73.7 percent). Utah State continues home action on Saturday against Louisiana Tech, Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. For USU basketball ticket information, fans can go to www.UtahStateAggies.com and click on "tickets" or call the USU Ticket Office at 1-800-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305. All the Utah State women's basketball games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play and former Aggie women's basketball player Ashley Rutledge providing color commentary for home games. They can also be heard on the web through Yahoo! Sports, by going to the Utah State Athletic home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the Yahoo! Sports link in the right hand column. Fans can follow all the Aggie home games through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.
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