March 11, 2009

Box Score

Click Here for photo gallery by Eli Lucero, Logan Herald-Journal

RENO, Nev. - Utah State women's basketball continued its season of firsts as the fifth-seeded Aggies defeated fourth-seeded Idaho in overtime, 59-58, in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Reno, Nev.

It was USU's sixth overtime game this season. The Aggies fourth overtime win led USU to the WAC Tournament semifinals for the first time since joining the league during the 2005-06 season. It was also USU's first tournament of any kind, including two Big West Tournament games.

With 43 second remaining in the second half, freshman Chelsea Burns drilled a three-pointer to give the Aggies a 52-51 lead. Idaho's Derisa Taleni tied the score 52-52 with a free throw with 23 seconds left. USU would get the ball back one more time, but could not end the game in regulation.

"That was just two teams who are so similar, who have taken similar paths to get here and two teams who were just dying to advance. In the end, we were able to get more stops," Head coach Raegan Pebley said.

With the win Utah State improves to 16-14 and will take on the winner of the game between top-seeded Fresno State and eighth-seeded Hawai`i. The Aggies semifinal game will be Friday, March 13 at noon.

This was the second time that the Aggies and the Vandals gave the fans free basketball. On Feb. 22, Utah State edged Idaho, 70-64, in double overtime. USU is now 4-2 in overtime games this season. With wins against Idaho, Northern Arizona.

Utah State was led by its pair of all-WAC senior guards Danyelle Snelgro and Ana Pares. Snelgro scored 15 points and added seven rebounds and six assists. Pares poured in 12 points and added three assists and two steals. Senior Shawnta Pope came off the bench to block a career-high four shots. Sophomore Alice Coddington came within one point of a double-double with 10 rebounds and nine points. Sophomore guard Chelsea Burns had a solid day on defense taking two charges.

"Unity is a pretty powerful thing," Snelgro said. "This is my fourth year and to go to the semifinals is a dream come true right now. This feels amazing."

The Aggies moved to 13-1 when they out-rebound an opponent. USU out-rebounded Idaho by a close 42-40 margin.

Idaho was led by Taleni who scored a game-high 24 points. Yinka Olorunnife added a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds..

In the first half, the Aggies were led Snelgro and Pares who both scored six points. Sophomore guard Alice Coddington added five points and five rebounds for the Aggies.

On the boards, the Aggies dominated out-rebounding the Vandals 23-9 in the first half, including 11 offensive. USU was hurt with 14 first-half turnovers compared to only six by Idaho.

Junior Derisa Taleni had a solid first half scoring 11 points. When the Vandals hosted the Aggies on Jan. 5, she was lethal scoring 31 points. Sophomore Yinka Olorunnife scored five point in the first half for Idaho. Taleni ended the half with a long three pointer as time expired to give the Vandals the 25-24 halt time lead.

USU started the second half missing five-straight baskets as Idaho took a 29-24 lead its biggest of the game. Utah State did not make its first basket until the 13:34 mark if the second half off a jumper by Snelgro. The Vandals would stretch its lead to 33-25 due in part to the sharp-shooting of Taleni who scored eight-straight points for Idaho.

The Aggies would fight back scoring five-straight points to cut the lead to 36-33. While the Vandals led most of the second half, USU would fight back and take the lead with 2:41 remaining after a three pointer by Snelgro.

All Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play. They can also be heard on the web by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Live stats will be available for all home Utah State women's basketball games through the women's basketball page on www.utahstateaggies.com, by clicking on Live Stats in the current events box. All home games can be viewed by clicking on "Watch Live", while they can be heard by clicking on "Listen Live." Both can be accessed on www.utahstateaggies.com on the front page or the women's basketball page.

-USU-