Junior forward Ashlee Brown scores 20 in USU debut.
Nov. 5, 2010
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LOGAN, Utah -
Utah State women's basketball used several runs to pull away from the University of Mary in its one and only exhibition game Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. USU closed the night with a 84-50 final score with 14 players seeing action in its first showing of the 2010-11 season.
The Aggies were led by two starters, junior Ashlee Brown and senior Amber White, who both scored in double figures in scoring with 20 and 16 points, respectively.
Brown, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara who sat out last season after transferring, was successful in her first appearance in blue and white, nabbing a team-leading 20 points. White tallied 16 points, all of which came in the first half, in 17 minutes of play. White also sunk both of her from the free-throw shots and two behind the three-point arc.
Sophomore Banna Diop set what would be a career-high capturing 14 rebounds, with five of them coming on the offensive end of action, proving beneficial in the Aggies' attack. USU went deep in its lineup giving 14 players at least six minutes. The Aggies were led by starters White, Brown, Diop, sophomore Jenna Johnson and senior Alice Coddington. All but two Aggies made it into the points column, spreading the scoring frenzy around the hardwood.
The Aggies would end the game shooting 40.2 percent (33-of-83) from the field, nearly doubling their opponents 25.4 (16 of 63) percent. USU also dominated from the free-throw line notching 12-of-16 (75.0 percent), while the Marauders only sunk 13-of-22 (59.1 percent). U-Mary was led by Rachel Zillmer who scored nine points and had a team-high two blocks.
"I felt our team as a whole played well and responded well," head coach Raegan Pebley said. "University of Mary played us tight in the first half."
The Aggies were first on the scoreboard with two good free throws by Johnson, followed by a layup by senior Alice Coddington. White put her first points on the board sinking a layup.
USU battled hard from the tip, not allowing U-Mary a field goal until three minutes in when Ali Collins sunk a layup with 17:08 on the clock bringing the score to 6-4.
Utah State led the whole game except for a short stint during the seventh to eighth minute of the first half in which USU had been up 12-11 going into a time out. Following the time out, junior transfer, Maddy Plunkett was unable to sink her first career layup as an Aggie. The Marauders took possession and Lindsey Sand notched her first layup of the game putting the scoreboard at 13-12 in favor of U-Mary. That would be the last time the Marauders would see the any relief as the Aggies soon buried them.
University of Mary's McKenzie Foster stood strong on the back court for the Marauders with a total six steals, but Coddington quickly regained the Aggie lead with a layup bringing the Aggies ahead 14-13. USU then went on an 8-1 run. Heading into the final time-out before the half, USU was up by six points, 32-26. The Aggies came back to the court with fire, as White sunk her first three-pointer of the season to jump start a 12-3 run.
In the first half USU shot 77.8 percent from the free-throw line and was 17-of-39 (43.6 percent), from the field. U-Mary managed 75 percent from the free-throw line but only made 32.3 percent from the field.
The score at the beginning of the second half was 44-30 in favor of USU with a 14-point lead. The closest U-Mary got to USU was an 11-point difference shortly after half when it managed to bring it to 46-35 after a good three-point shot by Laura Petersen. USU went on 14-3, run including seven unanswered points.
USU continued its dominate offense with another 15-3, taking the score to 81-49. The Aggies continued to dominate as they finished out the second half nabbing the largest lead of the night, 84-49, a 35-point deficit that would prove impossible for U-Mary to comeback from.
The Aggies be back in action when they host in-state rival Dixie State on Friday, Nov., 12 at 4 p.m. The day will include a doubleheader with the USU volleyball team at 7 p.m.
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