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Christensen and Plunkett Both Score 17 as Aggie Women's Basketball Downs Boise State 64-52, Thursday
Dec. 22, 2011
BOISE, Idaho - Junior guard Devyn Christensen and senior forward Maddy Plunkett both scored 17 points as the Utah State women's basketball team led the whole game in a 62-54 win over Boise State at Taco Bell Arena in Boise on Thursday. The win was the Aggies' fourth-straight against former Western Athletic Conference rival Boise State. Utah State has swept the two-game series the last two seasons. The Aggies end the 2011 portion of the schedule with a 7-5 record, while the Broncos fall to 7-6 this season. Three Aggies ended the game, scoring in double figures with Plunkett and Christensen leading the way with 17. Senior forward Ashlee Brown added 12 for Utah State along with seven rebounds. Plunkett led USU with nine boards. Ten different USU players brought down at least one rebound as the Aggies out-rebounded the Broncos 38-34 for the game. This is the second-straight game that USU has out-rebounded its opponent. For the game, Boise State was led by 12 points from Lauren Lenhardt who scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half. Keihanna Engel added 10 points fro the Broncos, while Nicole Brady led both teams with 11 rebounds. Utah State got off to a quick start, scoring the first seven points of the game. The Broncos were turnover prone early in the game with four turnovers in the first four minutes. Christensen scored six of USU's first 13 points as the Aggies started hot. Behind eight early points from Kati Isham, the Broncos fought back cutting the Utah State lead to 13-10 with 11:43 left in the first half. Brown struggled from the field early in the game, making her first basket with 6:26 left in the half. She was solid from the free throw line, going 5-for-6 in the first half. After two free throws by Christensen, USU jumped to a 10-point lead 26-16 with less than four minutes left in the half. A 9-0 run late in the half gave the Aggies their biggest lead of the half, 31-16. A Heather Pilcher free throw late cut the lead to 14 which is where it would stand at half.
In the first 20 minutes of action, Utah State was led by 15 points by Christensen, just three points shy of her season-high. Brown added nine points, scoring five from the charity stripe. Utah State won the rebounding battle in the first half, out-rebounding the Broncos 19-15. The Aggie defense was solid in the first half, forcing 14 turnovers with seven first-half steals. After scoring 30 points in the last meeting between the Aggies and the Broncos, USU was able to keep Nicole Brady off the scoreboard in the first half. The Broncos were led by eight points from Isham. Cinanamon Lister added five first-half points for Boise State. Freshman guard Elise Nelson scored the first four points of the second half for USU as the Aggies jumped out to a 16 points lead with 17:16 left in the game. A no-look pass from Brown to Christensen that led to a lay up put Utah State up 45-25 with less than 13 minutes left in the game. In the second half, the Aggies held a double-digit lead the whole half, taking as big a lead as 23 after a lay up by senior guard Brooke Jackson. Thirteen different players saw action for Utah State in the game with nine different Aggies' scoring. For the game, the Aggies shot 40.7 percent from the field (22-of-54) and 37.5 percent from three (6-of-16). Utah State shot 77.8 percent from the free throw line (14-of-18). The Broncos shot 35.2 percent from the field (19-of-54) and 33.3 percent from three (6-of-18). The Broncos shot 61.5 from the free throw line (8-of-13). Boise State made a season-high 25 turnovers. Utah State will now take a break to celebrate the holidays. The Aggies are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 3 against Asbury College at 7 p.m. USU will conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule on Saturday, Jan. 7, hosting Utah Valley at 7 p.m. Fans can follow USU women's basketball at http://twitter.com/UTAHSTATEofmind and Utah State athletics at http://twitter.com/USUAthletics. Live stats will be available for most Utah State women's basketball games through the women's basketball page on www.utahstateaggies.com, by clicking on GameTracker in the current events box. All home games can be viewed by clicking on "Watch Live." Both can be accessed on www.utahstateaggies.com on the front page or the women's basketball page. For tickets contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office at (435)797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) for more information or visit the Utah State athletic web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
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