Dec. 21, 2006

LOGAN, Utah -

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GAME #10 - Saint Louis (7-5) at Utah State (3-6)
Friday Dec. 22, 7 p.m. (MT)
Logan, Utah • Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270)
Broadcast: 1390 AM • www.UtahStateAggies.com

QUICKLY - Utah State (3-6) continues its two-game homestand at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270) on Friday, Dec. 22, when the Aggies take on Saint Louis (7-5) at 7 p.m. (Mountain Time).

Utah State Athletics will be conducting a promo on Friday with Toys for Tots, and all fans who bring a toy to donate to CAPSA will receive free admission.

SCHEDULE TIME CHANGES - Utah State's game on Feb. 10 at Idaho, has been changed to a 6:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off.

ADMISSION - Ticket prices for the regular-season games are $5 for adults, $1 for youth. Contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office at (435)797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) for more information.

SEASON XIX - The 2006-07 season marks the 19th year of women's basketball at USU, and just the fourth since the program was restarted prior to the 2003-04 season. The women's hoops program at USU had been disbanded following the 1987 season due to budget cuts. USU is playing in its second season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.

AGGIES ON THE RADIO/WEB - Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play and Clair Anderson providing color commentary for home games. They can also be heard on the web by going to the women's basketball home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the LISTEN link.

GAMETRACKER - Fans can follow Aggie home games through the USU website at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.

WAC TV - WAC.tv is the Internet-based distribution system of WAC content. WAC.tv streams video with accompanying audio from the home team at a bit rate of 539 kilo bits per second. This bit rate is the equivalent to cable television resolution.

Whether on the road, at home, or in the office, WAC.tv will bring games to fans that they have never had access to before. All year long, WAC.tv will be home to some of the best match-ups, best stories, and best teams.

For more information and season ticket packages, go to www.WAC.tv.

CSTV - The WAC has seven women's basketball games on College Sports Television (CSTV) this season, including Utah State's game at New Mexico State on Feb. 5. The WAC Championship game on March 10 will also be televised on CSTV. Check your cable operator for local listings.

RETURNING - Head coach Raegan Pebley and the Aggies have three starters among eight letterwinners returning from last season's squad that posted a 3-24 overall record and 2-14 in the WAC... Junior forward Jenny Gross, junior guard Taylor Richards, and sophomore guard Danyelle Snelgro return, as well as seniors, forwards Brittany Hagen and Brittany (Tressler) Phillips, and guard Camille Brox.

ABOUT UTAH STATE - The Aggies are 3-6 overall, snapping their four-game losing skid with a 68-58 win over Portland on Wednesday. With the win, Utah State matches last season's win total (3-24).

In the WAC statistics, Utah State's season-low 41.2 percent (7-17) night at the free throw line Wednesday knocked the Aggies from their conference-leading perch in free throw percentage, as USU is now second (.713). The Aggies rank eighth in scoring offense (59.6 ppg) and sixth in scoring defense (68.6 ppg) to rank seventh in scoring margin (-7.0). USU also ranks sixth in both field goal percentage (.369) and three-point field goal percentage (.265). Defensively, USU is seventh in field goal pct. defense (.430) and fourth in three-point FG pct. defense (.304). The Aggies are ranked eighth in rebounding margin (-6.6), blocked shots (2.2 bpg) and assists (10.0 apg), while ranking fifth in steals (8.7 spg) and fourth in turnover margin (+4.4).

USU, which was second in the nation in the last NCAA stats, has four of five players that have shot at least 10 free throws shooting better 66.7 percent or better from the charity stripe.

Junior guard Taylor Richards (5-4, West Valley City, Utah), leads Utah State with 11.8 ppg, dishing out 2.8 apg and swiping 1.3 spg. Richards ranks ninth in the WAC in assists and 16th in scoring. Richards netted a career-high 26 points in USU's win over Idaho State on Nov. 17, hitting the game-winning two free throws with 2.9 seconds left. In Wednesday's win over Portland, Richards tallied 10 points while dishing out two assists.

Brittany Phillips, (SR, F, 6-0, Orem, Utah), tallies 10.3 ppg and pulls down a team-high 6.0 rpg. Phillips also is .333 from behind the three-point arc (4-12), but does not reach the required minimum to qualify for the league stats. Phillips does rank third in free throw pct. (.806, 25-31) and 10th in rebounding. On Wednesday against Portland, Phillips tied a game-high with seven rebounds, six points and doled out a season-high four assists.

Sophomore guard Danyelle Snelgro (5-5, Altadena, Calif.) posts 9.1 ppg, along with dishing out 2.6 apg and swiping 2.0 spg, ranking tied for eighth in the WAC in steals and 10th in assists. Snelgro would rank fifth in the league in free throw pct. (.762, 16-21), but she does not meet the minimum requirement. Wednesday's game saw Snelgro score six points, tie a season-high with four assists to match four rebounds.

Junior forward Lindsey Freeze (6-0, Provo, Utah) leads Utah State and would rank second in the WAC in free throw percentage (.875, 14-16), but doesn't meet the minimum requirement. Freeze missed her first free throw of the season at Montana on Dec. 4 after making the first 10 in a row. Freeze also leads the Aggies in field goal percentage (more than 20 attempts) with .425 (17-40).

RICHARDS SECOND ON USU CAREER ASSISTS LIST - Junior guard Taylor Richards now has 231 assists for her career, moving into sole possession of second-place on USU's Career Assist List. Pam Shirley (1977-79) holds the Aggies' career record with 245 assists.

RECORD-HOLDER HAGEN - Brittany Hagen became the USU record holder for career 3-pointers last year, and entered her senior season with 83 treys, ranking second in career 3-point FG percentage (83-234, .355). To date, Hagen is 93-269, .346 from three-point range for her career, including 10-35 (.286) this season.

NEW LAST NAME, SAME RECORD-HOLDER - Brittany (Tressler) Phillips got married this past summer, and she entered her senior season first in career 3-point FG percentage (50-132, .379), and is third in 3-pointers made, as well as second in career free throw percentage (128-170, .753).

To date, Phillips is 54-144 (.375) behind the three-point arc, including 4-12 (.333) this season.

Phillips is 155-201 (.769) career free throw shooting, going 25-31 (.806) this year.

PEBLEY'S BITS
- Now in her fourth season, head coach Raegan Pebley has an overall record of 25-66 (.275) in 91 games overall and a 2-14 (.125) mark in WAC action... Pebley is in her fourth season, which is tied for the most among USU women's basketball coaches. Fern Gardner (1972-76) and Cindy Perkins (1978-82) also had four-year tenures leading the Aggies' program. Gardner has the most wins (75) while Perkins has coached in the most games (115) in USU coaching history.

- The 2006 senior class will be the first group of players that Pebley has recruited and developed from freshmen to seniors, and this class will be the first senior class to be here four years since 1986-87, as USU reinstated women's basketball for the 2003-04 season.

- Seven players earned academic all-conference honors in 2006, the most under Pebley's tenure.

LAST TIME OUT - LOGAN, Utah - A 23-4 run in the first-half sparked by sophomore guard Ana Pares doubling her career-high with 10 points fueled Utah State women's basketball to a 68-58 win over Portland Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in the Aggies' first home game in almost a month.

The win snapped USU's four game losing skid, improving to 3-6 overall and was the first meeting between the Aggies and Pilots.

UP lost for the second game in a row and the Pilots are now 7-6. The loss was Portland's fifth in a row in the state of Utah and the Pilots are now 3-10 in Utah.

Pares netted a career-high 10 points, all in the first half, hitting all of career-high three three-pointers in succession over a span of less than three minutes as the Aggies rallied from down 12-6 at the 14:27 mark to take a 29-16 lead 10 minutes later at 4:27 and USU never looked back.

Junior forward Jenny Gross also tallied a career-high 17 points, tallying 11 in the second half as USU pulled away from its 34-25 halftime lead, pushing the gap to 62-47 at the 6:02 mark after a trey by senior forward Brittany Hagen.

Junior guard Taylor Richards added 10 points, while redshirt-freshman forward Sharvelle Hurd recorded career-highs of four points and six rebounds, including four on the offensive end as USU tied a season-high with 19 offensive boards. Utah State had a 22-9 advantage on second-chance points, as the Aggies had a 37-31 rebounding edge, marking the first time this season they have outrebounded the opposition.

Senior guard Camille Brox and freshman guard Indira Kaljo joined the career-high parade, as Brox had a career-high two blocks while Kaljo drained her first three-pointer in an Aggie uniform for a new career-high three points.

USU shot a palindromic 26-62 (41.9 percent) from the field, improving to 3-0 when shooting better than 40 percent from the field and hit season-high 9-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range. However, the Aggies were a season-low 41.2 percent (7-17) at the free throw line. Utah State also dished out a season-high 17 assists.

Portland was 20-43 (46.5 percent) field goal shooting, hitting 5-13 (38.5 percent) behind the three-point arc and the Pilots were 13-17 (76.5 percent) at the charity stripe, led by Laiken Dollente's 10-11 effort.

Rachel Warren led UP with 18 points, going 8-8 from the field, while Dollente added 17 points and Jennifer Wassom tossed in 16 points off the bench, hitting four three-pointers, after entering the game averaging just 4.3 ppg.

The Aggie defense forced 21 Pilot turnovers, which they converted into 24 points, while UP only scored 11 points off 12 USU turnovers, tying a season-low for the Aggies.

SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS - The Billikens are 7-5 after dropping the first game of their Utah swing, losing a 77-75 contest at Weber State Wednesday, as Weber's Sarah Tuomi hit a jumper with 4.6 seconds left for the game-winner. Saint Louis opened the season with five-straight wins, but have dropped five of the last seven games. Weber State was the second common opponent that the Billikens have with the Aggies, as Saint Louis lost at Iowa State (USU at Iowa State on Dec. 29) this past Saturday, losing 76-48, after trailing 51-17 at halftime.

SLU leads the Atlantic-10 Conference in scoring at 76.3 ppg and also lead the league in free throw percentage (.764) and three-pointers made (6.4).

The Billikens have three players in double-digits, led by 6-1 senior guard Tyler McIlwraith with 16.3 ppg, hitting 23-69 (33.3 percent) of her three-pointers. McIlwraith also leads the Billikens with 6.7 rpg and distributes 2.6 apg. Against Iowa State, McIlwraith posted a double-double with 15 points to go with a game and career-high 14 rebounds, and added 18 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's loss at Weber State.

Theresa Lisch, a 5-9 freshman guard, adds 15.8 ppg and doles out a team-high 3.3 apg, as well as leading the team with 2.3 spg. Lisch also leads SLU with a 90.8 percent (59-65) average at the free throw line, hitting 6-6 Wednesday. In the loss at Iowa State, Lisch had five points, but tied a career-high by swiping six steals. Against Weber State, Lisch tallied 20 points and two assists.

Five-nine freshman guard Katie Paganelli chips in 12.9 ppg, netting 11 points to go with four steals and three assists at Iowa State. Paganelli posted 10 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's loss at Weber State.

SLU head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller (Michigan, 1994) is 14-25 in her second season at the helm of the Billikens, posting a 7-20 mark her first year. Gray-Miller has five years of experience as an assistant coach, spending two seasons at Arizona after three seasons at Washington.

SERIES HISTORY - Last year was the first meeting between Utah State and Saint Louis, as the Billikens beat the Aggies, 75-61, on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2005 at Saint Louis.

LAST MEETING - Ali Marchant scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Utah State dropped an afternoon match-up with St. Louis, 75-61, on Dec. 31, 2005.

The loss was the fourth straight for USU as it fell to 1-9 overall. St. Louis improved to 3-8 with the win.

Marchant hit 7-of-9 shots from the floor in 35 minutes of play. Brittany Tressler was the only other Aggie to reach double-figures, pouring in 13 points off the bench.

Utah State played catch-up most of the first half as it battled back from deficits as large as nine to go into intermission down just one, 36-35.

The Aggies took their first lead, since 3-2 to open the game, when a Marchant lay-up gave USU a 39-38 edge with 18:38 on the clock. The Aggies and Bilikens would battle back and forth over the next four minutes before USU once again experienced a drought from the floor.

USU went 9:09 without a field goal, allowing St. Louis to grab a double-digit lead that it would never relinquish.

SLU had four players in double-figures led by 30 points from Tyler McIlwraith. McIlwraith went 12-for-21 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from three-point range.

The Aggies out rebounded the Bilikens 41-38, but were hampered by 22 turnovers. Taylor Richards dished-out a career-high nine assists as USU recorded 16 assists to St. Louis' 11.

UP NEXT - After the Holiday break, the Aggies head to Ames, Iowa to participate in the Iowa State Classic on Dec. 29-30. USU meets host Iowa State on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) and the Aggies will take on Colgate on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. (Mountain Time).

Utah State tips off WAC action on Jan. 4, hosting Boise State in a 7 p.m. start at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the first of a three-game homestand.