Jan. 13, 2007

LOGAN, Utah -

Complete Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

GAME #16 - Utah State (6-9, 2-1) at Louisiana Tech (7-9, 2-1)
Monday, Jan. 15, 6 p.m. (MT)
Ruston, La. • Thomas Assembly Center (8,000)
Broadcast: 1390 AM • www.UtahStateAggies.com

QUICKLY - After opening Western Athletic Conference action with three home games, Utah State (6-9, 2-1) hits the road for its first WAC road game, heading to Ruston, La., to take on Louisiana Tech (7-9, 2-1) at 6 p.m. (MT) at the Thomas Assembly Center (8,000).

Head coach Raegan Pebley announced Friday that she will not be traveling with the team to Ruston, due to her pregnancy.

Assistant coach George Brosky will be the acting head coach, with assistance from Kristy Flores and Erin Scholz.

USU matched last year's WAC win total with a 78-70 win over Idaho on Thursday, as the Aggies won consecutive games for the first time this season. With the win, USU beat Idaho for the second time in a row on the Aggies' home court, and USU is now 2-8 vs. Idaho.

The win was also gives USU its first back-to-back victories since February of 2005, and also doubled the Aggies' win total from last season when USU was 3-24.

In a battle of previous conference unbeatens, the Lady Techsters were stunned by Boise State, 68-47, Saturday night. It was La Tech's first conference home loss since Jan. 30, 1992, spanning 114-straight wins. In WAC action, La Tech is now 44-1 at home and 83-8 overall in WAC play. La Tech is the five-time defending WAC champions and were the preseason favorite this year.

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.

Note-1: Utah Sate's game at Boise State on Jan. 24 will be moved to KOOL 103.9 in Logan and 107.3 in Box Elder County that night only.

Note-2: Fans can now listen to archived broadcasts of Aggie women's basketball games, also 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 9-9 overall and 2-1 in WAC action, surpassing last season's win total (3-24) with USU's fourth win of the year, knocking off Colgate, 58-42, on Dec. 30. With Thursday's 78-70 win over Idaho, USU matched last year's WAC win total, as the Aggies won consecutive games for the first time this season.

The win was also gives USU its first back-to-back victories since February of 2005, and also doubled the Aggies' win total from last season when USU was 3-24.

In the WAC statistics, Utah State has regained its top spot in free throw percentage, after slipping as low as fifth since leading the league two weeks ago. As a team, USU is shooting .716 (174-243) at the charity stripe. The Aggies are seventh in both scoring offense (61.3 ppg) and scoring defense (67.6 ppg), to also rank seventh in the league in scoring margin (-6.3). USU also ranks fifth in field goal percentage (.382) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.296). Defensively, the Aggies are seventh in field goal percentage defense (.425) and fifth in three-point FG pct. (.304). Additionally, Utah State is eighth in rebounding margin (-4.1), seventh in blocked shots (2.47 bpg), eighth in assists (11.0 apg), sixth in steals (8.7 spg) and fifth in turnover margin (+0.67).

In WAC only games, USU is first in scoring offense, netting 76.3 ppg in the Aggies' three conference games. {See page 4 for complete WAC and WAC only rankings}

USU, which was second in the nation in the last NCAA stats (Dec. 2), has slipped out of the Top 50, currently ranked 79th. The Aggies have five players that have shot at least 15 free throws shooting 69.2 percent or better from the charity stripe.

Junior guard Taylor Richards (5-4, West Valley City, Utah), leads Utah State with 12.2 ppg, dishing out 2.9 apg and swiping 1.6 spg. Richards ranks seventh in the WAC in assists and 13th in scoring, as well as eighth in minutes played (32.7) and just out of the top 10 in free throw percentage (.692, 36-52).

Richards was named the WAC Player of the Week after tallying a career-high 28 points in USU's win over Fresno State on Jan. 6. {See below}

In Thursday's win over Idaho, Richards had 12 points, three assists and two steals, but did not attempt a free throw for just the fourth time this season.

Brittany Phillips, (SR, F, 6-0, Orem, Utah), tallies 10.3 ppg and pulls down a team-high 5.5 rpg. Phillips also is .409 from behind the three-point arc (9-22), a mark that would lead the conference but does not reach the required minimum to qualify for the league stats. Phillips does rank tied for second in free throw pct. (.809, 38-47) and is 13th in rebounding. Phillips netted a season-high for the second time in last three games, tallying 20 points, to go with five rebounds in Thursday's win.

Sophomore guard Danyelle Snelgro (5-5, Altadena, Calif.) posts 8.7 ppg, along with dishing out 2.7 apg and swiping 2.0 spg, ranking seventh in the WAC in steals and eighth in assists. In WAC only games, Snelgro leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.0) and is fourth in assists (4.0 apg). Snelgro would rank ninth in the league overall in free throw pct. (.711, 27-38), but she does not meet the minimum requirement. Snelgro distributed a career-high seven assists to go with six points and three steals on Thursday.

Junior forward Lindsey Freeze (6-0, Provo, Utah) ranks second on the team and would rank third in the WAC in free throw percentage (.789, 15-19), 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 team in field goal percentage (more than 25 attempts) with .422 (27-65), and would rank sixth in the conference if she met the minimum requirement.

Fellow junior forward Jenny Gross (6-2, Caldwell, Idaho) recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and a career-best tying 10 rebounds in Thursday's win. Gross is averaging 9.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg overall, but is averaging 12.7 ppg and a team-leading 7.7 rpg in conference action, tying her career-high of 10 rebounds twice.

RICHARDS NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Jan. 8 - Richards was named WAC Player of the Week after tallying a career-high 28 points, including 17 in the second half, in USU's win over Fresno State Saturday. In the game, she also dished out four assists to give her 248 for her career and became USU's career assists leader, passing Pam Shirley (1977-79) with 245 assists. She also had four steals in the contest. She also made a career-high 10 free throws, finishing the night 10-11.

In Thursday's 80-70 loss to Boise State, Richards had 11 points to go with five assists and three steals.

In the Aggies' two games, Richards shot 50.0 percent (13-26) from the field, including 2-5 (40.0 percent) from three-point range, hitting 2-3 Saturday.

Richards' 28 points was the most scored by an Aggie under head coach Raegan Pebley since Christina Zdenek tallied 31 in a USU win on Jan. 10, 2004 over Cal Poly, when current USU assistant coach Kristy Flores was an assistant at Cal Poly. That win was USU's first win since reinstating the program for the 2003-04 season.

The honor is the first WAC Player of the Week award for a Utah State player since joining the WAC last season, and is the first conference player of the week honor since Ali (Aird) Marchant was named Big West Player of the Week on Feb. 21, 2005. Overall it is the third conference player of the week honor awarded to an Aggie player under head coach Raegan Pebley, as Christina Zdenek received a Big West honor on Oct. 29, 2004.

RICHARDS IS USU CAREER ASSISTS RECORD HOLDER - Junior guard Taylor Richards now has 251 assists for her career, surpassing Pam Shirley for the top spot on USU's Career Assist List, as Shirley had 245 assists from 1977-79.

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 102-295, .346 from three-point range for her career, including 19-61 (.311) this season. Hagen hit her 100th career three-pointer last Saturday, part of her season-high three treys on the way to a season-high 14 points.

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 59-154 (.383) behind the three-point arc, including 9-22 (.350) this season.

Phillips is 168-217 (.774) career free throw shooting, going 38-47 (.809) this year.

PEBLEY'S BITS
- Head coach Raegan Pebley will not be traveling with the team to La Tech due to her pregnancy.

- Now in her fourth season, head coach Raegan Pebley has an overall record of 28-69 (.289) in 97 games overall and a 4-15 (.211) 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 (55) 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 - Brittany Phillips scored a season-high 20 points and Jenny Gross recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and a career-best tying 10 rebounds as Utah State defeated Idaho 78-70 in women's basketball action here Thursday night.

The Aggies improved to 6-9 overall and 2-1 in the WAC, while Idaho fell to 3-11 and 0-3, as the Vandals lost their seventh in a row and eighth in the last nine WAC regular-season games dating back to last year.

The win was also USU's second win over Idaho at Logan and the Aggies are now 2-8 all-time vs. Idaho.

Utah State held off a late Idaho rally to get the win. The Aggies built up an 18-point lead less than four minutes into the second half after a pair of Gross free throws gave the home team a 50-32 lead.

Idaho cut the margin to 62-60 on a three-pointer by Sara Dennehy at the 6:37 mark, but the Vandals could never take the lead. USU responded with a 5-1 run behind a Taylor Richards three pointer and a layup by Gross. USU then pushed its lead to as many as nine en route to the win.

The Aggies raced out to a 43-27 halftime lead, shooting 51.6 percent from the field. USU's 43 points were one shy of its most points in any half this season behind only the 44 the Aggies scored in the second half against Idaho State on Nov. 17.

USU cooled off in the second half, shooting just 36.7 percent to finish the game at 44.3 percent. Idaho shot 40.7 percent, including 52.0 percent in the second half during its comeback.

USU had a third player reach double-figure points in the game as Richards hit five of eight shots for 12 points. Danyelle Snelgro handed out a career high seven assists, while also adding three steals to go along with six points for the Aggies.

SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH - The Lady Techsters are 7-9 overall and 2-1 in WAC play, after losing to Boise State, 68-47, in a battle of previous conference unbeatens. Boise State hit nine three-pointers and shot 42.9 percent from the field, while limiting La Tech to 31.6 percent field goal shooting, including 1-11 (9.1 percent) from three-point range. The Lady Techsters also committed 19 turnovers and shot just 43.5 percent (10-23) at the free throw line.

La Tech had not lost a home conference game in 15 years spanning 114 games, the last home league loss was on January 30, 1992 to New Orleans 69-54.

The Lady Techsters are now 82-8 all-time in WAC games, and now 44-1 at home.

La Tech is averaging 62.6 ppg, ranking fifth in the WAC in scoring offense, while yielding 62.7 ppg, ranking second in the league, to rank fourth in scoring margin (-0.1).

Ty Moore, a 6-2 senior forward, leads La Tech with 12.9 ppg, which ranks ninth in the WAC. Ty Moore also ranks second in the league and 48th in the nation with 9.3 rpg. In Saturday's loss to Boise State, Ty Moore posted her eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Shan Moore (no relation to Ty Moore) is a 5-10 senior guard and averages 11.6 ppg, ranking 15th in the conference in scoring. Shan Moore is also third in the league in three-point FG pct. (.385, 25-65) and fifth in three-pointers made (25, 1.56 pg), as well as eighth in the league with 1.9 spg. On Saturday, Shan Moore had four points, five rebounds and two steals.

La Tech head coach Chris Long (Southern Miss, 1991) is in his second year at the helm of the Lady Techsters, posting a 26-5 mark in his first season. Overall, Long has a 33-14 mark at La Tech, becoming head coach after a six-year stint as an assistant on the Lady Techsters' staff.

SERIES HISTORY - Monday is just the third meeting between Utah State and Louisiana Tech, as the Lady Techsters won both meetings last season, 73-56 at Logan on Feb. 4 and 88-54 at Ruston a week later on Feb. 11.

LAST YEAR'S MEETINGS - In the first ever meeting between Utah State and Louisiana Tech, Jessica Freeman led three Utah State players in double-figures with 18 points, but Aarica Ray-Boyd scored 29 points for No. 24 Louisiana Tech as the Lady Techsters walked away with a 73-56 win on Feb. 4.

Freeman's 18 points came on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. She also led the Aggies with seven rebounds and two blocks.

Utah State was able to play with La Tech for the first 10 minutes of the game as it trailed by just three points (12-9) at the 9:50 mark of the half. The Lady Techsters then used a 17-4 run over the next eight minutes to take a 29-13 lead with just under two minutes left in the half.

The Aggies then scored 14 straight points, which was more than they had scored in the first 18 minutes of the game, as they went into the locker room down just two, 29-27. The run was capped off by a half court shot by Danyelle Snelgro that banked in at the buzzer.

Ashley Rutledge and Snelgro joined Freeman in double-figure scoring with 11 and 10 respectively. Lindsey Freeze was USU's next highest scorer with six.

USU stayed within six of La Tech for the opening five minutes of the half, but then allowed the visitors to push their lead to double digits and were never able to get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

A week later on Feb. 11 at Ruston, Aarica Ray-Boyd scored a game-high 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists to lead 23rd-ranked Louisiana Tech to an 88-54 win against Utah State.

Danyelle Snelgro scored a season-high 14 points for Utah State, while Ali Marchant added 10 points.

Louisiana Tech scored the first 11 points of the game before Utah State scored its first points on a pair of free throws from Marchant with 14:49 remaining in the half. USU eventually cut the lead to five at 21-16 with 8:26 remaining on a jumper by Taylor Richards, but the Lady Techsters ended the half on a 20-4 run to take a 21 point led into the break at 41-20. Utah State shot just 30.8 percent from the field in the opening period, while Louisiana Tech shot 43.9 percent.

Louisiana Tech opened the second-half on a 19-6 run to extend its advantage to 60-26 with 13:50 remaining, and held its biggest led of the game at 81-42 with 4:30 remaining.

Overall, Utah State shot 33.3 percent from the field and committed 24 turnovers in the game, while Louisiana Tech shot 47.9 percent and out-rebounded USU 46-33.

UP NEXT - The Aggies return home to host San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. (MT).