Nov. 19, 2008

Box Score | Photo Gallery

LOGAN, Utah - Senior guard Ana Pares' career-high 18 points powered Utah State past Northern Arizona in overtime, 64-56, Wednesday night in women's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies also got double-doubles from senior guard Danyelle Snelgro and junior forward Lydia Whitehead to chop down the Lumberjacks for USU's first victory of the season.

Utah State evened its record at 1-1, while NAU fell to 0-3. USU now leads the all-time series with NAU, 13-4. The Aggies got their first win of the year in only their second game this season compared to not nabbing victory until their sixth contest last year.

"I am just really proud of the team from the starters to the players on the bench. From the very beginning our team was going to refuse to lose. They had a lot of positive energy," said USU head coach Raegan Pebley, who improved to 3-2 in OT games in her six years at the helm of the Aggies.

Pares netted five-straight points in overtime for the Aggies to secure the win as USU out-scored NAU, 13-5 in the extra frame, holding the Lumberjacks scoreless for four minutes.

With 18 points Wednesday, Pares topped her career high for the second-straight week topping last week's against Portland, as the Aggies rallied from a 34-27 halftime deficit. Snelgro added 13 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds, while Whitehead notched her second double-double in as many games with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Junior forward Nicole Johnson added eight rebounds to go with seven points as well as swatting a career-high eight blocked shots, tying a school-record for single-game blocked shots, matching Jill Swainston's eight in 1987.

Northern Arizona was led by Lauren Hoisington's 18 points, while Katie Schafer added 10 points. Jenna Galloway pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

USU was 22-of-55 (40.0 percent) from the field, including 3-of-9 (33.3 percent) behind the three-point arc. The Aggies shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the free throw line, hitting 7-of-9 in OT.

NAU shot 32.3 percent (21-of-65) field goal shooting, hitting 6-of-15 (40.0 percent) from three-point range. At the free throw line, the Lumberjacks were 8-of-13 (61.5 percent).

Snelgro and Whitehead's rebounding helped USU to a 50-38 advantage, overcoming 20 turnovers compared to 15 for NAU.

Both teams struggled out of the gate, as NAU took a 2-0 lead and USU had three turnovers before getting its first shot of the game. The Aggies eventually caught fire and opened a 23-16 lead with 7:39 to play in the first half on a Pares three-point play. Two free pitches from Snelgro gave USU a 27-25 lead with 3:42 in the half, but the Lumberjacks closed out the half with a 7-0 run to take a 34-27 intermission lead.

An 8-2 USU run on three Whitehead buckets and a Snelgro layup to start the second half put the Aggies on top, 37-36, five minutes into the second period. The Lumberjacks chopped away to take a 49-44 lead on a Hoisington jumper, capping a 10-1 NAU run.

After going nearly five minutes without a field goal, USU got a three-pointer from the right wing and a Johnson jumper to knot the score at 49-all with 2:15 to play. Two NAU free throws from Katie Pratt with 1:12 remaining gave the Lumberjacks a short-lived lead, but a long pass from Pares to sophomore guard Alice Coddington for the layup with 8.2 seconds remaining tied it back up. NAU's Janelle Matthews missed a long three-pointer with two ticks left to force OT.

The extra frame saw USU hold NAU to just 1-of-9 field goal shooting. Pares provided the scoring for the Aggies, as she hit a baseline jumper then a flailing runner as the shot clock buzzer sounded and was fouled with 47.6 seconds left to give USU a 60-53 lead and the Aggies hung on for the victory.

The Aggies are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 22 at home against Idaho State. Tip off is 7 p.m.