Nov. 24, 2008

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

LOGAN, Utah - After trailing for the majority of the game, Utah State rallied for a 42-39 win over Montana State-Northern Monday night in women's basketball action. The win evened USU's record at 2-2, the Aggies' first .500 record since Nov. 27, 2006 when they were also 2-2.

Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro led USU with 10 points, the only Aggie in double-figures, while the junior forward duo of Lydia Whitehead and Nicole Johnson both had seven rebounds. Whitehead had eight points, and Johnson had a team-high three blocks.

MSU-Northern also had only one double-digit scorer in Taylor Keller's 10 points, while Stacie Barker pulled down seven rebounds to go with a game-high six blocked shots.

Utah State took a 2-0 lead but then was behind for the majority of the game, as the visiting Skylights pulled away from a 12-12 tie with a 7-1 run to take a 19-13 lead and later led 23-19 at intermission, USU's fewest first half points this season.

The Skylights opened a 29-22 lead four minutes into the second stanza before the Aggies countered with a 7-0 run, started and ended by senior guard Ana Pares, the last knotting the score at 29-all. MSU-N took a 33-30 lead on a Laramie Schwenke jumper with 9:33 on the clock. USU then scored eight unanswered points to take its first lead since 2-0 with the last two buckets by senior forward Shawnta Pope for a 38-33 lead with 4:24 to play. Pope's second basket came off a nice jump pass from Snelgro.

With 1:26 remaining, a basket by Stacie Barker pulled the Skylights within one at 40-39, but MSU-N couldn't regain the lead, and Snelgro drained a pair of free throws with 12.7 seconds left to open a three-point lead. The Skylights scrambled for a game-tying shot, but Awilda Hernandez's shot from the top of the arc was short with five seconds remaining and USU ran out the clock.

Utah State was 15-of-48 (31.3 percent) from the field and were 66.7 percent (12-of-18) at the free throw line, while MSU-Northern was 14-of-49 (28.6 percent) field goal shooting and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) at the charity stripe.

Neither team made a three-pointer as the Aggies were 0-of-6 behind the arc, while the Skylights were 0-of-7 from three-point land.

USU had a 40-34 rebounding edge and each team had 15 turnovers apiece.

The Aggies hit the road for the first time this season, heading to El Paso, Texas for the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic, facing Texas State on Friday, Nov. 28 at 4:30 p.m. (MT). USU will also play on Saturday, Nov. 29 against either Monmouth or host UTEP.