Dec. 8, 2008
LOGAN, Utah -
GAME #8Utah State (4-3) vs. BYU (5-2)Sat., Dec. 13, 3:00 p.m. • Provo, UtahMarriott Center (22,700)Broadcast: 1390 AM (Tape Delay) •Television: BYUTV www.UtahStateAggies.com
TIP OFF - With a 4-3 start, the Aggies are off to their best start since the 1980-1981 season. In that season, USU also started the season 4-3 before dropping four-straight games. That team went on to finish 12-19 with a 5-5 Intermountain Athletic Conference record.
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SCOUTING BYU - During the week, the Aggies will focus not only on practice, but also prep for finals. USU is back in action in the first of four instate rivalries when the Aggies take on BYU on Saturday, Dec. 13 in Provo. The game will be televised on BYUTV at 3 p.m. The Cougars are off to a solid start this season, boasting a 5-2 record. At the Huiklau Invitational, Jazmine Foreman scored 19 points and Coriann Wood added 14, both career-high point totals, as the Cougars overcame a six-point halftime deficit to beat USC, 65-64, on Saturday. BYU also beat Wright State, 56-50, on Dec. 5. BYU also has wins against WAC opponent Nevada, Oregon and Southern Utah. BYU is 2-0 against the mighty Pac-10 this season Under head coach Jeff Judkins, the Cougars have three players averaging in double digits, Shawnee Slade (12.6 ppg), Mindy Nielson (12.4 ppg) and Haley Hall (11.0). BYU holds a strong 25-1 series lead, including a, 70-64, win in Logan last year. USU's lone win against the Cougars was on Dec. 7, 1978 in Logan, 80-72. BYU will take on another instate foe Weber State on Dec. 10 in Provo before taking on the Aggies on Dec. 13.
LAST TIME OUT - Junior Lydia Whitehead scored a career-high 21 points, including four in overtime to lead the Utah State women's basketball team to a thrilling, 71-65, win over Eastern Washington in an early afternoon soiree at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. With the win, the Aggies improve to 4-3 which is their best start since starting 4-3 during the 1980-81 season. The 71 points that the Aggies scored was the most scored this season due in part to a career-high eight assists by sophomore guard Aggie Alice Coddington. Her former career high was three which she had done twice most recently against Monmouth on Nov. 29. The senior duo of Ana Pares and Danyelle Snelgro both scored 15 points in the win. USU was led on the boards by Whitehead and junior Nicole Johnson who both had six. Utah State is now 2-0 in overtime games this season with a, 65-56, win over Northern Arizona on Nov. 19. The Aggies have out-scored their opponents in 25-11 in extra time this season. USU is now 2-1 against the Big Sky Conference with wins against Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona and a loss to Idaho State.
CLASSIC CODDINGTON - Sophomore Alice Coddington had a classic performance against the Eagles of Eastern Washington. The guard had a career-high eight assists in the win. Her previous career high was three most recently against Monmouth on Nov. 29.
UTEP THANKSGIVING CLASSIC - Both Danyelle Snelgro and fellow guard Ana Pares were named to the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic all-tournament team as voted on by the tournament's four coaches. Hawk Jennifer Bender was named both Defensive and tournament Most Valuable Player. Snelgro and Pares both game within a point of their career highs when they scored 17 points in the win against Texas State.
PEBLEY CLIMBS THE CHARTS - With a win against Eastern Washington on Dec. 6, USU head coach Raegan Pebley now has 46 wins. The 46 wins as Aggie head coach puts her alone in second just passing Fern Gardner (1972-1976) who had 45 wins. She is five wins away from tying Cindy Perkins (1978-1982) who had 51 wins on the all-time win list.
ENDURANCE AGGIES - Three of the Aggies' five starters are among the leaders in the WAC in minutes played. Danyelle Snelgro is second behind Idaho's Charlotte Otero, averaging 38.71 minutes per game. Ana Pares is fourth in the WAC in minutes played, averaging 36.43, while Nicole Johnson rounds out the trio of fit Aggies. Johnson averages 31.71 mpg which places her in 14th.
ADMISSION - Admission to Utah State's women's basketball games is $5 for adults, $1 for youth. Season tickets are also available $65 for adults and $10 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 or visit the Utah State athletic web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
AGGIES AGAINST EVERYONE - Eastern Washington was the third team from the Big Sky Conference that the Aggies have faced this season. USU is 2-1 against the Big Sky with a win against Northern Arizona and a loss to Idaho State. USU is 0-1 against the Northeast Conference after a loss to Monmouth, while the Aggies hold a 1-0 record against the Southland Conference with a win against Texas State. Finally, the Aggies are 0-1 against the West Coast Conference after a season-opening loss to Portland. This week, USU will take on its first opponent from the Mountain West Conference against BYU on Dec. 13. The Aggies will also take on UNLV on Dec. 30.
Aggies vs. ConferencesBig Sky Conference 2-1Northeast Conference 0-1Southland Conference 1-0Non-Division I Opponents 1-0West Coast Conference 0-1
TUBE TIME - The Aggies will make their first appearance on television this week. USU's instate battle with BYU will be televised by BYUTV. Tip off time is set for 3 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the BYU men's team. CLOSING IN - Utah State is only five wins away from tying last season's win total, as the Aggies went 9-20 last season. Last year, USU had to wait until the calendar changed to 2008 to get its fourth win, earning the fourth win on Jan. 2, 2008.
AGGIES IN THE WAC STATS - Utah State remains first in the WAC in scoring defense, holding teams to 53.9 points per game. The Aggies are also tops in field goal defense (.345), while standing second in rebound margin (+3.0). USU moved up to second in blocks, averaging 4.71 blocks per game. Individually, Nicole Johnson is second in blocks per game, averaging 2.29 bpg. Senior Danyelle Sneglro is tied for 11th in scoring (13.0 ppg), sixth in assists (2.86 apg) and tied for fifth in steals with Nevada's Dellena Criner (2.00 spg).
CAREER HIGH: THE SEQUEL - With 18 points against Northern Arizona on Nov. 19, senior guard Ana Pares topped her career high for the second-straight week. Against Portland on Nov. 14, the senior scored 11 points in the Aggies loss. Before the 11-point outburst against the Pilots, her previous high was 10 also against Portland in 2006.
PARES CONTINUES HOT START - After setting career highs in scoring back-to-back games, Ana Pares switched gears and set a career high in rebounds with eight in the Nov. 22 loss to Idaho State. Her previous high was five rebounds at New Mexico State on Jan. 12, 2008.
WHITEHEAD HONORED - Junior guard Lydia Whitehead has been named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week it was announced on Monday. The USU weekly award is voted on by a state media panel. Whitehead is the second women's basketball player to be honored in the last three weeks after senior guard Ana Pares earned the award on Nov. 24. Whitehead (Nibley, Utah), a junior center, scored a career-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds and three blocks in Utah State's 71-65 overtime win against Eastern Washington on Saturday. Whitehead scored the game-tying layup with nine seconds remaining to force overtime and then had four points in the extra period as the Aggies out-scored the Eagles, 12-6.
TURNING 21 - The 2008-09 season marks the 21st year of women's basketball at USU, and just the sixth 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 fourth season in the Western Athletic Conference after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS - The Aggies have two remaining games this month before December hits. USU has three home games in the month of December. On Dec. 6, USU will take on Eastern Washington at 11 a.m. The early start is due to the fact that the Utah State men's team will take on BYU at 5 p.m. in Salt Lake City. On Dec. 16 USU will face Portland State before closing out the month against Southern Utah on Dec. 20.
AGGIES ON THE RADIO/WEB - All Utah State home games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play and Ashley Rutledge providing color commentary for home games. They can also be heard on the web by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
GAMETRACKER - Fans can follow Aggie home games through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.
USU VS. NCAA - The Aggies are 27th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 53.9 points per game. West Virginia is first in the country, averaging only 44.3 ppg. USU is also in the top 50 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense. It is 31st in the country keeping teams to shooting .345. Junior Nicole Johnson is 37th in country and second in the WAC in blocks per game, averaging 2.3 bpg.
COACH PEBLEY - Head coach Raegan Pebley is entering her sixth season as head coach at Utah State, which is the longest tenure in the program's history. Five games into last season, Pebley overtook the lead for the most games coached in Utah State history (116). She has now coached 147 games for the blue and white. Pebley now has 46 wins as Aggie head coach which places her in second in wins just ahead of Fern Gardner (45)and just behind Cindy Perkins (51) on the all-time win list.
ON THE INTERNET - All of Utah State's home games are available to watch live through Utah State TV via the internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com. USU fans can also listen to every game both home and away, via USU's web site.
FAMILIAR FACES - Head coach Raegan Pebley and the Aggies have two starters among nine letterwinners returning from last season's squad that posted an 9-20 overall record and 5-11 in the WAC in senior guard Danyelle Snelgro and senior center Ndoumbe Diop.
AROUND THE COURT - News and Notes from around the Aggie basketball court.
• After sitting out last season, junior Lydia Whitehead finally sees the court this season. The transfer from Utah is a center who looks to make an impact this season.
• The Aggies are a very international team with players from six different countries, including Australia (Stacey Howard), Japan (Erika Guatavai), Canada (Zana Williams), Senegal (Banna Diop and Ndoumbe Diop) and the United States (10 players).
• Six different returning players saw time in at least 20 games last season (Snelgro, Pares, Johnson, Ndoumbe Diop and White). Four different returners (Snelgro, Johnson, Coddington and Diop) logged at least 300 minutes.
AGGIES VS THE COUGARS REWIND - In the 2007 meeting, three Aggies scored in double-figures with Jamelah Brown, Taylor Richards and Jade Hatchett all scoring 11 points to lead Utah State, as USU fell to Brigham Young, 70-64, Saturday evening here at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Utah State fell to 3-8 on the year, while BYU improved to 6-6 overall. Sophomore center Nicole Johnson and junior guard Ana Pares scored nine points each, while senior guards Brown and Richards pulled down six and four rebounds a piece to go with their 11 points, as USU was outrebounded by BYU, 41-27. Richards tallied a team-high four assists and freshman guard Hatchett scored a career-high 11 points. Mallary Carling scored 19 points and added seven rebounds to lead BYU, while Keilani Moeaki tallied 14 points and Lauren Varley scored 10 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.
AGGIE ALGEBRA
1-Total number of first-place votes that Utah State received in the WAC Coaches' poll. Boise State was picked to finish first.
2A-The number of players on the 2008-09 roster hailing from the Beehive state of Utah (Lydia Whitehead and Ana Pares). It is also the number of players from Senegal (Banna Diop and Ndoumbe Diop).
2B-The number of overtime wins USU has this season in two tries with wins over Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington.
4A-The number of seniors leading this year's Aggie squad, including Danyelle Snelgro, Ndoumbe Diop, Shawnta Pope and Ana Pares.
4B-The most consecutive road games that USU will play from Dec. 22 to Jan. 5 (Weber State, UNLV, Utah Valley and Idaho).
5-Total number of players on this year's roster standing 6-0 or taller.
6-A career high number of rebounds that Ndoumbe Diop had in the Aggies win over Texas State on Nov. 28.
8A-Ana Pares had a career-high eight rebounds in a loss to Idaho State on Nov. 22.
8B-Alice Coddington also had a career high with the number eight. She scored a career high with eight assists against Eastern Washington.
10-The number of wins that it would take to pass the nine-win total from 2007-08.
13-Danyelle Snelgro leads the team in scoring averaging, 13.0 points per game.
21-The career high number of points Lydia Whitehead scored in an overtime win against Eastern Washington on Dec. 6
17-Both Ana Pares and Danyelle Snelgro came within one point of their career highs in points scored in the Aggies in against Texas State.
18-Pares scored a career-high 18 points against Northern Arizona on Nov. 19. Her previous high was 11 also against the Portland on Nov. 14.
46-Head coach Raegan Pebley's win total at the helm of the USU team.
53.9-The amount of points per game Utah State has allowed per game in six contests this season.
228-Number of career assists that Aggie Snelgro has.
365-Total number of points that the Aggies have scored this young season.
1980-81-USU's 4-3 start is its best since the 1980-81 season.
