Jan. 30, 2009

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State women's basketball lost to Hawai'i, 63-61, Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, snapping the Aggies' three-game win streak.

Rainbow Wahine Megan Tinnin's layup with 17.5 seconds left proved to be the game-winner, as the Aggies had two shots in the waning seconds rattle off the iron and out.

USU entered Friday with a three-game win streak and was going for its first four-game victory spurt since the 1980-81 season, but Hawai'i avenged its loss to Utah State last Saturday, after the Aggies beat the Rainbow Wahine, 52-43, in Honolulu.

The defeat drops USU to 10-11 overall and 4-4 in Western Athletic Conference play, while UH won its first league game, improving to 1-6 in conference play and 4-16 overall.

The Aggies are now 2-6 in WAC meetings with the Rainbow Wahine and are 4-7 all-time against them.

Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro led USU with 16 points, as well as tying game-bests with six assists and four steals, while her classmate and back court mate Ana Pares tossed in 10 points. It was Pares' 12th-straight double-digit scoring outing, while Snelgro tallied double-figures for the ninth time in her last 11 games.

Sophomore guard Alice Coddington tied a game and career high, leading USU with seven rebounds, as well as tying a career-high with four steals.

Hawai'i was led by 22 points from Megan Tinnin, while Dita Liepkalne tossed in 10 points. Keisha Kanekoa tied Coddington for game-high rebounds with seven, as the Rainbow Wahine out-rebounded the Aggies, 40-31.

UH had a 5-2 lead after a Kanekoa three-pointer just two minutes into the ballgame before USU took control, leading by as much as 35-25 after a layup by junior forward Nicole Johnson with 2:08 to play. Hawai'i scored the last four points of the half, as Tinnin tallied seven of the Rainbow Wahine's last nine points, including hitting a layup at the buzzer, making the score 35-29 at intermission.

Hawai'i rallied to knot the score at 39-all, but USU took a 51-43 lead on a layup by senior Ndoumbe Diop with 10:45 on the second-half clock. However, the Aggies couldn't put the Rainbow Wahine away, as UH roared back with a 12-1 run to take a 55-52 lead on a Liepkalne three-pointer with 6:47 to go.

Later, Rebecca Dew hit a layup with one minute left for a 61-58 Rainbow Wahine lead, but Snelgro drained a three-pointer from the right wing with 36.7 ticks on the clock, setting up Tinnin's game-winner.

USU shot 41.5 percent (27-of-65) from the floor, making 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from three-point range, while UH hit 23-of-54 (42.6 percent) field goal shooting, including 6-of-15 (40.0 percent) behind the arc.

One of the major differences in the game was at the free throw line, where Hawai'i was 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) compared to just 1-of-2 (50.0 percent) for Utah State.

The Aggies, who just came off a two-game road swing, will return to the road for their next three games, playing at Fresno State on Sunday, Feb. 1, at Nevada on Sunday, Feb. 8 before a 12-day layoff and then playing at Boise State on Friday, Feb. 20.

Utah State returns home to host Idaho on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

All Utah State women's basketball 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.

Aggie basketball tickets are available by contacting 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.