Jan. 4, 2009

MOSCOW, Idaho - GAME #14 Utah State (6-7, 0-0 WAC) at Idaho (3-9, 0-1 WAC) Monday, Jan. 5, 7:00 p.m. • Moscow, Idaho Cowan Spectrum (7,000) Broadcast: KLGN 1390 AM www.UtahStateAggies.com

TIP OFF - Utah State is in the midst of its longest road trip of the season as the Aggies will play their fourth-straight road game on Monday, Jan. 5 against Idaho in Moscow, Idaho at 8:00 p.m. MT. USU is 1-2 so far on this road trip with a win at Weber State on Dec. 22, a loss to UNLV on Dec. 28 and a defeat at Utah Valley on Jan. 3. The Aggies will begin their fourth season in the Western Athletic Conference against the Vandals. Following the WAC opener with Idaho, the Aggies will finally return home for their WAC opener against New Mexico State on Jan. 8.

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SCOUTING IDAHO - Idaho dropped its first WAC game of the season, 60-56, to Boise State in the team's WAC opener on Saturday, Jan. 3. Just six days after missing 11 free throws in a four-point loss at Portland, the Vandal women missed eight in a four-point loss against Boise State. Idaho additionally turned the ball over 21 times - most of them bad passes or unforced errors. Freshman Shaena Kuehu came off the bench to lead Idaho with 14 points on six-of-12 shooting, along with eight rebounds in 24 minutes. Sophomore Yinka Olorunnife, the team's leading scorer on the year, dropped in 13 points along with nine rebounds with one assist and one steal, but was limited during the second half after getting into foul trouble. The Vandals are currently 3-9 this season, 0-1 in the WAC. Idaho and Utah State have played two common opponents so far this season, Eastern Washington and Portland. Both teams defeated the Eagles and both lost to Portland. Idaho is under the direction of first-year head coach, Jon Newlee, who was previously head coach at Idaho State. Idaho is led Yinka Olorunnife who averages 14.0 points and 10 rebounds per game. Olorunnife's 10.0 rpg leads the conference. Charlotte Otero leads the WAC in minutes played averaging 39.67 mpg. Idaho leads the overall series, 10-3, including winning both meeting last season. The Aggies fell to the Vandals in overtime, 70-64, in Moscow before losing at home, 67-55.

LAST TIME OUT - A career-high 25 points from senior guard Ana Pares was not enough to stop Utah Valley and the explosive Robyn Fairbanks who scored 33 as the USU women's basketball team lost its second-straight game, 84-79, to the Wolverines in Orem, Utah on Jan. 3. With the loss, Utah State enters Western Athletic Conference play with a 6-7 record, while Utah Valley improves to 6-7 with the win. The 79 points scored by the Aggies were the most points scored this season, including three overtime games. The 84 points allowed were also the most allowed by the defensive-minded Aggies this season as they entered the game allowing only 54.0 points per game. Fairbanks and junior guard Jamie McMurray combined for 64 of UVU's 84 points. Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro ended the game with 17 points, while junior forward Nicole Johnson scored 10. Coddington scored eight points, while senior forward Shawnta Pope added a season-high seven points for the Aggies.

AGGIES IN OPENERS- Utah State will begin its fourth season in the WAC on Monday, Jan. 5 at Idaho. This is the first year that USU will start WAC play on the road. It is also the first time that the Aggies begin with the Vandals of Idaho. In its first season, USU fell to San Jose State in Logan, 63-51, while losing to Boise State in 2006-07, 80-70. Last season, the Aggies earned their first WAC opener win with a 68-58 win over San Jose State. While this is the first WAC opener against Idaho, USU has opened conference play against the Vandals when both teams were in the Big West. Idaho defeated the Aggies to open the 2003-04 season with a loss to Idaho, 62-51. Since the reinstatement of the program in the 2003-04 season, the Aggies are 1-5 in conference openers.

Utah State in WAC Openers 2005-06 L, vs. San Jose State, 51-63 2006-07 L, vs Boise State, 70-80 2007-08 W, vs. San Jose State, 68-58 2008-09 at Idaho on Jan. 5

Utah State in Big West Openers 2003-04 L, at Idaho, 51-62 2004-05 L, at UC Santa Barbara, 41-61

FIVE FROM THE TOP - Senior Danyelle Snelgro is rapidly approaching the top all-time in steals. With two steals in the loss to Utah Valley on Jan. 3, Snelgro is now five spots from tying all-time steal leader Margaret Johns (1980-83). Johns ended her career with 175 steals, while Snelgro just stole her 170th ball. Snelgro is two steals from tying former teammate Taylor Richards (2005-08) with 172.

HIGH-SCORING PARES - Once again, senior guard Ana Pares topped her career high in points when she scored 25 in a loss to Utah Valley on Jan. 3. Starting the season, her career high was 10 points against Portland in 2006. To start this season, Pares scored 11 points once again against Portland for a new career high. This high would not stand long as the senior scored 18 points against Northern Arizona on Nov. 19.

LONG-ROAD HOME - After four-straight road games, Utah State will return home on Thursday, Jan. 8 against New Mexico State which is the first of four-straight games at the friendly confines of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Last season, the Aggies of NMSU went 2-0 against the Aggies of USU.

FAMILIAR FIVE - Utah State has been nothing if not consistent. In 13 games this season, the Aggies have started the same five for every game. Danyelle Snelgro, Ana Pares, Alice Coddington, Lydia Whitehead and Nicole Johnson have started all 13 games for USU this season.

ROAD WARRIORS - During this current road trip Utah State will stay in four different cities in four days. After the Utah Valley game on Jan. 3, USU headed to Salt Lake City before traveling to its next destination. On Jan. 4, the Aggies will head to Moscow to prepare for their WAC opener against the Vandals. Fol lowing the game, USU will travel to Spokane and venture back to Logan on Jan. 6.

CAREER DAY FOR SNELGRO - Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro kicked off the holiday season with a career day as the Aggies defeated Weber State for the first time since 1984. Snelgro scored 19 points, 13 in the first half, en route to a 44-41 win over the Wildcats. Her previous high was 18 points at Utah Valley in 2006. Snelgro's point explosion helped the Aggies capture their second road win of the season. WELCOME TAHARA - Junior Tahara Williams played in her first game for Utah State against Portland State on Dec. 16 after transferring from Colgate. At Colgate, Williams was named to the Patriot League all-Rookie team her freshman season. She had 14 double-digit scoring performances at Colgate.

ON THE BOARDS - Utah State is 5-1 when out-rebounding its opponents. In the win against Southern Utah, the Aggies out-rebounded the Thunderbirds, 48-34, including a season-high 27 offensive rebounds. USU had 20 offensive rebounds in the win against Northern Arizona and 50 total.

PEBLEY CLIMBS THE CHARTS - With a win against Weber State on Dec. 22, USU head coach Raegan Pebley now has 48 wins. The 48 wins as Aggie head coach puts her alone in second just passing Fern Gardner (1972-1976) who had 45 wins. She is three wins away from tying Cindy Perkins (1978-1982) who had 51 wins on the all-time win list.

JAMMIN' JOHNSON - Aside from having a stellar season swatting balls, Nicole Johnson is also having a solid season on the boards. In Utah State's win against Weber State, Johnson set a new career high with 10 rebounds, one offensive and nine defensive. This season, she has 88 rebounds, averaging 6.8 rpg. Johnson is currently tied for sixth in the WAC in rebounding, while teammate Lydia Whitehead is fourth, averaging 6.9 rpg.

NIFTY NIKKI - Junior Nicole Johnson is having a solid first half of the season. The forward is second in the WAC in blocks, averaging 2.33 blocks per game, just behind Louisiana Tech's Shanvia Dowdell. She now has 29 total blocks this season. She has already passed her block total from last season as Johnson ended the 2007-08 season with 22 blocks. The junior is also scoring almost 5.0 points per game well above her career average of 2.1 entering this season. Johnson is now fifth all-time in career blocks with 57. She is three blocks away from tying Candy Cashell's (1982-84) 60 blocks for No. 4.

ENDURANCE AGGIES - Four 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 38.46 minutes per game. The two longest playing players in the WAC will face off on Monday, Jan. 5 when Snelgro travels to Otero's Idaho. Ana Pares is third in the WAC in minutes played, averaging 37.31. Nicole Johnson averages 32.77 mpg which places her 11th, while Alice Coddington rounds out the quartet of fit Aggies. Coddington averages 30.62 mpg, which places her 17th in the WAC.

AGGIES AGAINST EVERYONE - The Aggies rounded out non-conference play against Utah Valley on Jan. 3. Portland State was the fourth team from the Big Sky Conference that the Aggies have faced this season. USU is 2-2 against the Big Sky with a win against Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington 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. USU is now 0-2 against the Mountain West Conference with a loss to BYU on Dec. 13 and a loss to UNLV on Dec. 30. USU played its fifth and final Big Sky Conference team when it defeated Weber State.

Aggies vs. Conferences Big Sky Conference 3-2 Mountain West Conference 0-2 Northeast Conference 0-1 Southland Conference 1-0 Summit League 1-0 Non-Division I Opponents 1-0 Provisional Division I 0-1 West Coast Conference 0-1 Total 6-7

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.

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.

TUBE TIME - The Aggies made their first appearance on television on Dec. 13. USU's instate battle with BYU was televised by BYUTV. The Cougars clipped the Aggies, 61-60 in double overtime. The game aired world-wide on BYUTV with Jarom Jordan and Kristin Kozlowski calling the action.

CLOSING IN - Utah State is only three 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 its fourth win on Jan. 2, 2008.

AGGIES IN THE WAC STATS - Utah State remains first in the WAC in scoring defense, holding teams to 54.0 points per game. The Aggies are also second in field goal defense (.337) just behind of Louisiana Tech (.333). The Aggies remain third in rebound margin (+0.8). After holding BYU to 1-for-30 from the three-point line, the Aggies moved up to second in three-point field goal defense (.263). USU is still second in blocks, averaging 4.67 blocks per game. Individually, junior Nicole Johnson is tied for first in blocks per game, averaging 2.33 bpg. Junior Lydia Whitehead is fourth in rebounding (7.3 rpg). Danyelle Snelgro is fifth in assists (3.00 apg) and tied for sixth in steals (2.08 spg).

USU VS. IDAHO REWIND - In their last meeting last March, Idaho spoiled Utah State's Senior Night Saturday as the Vandals knocked off the Aggies, 67-55, in the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball regular-season finale for both teams. The loss means that USU will be the seventh-seed for next week's WAC Tournament at Las Cruces, N.M. The tournament, hosted by New Mexico State at the Pan American Center, starts Tuesday with the Aggies taking the court Wednesday, March 12, against second-seed Boise State at 8:30 p.m. The Broncos, who tied Fresno State for a share of the regular-season conference championship, relinquished the No. 1 seed by way of Fresno State's 82-68 win over Nevada Saturday night. USU falls to 9-19 overall and ends WAC regular-season action with a 5-11 ledger while Idaho is 4-24 overall and 3-13 in conference action with two of the three league wins against the Aggies, as the Vandals now lead the all-time series, 10-3.

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.

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.

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.

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 151 games for the blue and white. Pebley now has 48 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.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR - The Aggies are a very international team with players from five different countries, including Australia (Stacey Howard and Alice Coddington), Japan (Erika Guatavai), Canada (Zana Williams), Senegal (Banna Diop and Ndoumbe Diop) and the United States (10 players).

Aggies Women's Basketball Announces Three Signing - Utah State women's basketball is proud to announce the signing of three student-athletes in the early period for the 2009-10 season, including guards Jenna Johnson, Ashley Mitchell and Devyn Christensen. Devyn Christensen is a native of Caldwell, Idaho and attends Vallivue High School, where she was the Idaho 5A Player of the Year last season. Vallivue is also the alma mater of Utah State-great Jenny Gross-Brown. Jenna Johnson is a 5-9, guard from Wasilla, Alaska. While averaging 17 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists Jenna is the starting guard for Wasilla High School, the same basketball program Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin played for in high school. Alaska has produced some recent outstanding women's basketball players such as Azella Perryman (Stanford, `07), Natalie Jones (Arizona, '06), Sylvia Bullock (Miami), and Telisa Rhea (Oregon State). She was first team all-state last season, and her team finished in third-place at the Alaska State Tournament. Ashley Mitchell is a native of Long Beach, Calif., where she attends Long Beach Millikan High School. Mitchell, a 5-8 guard, averaged over 10 points, six rebounds, six assists, while shooting 54 percent from the field last season. Against Cajon High School, she nearly had a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while also adding six steals. Last January, the guard and her Millikan High School teammates defeated Long Beach Poly which was the top-ranked team in the country at the time. Millikan, under the guidance of head coach Lorene Morgan, was ranked as high as No. 13 in the country last year.