Dec. 1, 2009
LOGAN, Utah -
GAME #5/6Utah State (3-1) vs. Pepperdine (4-3)Friday/Saturday, Dec. 4-5, • Tempe, Ariz. • Wells Fargo Arena (14,141)Radio Broadcast: 1390 AM • www.UtahStateAggies.com
TIP OFF - Utah State women's basketball team hits the road again after a brief one-game homestand. The Aggies (3-1) hit the road for a three-game road trip. Two of those games will be played at the ASU Classic in Tempe, Ariz. USU defeated Montana-Western on Saturday, Nov. 28, 71-34, at home. In the win, junior guard Amber White scored a game-high 16 points en route to the win. White is the Aggies leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game. Fellow junior Alice Coddington is the only other USU player averaging in double digits (10.8 ppg).
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ARIZONA STATE CLASSIC - Utah State will take on two opponents at the ASU Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Aggies will take on Pepperdine on Friday, Dec. 4. Depending on the outcome of that game USU will take on either No. 17 Arizona State or Idaho State.
ARIZONA STATE - Danielle Orsillo scored 18 points, Kali Bennett had 15 points and 10 rebounds and No. 17 Arizona State held off an inspired East Tennessee State 80-67 on Nov. 30 to win the Rainbow Wahine Classic. With the win, the No. 17 Sun Devils improve to 4-1 this season. ASU's only loss of the season came against No. 9 Xavier, 59-46, in Cincinnati. Arizona State has two players averaging in double figures. Orsillo averages 12.4 points per game, while Bennett averages 10.4. Arizona State averages 69.2 ppg, while allowing only 57.8. The Sun Devils and the Aggies have met eight times with both teams winning four games. The last time that the two teams met was on Jan. 28, 1984 when the Sun Devils won 118-62 in Tempe. The last time that the Aggies defeated Arizona State was Feb. 4, 1978. USU won the first four games of the series.
IDAHO STATE - The Bengals are the team with whom the Aggies are most familiar. The two teams have met 24 times with the Aggies holding a slight 13-11 advantage. Last season, Idaho State took the 58-43 win over Idaho State in Logan. Guard Ana Pares was the leading scorer with 13 points and leading rebounder with eight. Idaho State is 1-5 this season, earning its first win of the season 63-50 against Montana Western on Nov. 24. The Bengals have a busy week ahead taking on Wyoming and Utah before heading to Arizona. The Bengals fell to the Cowgirls 76-40 in Laramie. ISU takes on the Utes on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Idaho State is led by senior Oana Iacovita who averages 13.3 points per game and led the Bengals with 20 points against Montana Western, an ISU individual season high.
PEPPERDINE - Utah State is looking for its first win against Pepperdine as the Waves hold a 3-0 advantage. The last time that the two teams have met was Dec. 17, 1986 when Pepperdine won in Malibu, 78-61. Pepperdine scored the final six points of the game via free throws to defeat visiting Purdue, 64-59, at Firestone Fieldhouse on Nov. 29. Pepperdine (4-3) won its second consecutive game against a major-conference opponent after also beating Providence on Nov. 27. The Waves had lost three-straight games to Golden State schools, Stanford, Cal Poly and UC Riverside.
AMONG THE TOP IN THE WAC - Senior Lydia Whitehead is third this week in the WAC in rebounding. The center has 32 total rebounds this season for an average of 8.0 rebounds per game. She has 11 offensive and 21 defensive this season. Junior guard/forward Amber White is first this week in three-point field goal percentage (.857). Senior forward Nicole Johnson is fourth in the league in blocks, averaging 1.25 bpg.
NICE NOVEMBER - The Aggies had its most successful November of the decade ending the first month of the season with a 3-1 record. The only blemish on the Aggies record this season is a loss to San Francisco on the road on Nov. 22.
UTAH STATE VS. WCC CHALLENGE - Utah State will continue its tour through the West Coast Conference. Pepperdine will be the third WCC team that USU has faced when the two teams meet on Friday, Dec. 4. at the ASU Classic. USU is 1-1 against the West Coast Conference this season with a road win against Portland on Nov. 16 and a loss to San Francisco on the road on Nov. 22.
CAREER DAY- A trio of juniors had career days for Utah State in the Aggies' win against Utah on Nov. 13. Guard/forward Amber White scored a career-high 25 points in the win. Her previous high was 10 points in a loss to Fresno State last season. Guard Alice Coddington also had a banner day, scoring a career-high 18 points. Her previous high was 12 points against San Jose State last season. Forward Stacey Howard also added a career-high seven points. Last season, she set a career-high with five points against UNLV.
BLOCK PARTY - Senior forward Nicole Johnson had three blocks in USU's win against Portland on Nov. 16. With the trio of blocks, Johnson now has 90 career blocks which place her second all-time behind Jessica Freeman who had 127 from 2003-06. Johnson now needs 37 more blocks to tie Freeman. Last season, the senior had 56 blocks.
PLAY UP TOUR DATES SET - The WAC has announced its dates for the women's basketball Play Up Tour for the 2009-2010 season. WAC giveaway items will be distributed and fans will have a chance to enter a drawing for a WAC Basketball Tournament package that includes two tickets to the tournament, airfare and hotel accommodations. The winner will be announced at the end of February.
The following are the dates and opponents of each of the 2009-10 Play Up Tour stops.School Date OpponentNevada Dec. 2, 2009 Sacramento StateSan Jose State Jan. 23, 2010 IdahoUtah State Jan. 23, 2010 New Mexico StateFresno State Jan. 24, 2010 Louisiana TechLouisiana Tech Jan. 30, 2010 IdahoNew Mexico State Feb. 6, 2010 Boise StateHawai`i Feb. 20, 2010 Louisiana TechIdaho Feb. 24, 2010 SJSUBoise State Feb. 27, 2010 Fresno State
UP NEXT - After the brief stint at home, USU hits the road again and heads to the desert. The Aggies will play in the ASU Classic in Tempe, Ariz., hosted by Arizona State Tournament Dec. 4-5. The Aggies will take on Pepperdine on Dec. 4 at 8:30 p.m. (MT). Depending on the outcome of that game USU will face either Nov. 14 Arizona State or Idaho State on Dec. 5. Either way, the Aggies will become familiar with ISU as they travel to Pocatello on Dec. 12.
GETTING INVOLVED - Every Utah State player capable of playing saw time in the Aggies win over Montana Western on Nov. 28. There were 12 different Aggies that scored of the 13 that played. Only freshman guard Pualei Furtado didn't score, but she contributed in different ways adding four rebounds and two steals in her first action of the season. Redshirt-freshman Banna Diop scored a career-high 13 points in a career-high 21 minutes. USU scored more points off the bench than the Montana Western did in the game with the Aggies edging the Bulldogs 35-34. Senior guard Tahara Williams started her first game as an Aggie and scored a career-high six points. Junior forward Stacey Howard had a career-high nine rebounds off the bench for Utah State.
READY FOR MY CLOSE UP - This season, Utah State will be on television at least two times. The game against Utah on Nov. 13 was on the CW30. The Utah game was shown on tape delay at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Another game against an instate rival will also be on television for Aggie fans to enjoy. USU's match up with BYU on Dec. 19 will also be on the CW30.
ADMISSION - Admission to Utah State's women's basketball games is $5 for adults, $1 for youth. Fans can buy a women's sport pass for $75 which will gain admittance to women's basketball, volleyball and gymnastics. 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.
This season, Utah State introduces the Aggie Incentive Plan which allows fans to earn points for attending women's basketball games. Fans can earn 10 points for attending the game against Utah on Friday. Aggie fans can accumulate points throughout the season and earn prizes like USU water bottles, clothing and a USU women's team autographed basketball. Parents of Jr. Aggies will also receive free admittance to the game against Utah. Aggie women's basketball will also welcome schools on Dec. 14 for School Day against North Dakota State at 12 p.m. With the Aggie Incentives Plan fans can attend as many USU women's basketball games as possible and accumulate points, for a chance to win great prizes!!
Upcoming EventsPoint Breakdown for Each Game12/14/09 vs. North Dakota State 12:00 p.m. - 10 points12/19/09 vs. BYU 5:00 p.m. - 4 points12/21/09 vs. Weber State 2:00 p.m. - 10 points12/31/09 vs. Utah Valley 7:00 p.m. - 10 points
Non-Conference Weekday Games - 10 pointsNon-Conference Weekend Games - 4 pointsConference Weekday Games - 5 pointsConference Weekend Games - 2 pointsPrizes for Points Accumulated20 points - USU Water bottle40 points - USU T-Shirt60 points - USU Sweatshirt80 points - USU Women's Team Autographed Basketball
SEASON OPENER - The Aggies win against Utah on Nov. 13 was Utah State's first season-opening win since Nov. 17, 1981 with a 78-59 win against Southern Utah in Cedar City. It was the third season-opener that the Aggies have won since 1974.
LAST TIME OUT - Behind career nights from red-shirt freshman Banna Diop and junior Stacey Howard, the USU women's basketball team halted a one-game losing skid with a convincing 71-34 win over Montana Western at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, USU improves to 3-1 overall. This team is the fastest to three wins since the 1978-79 squad that won its first five games. The game was an exhibition for the NAIA's Montana Western who hold with a 4-6 record.
Diop scored a career-high 13 points, while junior guard Amber White led all scorers with 16 points. White has now scored in double figures in three of the Aggies' four games. Several other Aggies had career scoring nights, including senior guard Tahara Williams (6) and junior guard LaCale Pringle-Buchanan (7). Freshman guard Devyn Christensen also scored her first collegiate points with a second-half three pointer. Howard had a career-high nine rebounds to lead both teams.
For the game, USU shot 41.5 percent (27-of-65) from the field. The free throw line continues to be a tough spot for the Aggies, shooting 64.3 percent (9-of-14) for the game. From the three-point line, USU shot 30.8 percent (8-of-26).
NEW BLOOD - The Aggie newcomers have made their name known this season. TJ Goddard has started all three games so far this season and has averaged 10.7 points per game. Freshman forward Jenna Johnson has also played in all three games this season, while fellow newcomers Devyn Christensen and LaCale Pringle-Buchanan have both played in two games this season.
TURNING 22 - The 2009-10 season marks the 22nd 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 fifth season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.
AGGIES ON THE RADIO/WEB - Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play. They can also be heard on the web by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and cling on the Yahoo Sports link in the right hand column.
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.
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.
COACH PEBLEY - Head coach Raegan Pebley is entering her seventh season as head coach at Utah State, which is the longest tenure in the program's history. Five games into the 2007-08 season, Pebley overtook the lead for the most games coached in Utah State history (116). She has now coached 175 games for the blue and white and has 61 wins as Aggie head coach which is first ahead of Fern Gardner (55) on the all-time win list.
NEWCOMERS - This season, the Aggies welcome five newcomers this season, including LaCale Pringle-Buchanan a junior guard from College of Southern Idaho and fellow junior forward Ashlee Brown, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara. Due to transfer rules, Brown will have to sit out the 2009-10 season. Utah State also added three freshman guards from all around the country. Jenna Johnson is freshman guard from Wasilla, Alaska, while Pualei Furtado is a freshman guard from Kaneohe, Hawaii. Devyn Christensen is another freshman guard from Caldwell, Idaho.
SPANNING THE GLOBE - The 2009-10 Utah State team is an international group. There are Aggies from three different countries and all across the United States. Juniors Stacey Howard and Alice Coddington hail from Australia, while redshirt freshman Banna Diop hails from Senegal. The players from the states hail from one end to the other. Pualei Furtado is from Hawaii, while fellow freshman Jenna Johnson is from Alaska. But there is only one player from the Beehive State, senior center Lydia Whitehead hails from Nibley, Utah.
