Feb. 8, 2009

Box Score

RENO, Nev. - In a battle of two of the top defensive players in the Western Athletic Conference, senior guard Danyelle Snelgro had the slight edge over Nevada's Dellena Criner, scoring a career-high 29 points in the Aggies, 63-52, win over first-place Nevada in Reno on Sunday. The win was the Aggies first win in Reno in four attempts.

With the win, USU broke a two-game losing streak and now stands 11-12, 5-5 in the WAC. Nevada drops its second-straight game and is now 13-9 and 7-2 in conference play.

Aside from Snelgro's 29 points, the Aggies also got a career-high 15 rebounds from sophomore guard Alice Coddington. Junior forward Lydia Whitehead scored nine points, while senior guard Ana Pares scored eight. Pares did have her 13-game double-digit scoring streak come to an end.

The Aggies were slow to get started, going almost five minutes without scoring. Junior forward Lydia Whitehead broke the drought with a layup at the 15:05 mark of the first half. Once the Aggies took the lead, 11-10 with 10:27 left in the first half, they never looked back. USU would lead the remainder of the game.

Utah State did make it to the line more often in the first half. The Aggies shot more free throws in the first half (12-of 14) than they did in the last two games combined. USU ended the game 21-of-30 from the charity stripe.

Behind the strength of a 17-0 run, Utah State took its biggest lead of the half at 32-15. During the run, the Aggies were exceptional from the free throw line going 4-for-4. Snelgro was the spark of the Aggie run hitting two three-pointers during that span.

Utah State entered the locker room with its biggest half time lead of the season, 32-17. Snelgro was the leading scorer in the first half scoring 14 points. She also added three steals, three rebounds and an assist. Sophomore Alice Coddington had seven first-half points.

The Wolf Pack came out strong in the second half scoring the first five points of the half before Snelgro stopped the drought with her 16th point. USU was called for eight fouls in the first six minutes of the second half, helping the Wolf Pack eventually cut the lead down to five points, 42-37 with 9:49 left in the game.

From that point, sophomore Amber White came up huge with a three pointer with just under nine minutes left to give USU a 45-37 lead. The three-pointer sparked a 5-0 run that helped push the USU lead to 47-37. Despite having several players in foul trouble, the Aggies played tough down the stretch and kept Nevada from making one last run. USU would make six free throws in the last four minutes to put the game away.

For the game, Utah State shot 35.8 percent from the field (19-of-53), while shooting 33.3 percent from three (four-of-12). USU was solid from the charity stripe, shooting 70 percent (21-of-30). After getting out-rebounded by 21 in a loss to Fresno State on Feb. 1, the Aggies moved to 8-1 in games when they out-rebound their opponent by winning the rebound battle 44-40.

Nevada shot 29.1 percent from the field (16-of-55), while shooting 28.6 percent from beyond the arc (2-of-7). The Wolf Pack shot 62.1 percent from the free throw line (18-of-29).

Utah State will have plenty of time to relish the win as the Aggies do not hit the court again until Friday, Feb. 20 against Boise State in Boise. USU will go for the sweep of the Broncos after defeating BSU, 58-44, in Logan on Jan. 17. USU does not return to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum until Sunday, Feb. 22 when the Aggies host Idaho for its annual Pink Zone game.

All Utah State 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.

Live stats will be available for all home Utah State women's basketball games through the women's basketball page on www.utahstateaggies.com, by clicking on GameTracker in the current events box. All home games can be viewed by clicking on "Watch Live", while they can be heard by clicking on "Listen Live." Both can be accessed on www.utahstateaggies.com on the front page or the women's basketball page.