Nov. 18, 2011
LOGAN, Utah - TIP OFF - Utah State women's basketball returns to the road after a brief one-game home stand. The Aggies will take on the Anteaters of UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. (MT). In its last outing, Utah State defeated Weber State in its home opener, 73-63 behind 21 points from senior forward Ashlee Brown.
USU Notes vs. UC Irvine 
THE OPPONENT - UC Irvine holds a 6-2 all-time record against Utah State. The two teams have not met since March 9, 2005 when the Aggies fell 75-63 in the Big West Tournament. The two teams have not met since USU was in the Big West. During the 2004-05 season, the two teams met three times with UC Irvine holding a 2-1 record.
The Anteaters are 0-3 this season with losses at Portland State (76-80), Portland (56-64) and Cal State Bakersfield (92-104). UC Irvine has four players who have averaged in double digits in the first three games. Jacquelyn Marshall leads the team, averaging 17.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Jazmyne White averages 11.7 ppg.
As a team, the Anteaters' opponents have out-scored UCI 82.7 to 74.7. UC Irvine has dominated the boards, out-rebounding its foes 126 to 92.
HOME OPENERS - Utah State is now 8-14 in home openers and 3-6 under Coach Pebley after the Aggies defeated Weber State, 73-63 on Nov. 16.Prior to the win over the Wildcats, the last time the Aggies won a home opener was a 67-58 win against in-state rival Utah in 2009. Last season, USU fell to Dixie State in its home and season opener, 71-67. Under Coach Pebley, Utah State is 1-2 against Weber State in home openers.
MAKING AN IMPACT - Freshman forward Franny Vaaulu has made an immediate impact off the bench for Utah State in three games this season. In the Aggies' win over Weber State, Vaaulu led the team with five steals. She also added two points and four rebounds for Utah State. She has averaged 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
DATE CHANGE - Utah State women's basketball against Boise State that was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 22 will now be played on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
This is the first of two meetings between the Aggies and the Broncos who are former Western Athletic Conference rivals. Both meetings are prior to holidays with the Broncos coming to Logan the day before Thanksgiving. Utah State will make a return trip to Boise on Thursday, Dec. 22 right before Christmas.
Last season, the teams met twice with the Aggies defeating the Broncos twice.
GOING BACK TO CALI - The trip to Irvine is the first of three to the Golden State this season for Utah State. The Aggies will travel to San Jose State on Feb. 2 and will go to Fresno State on Feb. 18.
LAST TIME OUT - Utah State women's basketball used a 17-6 run to close out the first half and held off a late Weber State rally for a 73-63 win in the Aggies' home-opener Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
USU improves to 2-1 on the young season, while WSU falls to 0-2. The Aggies are now 8-14 in home-openers, improving to 3-6 under head coach Raegan Pebley in their first home game of the season. USU is now 1-2 against WSU in home openers under Pebley. Tuesday was the Aggies' fourth-straight win over the Wildcats, improving to 16-22.
Ironically, Wednesday's women's score was the identical, 73-63, score as the men's match-up of the same schools on Tuesday, with the home team winning that as well, but with the purple and white Wildcats prevailing over the Aggie men.
BROWN EARNS HONORS - Senior forward Ashlee Brown earned the season's first Verizon Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors for Nov. 6-13. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Brown and the third of her Aggie career.
Brown was also named College Sports Madness WAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week. The Madness identifies the highest impact players nationally and one from each conference in their weekly feature.
AGAINST THE MOUNTAIN WEST - Wyoming was the first of two Mountain West Conference teams that the Aggies will face this season, including taking on former Western Athletic Conference rival Boise State two times. Utah State is now 1-0 against the Mountain West.
UP NEXT - After hitting the road against UC Irvine on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m., Utah State will return home. Following the game with UCI, Utah State will host two games the week of Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, Nov. 22 the Aggies will host Boise State in the first of two meetings this season. On Friday, Nov. 25, USU will not be doing any Black Friday shopping but taking on UC Riverside.
CAREER HIGHS FROM BROWN - Senior forward Ashlee Brown has had double-doubles in both of Utah State's games this season. She also added a career-high 31 points in the Aggies' loss to South Dakota State on Nov. 13. She also set a career high with six steals in the loss to the Jackrabbits.
STRONG FROM THE STRIPE - After three games this season, Utah State is first in the WAC in free throw percentage, shooting 83.0 percent from the charity stripe. Hawai`i is second, shooting 81.0 percent. Senior forward Maddy Plunkett is tied for first in the league in free throw percentage as she is a perfect 6-for-6 this season. Senior guard Brooke Jackson is 10th going 16-for-17 so far this season.
TOPPING THE WAC - Ashlee Brown has averaged 23.3points per game in the first three games this season which places her first in the WAC.
ADMISSION - Admission to Utah State's women's basketball games is $5 for adults, $1 for youth. A woman's sports pass is also available for $50. 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.
SPREADING THE WEALTH - In two games this season, 13 different Aggies have seen the court. Utah State had really spread out the minutes in the first two games. Ashlee Brown leads the team with 67 minutes, while Jennifer Schlott has played in 47 minutes. Freshman Xava Grooms saw her first action as an Aggie against South Dakota State on Nov. 13.
TURNING 24 - The 2011-12 season marks the 24th year of women's basketball at USU, and just the ninth 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 seventh season in the WAC after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.
MARVELOUS MADDY - Senior forward Maddy Plunkett scored a career-high 12 points in the Aggies win against Wyoming on Nov. 11. Her previous high was an 11-point performance against Arizona in the first round of the WNIT last season on Match 17. Junior guard Jennifer Schlott also added 12 points in the win. The dozen points was just one shy of her career high 13 points at Northern Arizona last season.
HOME SWEET HOME - Utah State will play three of its first four games away from the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. After traveling to Wyoming and South Dakota State, the Aggie will opened their home schedule on Wednesday, Nov. 16 against Weber State with a win. Following the home game against the Wildcats, USU will travel to California for the first of three trips to the Golden State. The Aggies will take on UC Irvine on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1pm. (MT).
GETTING THE START - Eleven different Aggies saw action in Friday's game against Wyoming. Junior guard/forward Chelsea Burns saw her first start since the 2008-09 season. Senior guard Brooke Jackson got her first start as an Aggie. Sophomore guard Jennifer Schlott got her first career start in the Blue and White, playing 27 minutes and scoring 12 points.
AGGIES IN THE PRESEASON POLLS - Utah State women's basketball was selected second in the Western Athletic Conference coaches' poll and third in the media poll. Both predictions are the highest for USU since joining the WAC. Last season, the Aggies were picked seventh in both the coaches' and the media poll.
Senior forward Ashlee Brown made Utah State women's basketball history by becoming the first Aggie to earn WAC Preseason Player of the Year honors when she was awarded the honor by both the coaches and the media. Brown, who averaged 15.2 points per game last season, is the top scorer returning in the WAC. Last season, Brown was the WAC's Newcomer of the Year and earned first-team all-WAC honors.
The Aggies received 40 points in the WAC coaches' poll, including two of the eight first-place votes. Defending WAC regular season-champion, Louisiana Tech, was picked first with 47 points, including five-first place votes. Fresno State, the 2011 WAC Tournament champions, was picked third with 36 points and the final first-place vote. Nevada placed fourth with 33 points, followed by Hawai`i with 22 points. New Mexico State was picked to finish in sixth place with 18 points, while Idaho was just a point behind with 17 points to finish in seventh place. The coaches' poll was rounded out by San Jose State in eighth place with 11 points.
In the media poll, Utah State was voted third with 126 points, including three first-place votes. As with the coaches' poll, Louisiana Tech was picked first with 144 total points and 13 first-place votes. The only difference between the polls was that Fresno State took second-place in the media poll with 129 points and three first-place votes. Nevada earned the fourth spot with 80 points, followed by Hawai`i with 72. The media poll was rounded out with New Mexico State in sixth with 59 points, while Idaho (52 points) and San Jose State (22 points) were picked to finish seventh and eighth, respectively.
AGGIES ON THE RADIO/WEB - All Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Craig Hislop taking the reigns this season. They can also be heard on the web by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clink on the "Listen Live" 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.
WHO'S WHO - Utah State returns 10 players from the 2010-11 roster, including three starters in forward Ashlee Brown (15.2 ppg), center Banna Diop (9.5 ppg) and guard Jenna Johnson (6.6 ppg). USU brings back 75% of its offense, including its top three scorers in Brown, Diop and guard Devyn Christensen. The Aggies also welcome back the block leader in Diop (1.88 bpg), and Brown will also be back in the blue and white as USU's leading rebounder, bringing down 251 rebounds (8.4 rpg).
AROUND THE COURT - News and Notes from around the Aggie basketball court.
• Last season was the first time in head coach Raegan Pebley's career that she has earned the Coach of the Year accolade. Pebley is also the first female to earn the award since 2004-05 when Rice's Cristy McKinney was named Coach of the Year.
• This season, Utah State welcomes six newcomers, including senior transfer Brooke Jackson who comes to Logan from the University of Arizona. USU adds five freshmen in Brooke Beckstead, Xava Grooms, Addison Moore, Elise Nelson and Franny Vaaulu.
• The Aggies had 10 WAC wins last season which was the most since the 2008-09 team that had a 9-7 record. The nine wins in 2008-09
HEAD COACH Raegan Pebley - Raegan Pebley is entering her ninth 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 237 games for the Blue and White and has 91 wins as Aggie head coach, which is first ahead of Fern Gardner (55) on the all-time win list.
