Final Box Score (PDF)
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State women's basketball continued its streak of victories in exhibition play under head coach Jerry Finkbeiner to 8-0 after winning 77-56 over Westminster on Friday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Every player that dressed saw action on the court in Friday's matchup, with four Aggies scoring in double figures in junior guard Olivia West (21), junior guard/forward Shannon Dufficy (16) and sophomore guard Emmie Harris (12). Junior guard/forward Hailey Bassett-Meacham was knocking on the door of a double-double after recording 17 points and pulling down a game-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Eliza West dished out a game-best 11 assists on the night.
There were three ties and three lead changes in the first quarter of the game, with USU leading by as much as four on four different occasions. A three from Dufficy and a Bassett-Meacham jumper, both off of feeds from Eliza West, put the Aggies up 10-6 with 7:14 left to play. The teams traded baskets until a pair of buckets from Bassett-Meacham gave the Aggies the 18-14 lead with 37 seconds left in the quarter. An Eliza West layup with just seconds remaining put USU up, 20-17, heading into the second.
Utah State never trailed again. Another three by Dufficy put USU up five, 27-22, with 7:09 remaining in the second quarter. After a Westminster jumper, Olivia West scored five straight points with three free throws and a layup, to give the Aggies the eight-point lead, 32-24, with 5:16 on the clock. Things started to slow down for the Aggies for the next minute-and-a-half, but Eliza West dished the ball to Olivia West for three to give USU the 35-29 advantage with 2:35 left in the half. Westminster trimmed the lead down to one, 35-34, with 1:48 to go, but the Aggies closed out the half with a Bassett-Meacham bucket and a trey from freshman guard Steph Gorman to lead, 40-34, going into the break.
The Aggies held Westminster to just four points in the third quarter while scoring 21 of their own. USU came out swinging in the second half, going on a 12-0 run, including a pair of Bassett-Meacham tip-ins, another Dufficy triple, a Dufficy free throw and another couple buckets from Bassett-Meacham, to lead 52-34 with 5:21 left in the quarter. Westminster then hit its only field goal of the quarter, before the Aggies built the lead up to 21, 57-36, with 3:19 remaining. A pair of Griffin free throws cut the lead, 57-38, but the Aggies responded with four made free throws of their own to lead, 61-38 at the end of the quarter.
Utah State kept its distance from Westminster in the fourth quarter, tacking on its largest lead of the night of 29, 69-40, after a Bassett-Meacham free throw with 7:37 to go. Harris answered a Griffin 5-0 run with a jumper to put the Aggies at a 71-45 advantage with just under six minutes to play. Harris scored the final eight points for the Aggies, which included a couple treys, to lead 77-50 with 2:38 left in the game. Westminster chipped the lead down to 21, 77-56, to finish out the game.
The Griffins also had four players score in double figures as sophomore forward Hunter Krebs and sophomore guard Kaylee Carlsen, both Cache Valley natives, had 15 and 10 points, respectively. Senior guard Denise Gonzalez scored 13 points and junior guard Kaitlin Toluono had 12. Krebs and Toluono led the team with six rebounds each, while Gonzalez had a team-high four assists.
Utah State finished the night shooting 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the floor, 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from behind the arc and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the free throw line. Westminster shot 38.3 (18-of-47) from the field, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from the 3-point line and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) from the charity stripe.
Utah State opens its 2018-19 slate on the road as the Aggies take on Washington State in Pullman on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. (MT).
Women's basketball tickets are available now. Fans can purchase season tickets for $25, or on a game-by-game basis. A women's sports pass is also available for $50, giving fans access to all home volleyball, women's basketball and gymnastics events. Fans can purchase tickets at the Utah State ticket office, located on the first floor of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Tickets are also available online at utahstateaggies.com/tickets, or by calling the ticket office at (435) 797-0305 or (888)-USTATE-1.
Fans can follow USU women's basketball on Twitter, @USUWBasketball, on Instagram, @USUWBasketball, as well as on Facebook, at /USUWBB. Aggie fans can also follow Utah State Athletics on Twitter, @USUAthletics, on Instagram, @USUAthletics and on Facebook at /USUAthletics.
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