LOGAN, Utah --- Utah State women's basketball came back from a 14-point deficit in the first quarter to defeat Cal State Fullerton, 85-75, on Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies are now 2-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
"All the credit to (the players)," head coach Kayla Ard said. "Just their will to win, their toughness. They won't give up. They won't quit… It's a very different mindset. Very, very happy with the win. Probably more than the win, I'm happy with our heart and our toughness that we showed."
The Titans burst out of the gates with a 20-6 run over the game's first seven-and-a-half minutes. The Aggies responded immediately with a 14-3 run featuring two 3-pointers from sophomore Olivia Wikstrom to trim Fullerton's lead to a mere three points early in the second quarter. The two sides then exchanged runs during the second quarter as the Titans entered halftime with a 38-32 lead.
"We had a little chat at halftime and I thought our players came out completely different," coach Ard said. "We talked about that for two days. We've gotta be tougher on the defensive end and I thought in the second half, we were and that's what won us the basketball game."
The Aggies blitzed the Titans with a 9-0 run to open the second half and take their first lead of the contest before Fullerton recaptured the advantage with an 11-2 run of their own. Facing a seven-point deficit midway through the third quarter, two 3-pointers from senior Kaylin Randhawa ignited an 18-2 run which gave the Aggies control of the game. USU's momentum continued into the fourth quarter where the lead swelled to double digits, allowing the Aggies to ice the victory from the free throw line.
"It seems like we're a fourth quarter team," coach Ard said, "because this is the same thing we did in our previous game. We told them we need to be tougher and have more intensity, but when they know the game is on the line, they're different. They play different. I love that about them. I love our toughness and our resilience there at the end."
Randhawa led the scoring effort for the Aggies with a career-high 28 points, shooting 6-8 from the field and 13-15 from the free throw line. Randhawa's 13 made FTs are the most by an Aggie since Funda Nakkasoglu also hit 13 versus Pacific in 2015. Wikstrom also set a new career-high with 21 points which included a 4-8 mark from 3-point territory and a 9-12 mark from the FT line to go along with five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Senior Manna Mensah added 11 points and senior Laci Hawthorne tied with Randhawa and Wikstrom for a team-high five rebounds.
As a team, Utah State went 29-37 from the free throw line, the third-most made FTs in a single game in program history. The Aggies shot 24-56 from the field and 8-21 from 3-point range while holding the Titans to 29-67 from the field and 5-19 from 3. USU also forced 24 turnovers, including 14 steals.
"We've got to figure out how to do this a little earlier," coach Ard said. "This is a very stressful game for me, for the fans, for our players, for our coaching staff. I think trying to figure out how to do this earlier and putting 40 minutes together is our biggest thing, being more consistent to start out with that fire on the defensive end."
The Aggies will next take the court for their first road game of the season at Cal on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m.
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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