LOGAN, Utah — Utah State women's basketball suffered a 75-57 loss to Northern Colorado Saturday evening inside of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Aggies came out of the gates strong and played efficiently early on, connecting on 13-of-23 (.565) first half shots to push the Bears. USU pulled close late in the first quarter to finish the stanza trailing by three, then used a 6-0 run early in the second quarter to take its first lead of the contest.
After a second quarter which was tightly contested and featured six lead changes, the Bears closed out the first half on a 6-0 run, then scored the first 11 points of the third quarter to take control of the game.
Despite a strong first half from and three highly competitive quarters played by the Aggies, it was a poor third quarter which doomed Utah State in this one. USU was outscored 24-6 in the quarter, despite playing the Bears to a draw in the first, second and fourth quarters combined.
Freshman forward
Lauren Crocker found her footing in the fourth quarter, as she scored six-straight points early on to spark the Aggie offense. Prior to this game, the true freshman had totaled just four total points in four career games. This scoring outburst started a 16-6 run by USU to open the fourth quarter. Though it was able to chip away at the UNC lead, Utah State couldn't cut the deficit back to single digits.
Crocker went on to finish the night with 10 points to go along with three rebounds and a pair of blocks, the strongest statistical performance of her collegiate career. Leading the Aggies in the scoring column for the first time this season was junior guard
Skye Miller, who went off for 15 points while also leading the squad in assists (4) and tying the team lead in rebounds (5). USU outrebounded Northern Colorado 38-33.
Utah State finished the contest shooting 42.9 percent (21-of-49) from the floor, 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from 3-point range and 56.5 percent (13-of-23) at the charity stripe. Northern Colorado shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field, including 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from deep and 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the free throw line.
The Bears (4-4, 0-0 WAC) were paced by Hannah Simental, who finished the evening with a team-high 24 points.
Up Next
Utah State (3-7, 0-0 MW) remains at home to close out non-conference play against Western Colorado on Monday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m. (MT). The game will be streamed on Mountain West Network, with links to the live stream and stats available on utahstateaggies.com.
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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