LOGAN, Utah — Utah State women's basketball wrapped up the non-conference portion of its 2023-24 campaign Monday evening at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, falling in a 51-49 thriller to Western Colorado.
After overcoming a double-digit second-half deficit and eventually taking the lead, the Aggies allowed a Western Colorado 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds on the clock to surrender the lead, and were then unable to connect on the other end.
It took just over 15 minutes of action for junior guard
Cheyenne Stubbs to record her ninth double-figure game of the season, as she was responsible for 12 of the team's first 16 points of the night. Despite the strong start by Stubbs, the Aggies struggled to find offensive rhythm early in the contest.
Utah State battled back with a strong third quarter, outscoring the Mountaineers 19-13 to pull back within a basket, as the fourth quarter began with a 39-37 Western Colorado lead. The Aggies would then use a 6-0 run early in the fourth quarter to regain control with their first lead since the first quarter. During that run, the USU defense ratcheted up to hold the Mountaineers without a single point for over five minutes of action.
The Aggies extended their lead to as many as six points before a pair of free throws and a triple by Western Colorado cut the advantage down to just one with 45 seconds left. From there, a missed 3-pointer by USU gave the Mountaineers the ball back with a one-point deficit and Western Colorado's Jayda Maves capitalized as she hit a contested 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Stubbs led the Aggies in the scoring column with 16 points, her ninth team-leading scoring effort in 11 contests. She also had a team-best five assists, to go along with seven boards. Junior guard
Macy Smith also reached double-figures, finishing with 12 points for her best scoring outing in a Utah State uniform. Smith also went for five boards, two assists and three steals on the night.
On the glass, it was junior guard/forward
Samiana Suguturaga bringing down a career-high nine rebounds to lead the squad as Utah State won the battle of the boards 46-42.
Utah State finished the contest shooting 27.4 percent (17-of-62) from the floor, 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from 3-point range and 58.8 percent (10-of-17) at the charity stripe. Western Colorado shot 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field, including 22.2 percent (6-of-27) from deep and 100.0 percent (11-of-11) from the free throw line.
The Mountaineers (2-8, 0-5 RMAC) were paced by Rachel Cockman, who finished the evening with team-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Up Next
Following the holiday break, Utah State (3-8, 0-0 MW) will begin Mountain West play as it travels to Las Vegas, Nevada, to take on UNLV on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 2 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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