LOGAN, Utah — Utah State women's basketball (3-10, 0-2 MW) dropped a defensive battle Wednesday night as a late comeback attempt fell just short in a 54-48 loss to Wyoming in the team's Mountain West home opener at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Aggies came out strong in this one with a 16-16 first quarter behind 53.8 percent (7-of-13) shooting in the quarter. USU used a 9-0 run late in the quarter to gain its first advantage of the afternoon, as six Aggies got on the board in the first 10 minutes of action.
The Cowgirls responded with a scoring streak of their own to begin the second quarter as they opened the stanza with a 12-2 run, but the Aggies responded with eight of the next 12 points to close the gap to just six at the half, heading into the locker room with a 32-26 deficit.
The second half turned into a defensive battle as the Aggies and Cowgirls scored just six and eight points in the third quarter, respectively, but tight defense by Utah State kept the team within a few possessions for much of the second half. An 8-0 run in less than a minute late in the fourth quarter brought USU within five points with 24 seconds left, but the Aggies were unable to climb any closer as they fell to 0-2 in league play.
In what was her third game in an Aggie uniform after returning from an injury early in the year, freshman forward
Gracie Johnson had her best collegiate performance as she went for eight points, five rebounds and three blocks in 18 minutes. Her three blocks were the most by a Utah State player this season. Leading USU in the scoring column was junior guard
Macy Smith, who went for nine points while also recording three rebounds, three assists and one steal.
A season-high 11 different Aggies scored in the contest, while 10 different USU players brought down at least one rebound. 24 of Utah State's 48 points came from its bench.
Utah State finished the contest shooting 32.1 percent (17-of-53) from the floor, 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from 3-point range and 100.0 percent (10-of-10) at the charity stripe. Wyoming shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field, including 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from deep and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the free throw line.
The Cowgirls (7-6, 2-0 MW) were paced by Allyson Fertig, who finished the afternoon with team-highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Up Next
Utah State (3-10, 0-2 MW) now remains in Logan for another contest this weekend as the Aggies take on San José State on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 1 p.m., at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. 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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