Box Score RENO, Nevada — Utah State women's basketball (4-16, 1-8 MW) used a gritty performance to earn its first victory of conference play Wednesday evening at the Lawlor Event Center, taking down Nevada 65-62.
Led by an enormous performance from junior guard
Cheyenne Stubbs, the Aggies overcame a double-digit deficit to earn the come-from-behind win. Stubbs went off for team-high performances of 32 points, seven rebounds and three steals, to go along with a pair of assists.
This was the best scoring performance by a Utah State player since Shyla Latone went for 33 against New Mexico on March 1, 2021. Her 32-point outing is tied for the 20th-best scoring performance in program history.
After the first Aggie bucket of the night, the Wolf Pack scored 10-straight to gain early separation in the contest. Despite the early deficit, Utah State clawed back into the game with strong defense. The team closed the first half on a 13-5 run to hit the locker room trailing 30-27. Stubbs went off for 10 of the team's 27 first-half points, including a layup at the buzzer to cut the deficit to just three before the break.
The Aggies quickly tied things up with the first three points of the second half, then took their first lead of the evening shortly thereafter. The teams would exchange leads throughout the third, the hosts eventually taking a 43-38 lead heading into the final stanza.
The Wolf Pack lead was short-lived, as the Aggies opened the fourth quarter with a four-point play from junior guard
Macy Smith to spark an 8-0 run as they jumped back in front. Nevada responded, but midway through the quarter, Stubbs took over as she scored 11-straight USU points. After seeing its lead cut back to one point with 3:02 remaining, Utah State responded with an 6-0 run to take command and hit six free throws down the stretch to earn the victory.
Along with the strong effort from Stubbs, the junior guard duo of
Ivory Finley and
Samiana Suguturaga came up big for the Aggies. Finley filled the stat sheet with nine points, four boards, three assists and two steals, while Suguturaga went for six points, six rebounds, two steals and three blocks.
Utah State finished the contest shooting 44.0 percent (22-of-50) from the floor, 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from 3-point range and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) at the charity stripe. Nevada shot 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field, including 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from deep and 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the free throw line.
The Wolf Pack were paced by Izzy Sullivan, who finished with a team-high 15 points.
Up Next
Utah State (4-16, 1-8 MW) now returns home to face Fresno State on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 2 p.m., in 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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