SAN JOSE, California – Utah State women's basketball erased a 14-point deficit to take the lead on the road at San Jose State but fell in the final minute to the Spartans, 58-56.

Senior forwards Jamisyn Heaton and Rachel Wilson each posted double-doubles, the second time this season USU has recorded multiple double-doubles in the same game. Heaton recorded her second double-double of the season and third of her career with 11 points and 13 rebounds while Wilson posted her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Aitana Rosello Lopez led USU with a career-high 14 points while senior guard Karyn Sanford added eight points.

After a back-and-forth battle to open the game led to a 10-8 Aggie lead following a fastbreak layup and subsequent free throw by sophomore forward Andjela Marojevic. The Spartans then made the first big move of the contest, scoring the next eight points as part of a 22-6 stretch to take a double-digit lead. SJSU also hit a pair of 3-pointers to beat the buzzer at the end of both the first and second quarters to help the home team lead by as many as 14 and take a 35-22 advantage into halftime.

The Aggies slowly battled back from the deficit, first cutting the lead to single digits off a layup by Rosello Lopez at the six-minute mark of the third quarter. The comeback began in full in the fourth quarter as another Rosello Lopez layup began a quick 15-4 Aggie run to take a lead in the final minute. Heaton and Wilson each converted a pair of free throw and a bucket during the run before Sanford gave USU their first lead since the opening minutes with a driving layup to make it 54-53 with 2:08 remaining. The Spartans, however, answered with a pair of FTs and a jumper to take a three-point lead. Sanford hit another layup to cut it to one and following several missed FTs by the Spartans, Utah State's final opportunity to reclaim the lead in the final seconds came up short.

USU finished the game shooting 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the field, 10.7 percent (3-of-28) from 3-point range and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the FT line. Utah State held the Spartans to 36.5 percent shooting (19-of-52) from the floor and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from behind the arc. 

The Aggies also finished with a 37-36 edge in total rebounds and a 20-19 lead in points off turnovers. USU also outscored the Spartans in the paint, 36-22, and held a 21-13 advantage in bench scoring.

Up Next
Utah State (6-19, 2-14) continues its road trip in Phoenix against Grand Canyon on Saturday, Feb. 21, at noon (MT).

Tickets
Single-game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here or by visiting the USU Ticket Office.

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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