Utah State 81, Fresno State 75 (OT)
Taylor Richards scored a career-high 28 points and Danyelle Snelgro scored five key points in overtime as Utah State defeated Fresno State 81-75 in overtime in women's basketball action here Saturday night.
With the win, USU improved to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. Fresno State fell to 8-7 and 1-1.
Fresno State forced overtime by scoring the final three points in regulation, including a layup by Erica Henry at the buzzer to force the extra five minutes.
Fresno continued its scoring streak as Chantella Perera scored a layup to start the extra period. The teams exchanged points in overtime and the visitors went ahead 73-72 after a layup by Andrea Roberson at the 2:42 mark.
However Snelgro hit a three-pointer to put the Aggies up at 75-73 at the 2:08 mark and then added two free throws to give USU a 77-73 advantage as the lead later reached six points.
Four Aggies scored in double-figures paced by the career-best of 28 by Richards. The junior point guard hit eight of 15 shots from the field as well as 10 of 11 free throws. She also became the school's career assist leader early in the game and her three handouts gave her 248 in her three years.
Nevada 78, Idaho 68
For the first time in the Kim Gervasoni era, the Nevada women’s basketball team is undefeated in WAC play.
The Wolf Pack got a career-high 26 points from senior Traci Graham and rolled to a 78-68 victory over Idaho at the Cowan Spectrum. Sophomore Dellena Criner added 12 points and six assists for the Wolf Pack, which evened its overall record at 7-7 and began WAC play with a 1-0 mark. Idaho fell to 3-10 on the season and 0-2 in league play.
Graham hit a career-best five 3-pointers on the night, finishing 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and 9-of-16 overall from the field. The 5-foot-7 Graham also had a career-high three blocks, all of which came on shot attempts from Idaho’s 6-foot star forward Katie Madison.
Nevada outrebounded the Vandals 38-34 and forced 26 Idaho turnovers. While Graham and Criner handled the scoring in the backcourt, Nevada got solid play across the board from its frontcourt. Freshman Marianne Lombardi made her third career start and scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds. Andrea Sitton had six points and six board. And freshman Marissa Hammond came off the bench to score four points and pull down two rebounds.
But most importantly, the Pack’s frontcourt combined to hold Madision to just nine points, nearly 11 below her Vandal-leading average of 19.7 per game.
New Mexico State 58, San Jose State 48
The New Mexico State women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 in WAC play after defeating San Jose State, 59-48, at the Event Center in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 6. The Aggies are now 7-7, 2-0 while the Spartans fell to 1-15, 0-2.
Junior forward Sherell Neal led the Aggies with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds along with five steals. While junior guard Monique Bribiescas had a season-high 16 points along with six assists.
The Aggies had a balanced offense with freshman guard Jazmyn Foster contributing nine points as senior guard Cecilia Russell-Nava and junior forward Anikia Jawara added eight points each. For San Jose State, freshman forward Brittany Powell and junior guard Alisha Hicks recorded 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Louisiana Tech 64, Hawai`i 63
Louisiana Tech used a second half run to propel itself to a 64-53 win over Hawaii late Saturday night before 1044 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After a Janevia Taylor jumper at the 18:43 mark of the second half gave the Rainbow Wahine a 31-26 lead, Tech (7-8, 2-0 WAC) outscored Hawaii (6-8, 0-2 WAC) 31-5 over the next 13 minutes to take a commanding 57-36 with just over five minutes to play.
Ty Moore led Tech with 15 points and 10 rebounds ? her WAC-leading seventh double double of the year ? while Shan Moore, JoKeirra Sneed and Sierra Nixon each added 11 points in the win.