Utah State 81, Nevada 69 | Stats
LOGAN, Utah - A career-high 24 points from sophomore guard Devyn Christensen and junior forward Ashlee Brown's sixth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds led Utah State to an 81-69 win over Nevada Saturday afternoon in Western Athletic Conference women's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Aggies even their overall record at 8-8, while improving to 2-1 in WAC play. The Wolf Pack had their two-game win streak snapped in sliding to 13-4 overall and 2-2 in league action. USU is now 6-8 overall against Nevada including 4-8 as WAC foes. Saturday was the Aggies' first time defending their home court against the Wolf Pack in the last three meetings in Logan after Nevada had won the previous two meetings in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Christensen hit a career-high three three-pointers for her game-high tying 24 points, scoring 13 in the first half. Brown tallied 12 points in the game's first 20 minutes, ending with 22 points, to go with a team-high 10 rebounds. Brown also hit 10-of-12 at the free throw line, part of Utah State's season-highs for make and attempts with 25-of-31 (80.6 percent). With six double-doubles, Brown is now tied for third in the WAC, but leads the conference with two double-doubles in league games. Saturday was also her sixth 20-point outing which is third-best in the WAC.
Senior guard Alice Coddington was the third Aggie in double-figures by tallying 10 points, along with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Nevada was led by a double-double from Shavon Moore with 24 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, helping the Wolf Pack to a 37-33 rebounding advantage. Tahnee Robinson added 18 points, just below her WAC-leading 21.5 points per game average entering Saturday.
After the Wolf Pack opened the game with a 2-0 lead, the Aggies never trailed again, pulling away from a 4-4 tie with an 18-0 run to open a 22-4 lead. Brown started the spurt with a three-point play and Christensen scored seven-straight points during the span, while freshman guard Jennifer Schlott capped the streak with a steal and layup for USU's 22-4 lead at the 12:30 mark. Nevada made its first field goal in over six minutes on a layup by Kate Kevorken. The Wolf Pack whittled away at the deficit, closing to 42-31 at halftime.
Robinson hit a three-pointer 1:10 into the second stanza to pull Nevada within 45-34, but senior guard Amber White hit a three-point play and Brown netted a layup to extend USU's lead to 50-34 with 16:42 on the clock. The Wolf Pack rallied to close to 53-45 with 12:44 to play on a layup by Kayla Williams.
That would be the closest Nevada would get as sophomore guard Jenna Johnson hit a runner as the shot clock was winding down to put USU ahead 55-45 with 11:49 left. The Aggies led by double-digits the rest of the game, stretching their advantage to the largest of the night at 72-53 with 5:04 left on a pair of free throws by Brown. Nevada got within 10 at 79-69 with 47 seconds left but didn't get any closer.
Utah State shot 25-of-64 (39.1 percent), while hitting 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) of its three-pointers. Nevada made 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the field, hitting 2-of-10 (20.0 percent) behind the arc. The Wolf Pack were also 23-of-27 (85.2 percent) at the free pitch line.
The Aggie defense forced 25 turnovers, while only committing 13 miscues, as USU had a 35-17 point off turnovers advantage. Utah State also had a 23-8 edge in second-chance points while Christensen's 24 points led the Aggie bench to a 35-16 bench scoring edge over the Wolf Pack.
Boise State 69, Hawaii 63 | Stats
BOISE, Idaho (1/15/2011) - Lauren Lenhardt tied the school scoring record with 37 points to lead Boise State University’s women’s basketball team to a 69-63 Western Athletic Conference win over the University of Hawai’i in Taco Bell Arena. The game was a typical battle between these two teams for the entire 20 minutes with the largest lead being eight points by Boise State. The Broncos held off a late push by the Rainbow Wahine to win their second-consecutive home game this week as they improved to 11-7 overall and 2-2 in league, while Hawai’i fell to 6-11 on the year and 0-4 in conference play.
Lenhardt was on fire throughout the game scoring 23 of her 37 points in the first half. At one point she was eight-for-eight before missing her first shot. She finished the night with her second career double-double adding a team-high 13 boards. She set personal bests for points, field goals made with 14, field goal attempts at 20, minutes played at 36, while tying her highs for rebounds (13) and free throws made with eight. She was a little over two months old win the Bronco scoring record was set by Lidiya Varbanova in February of 1991, 19 years later she tied it as a sophomore.
The first half was a tightly contested affair as the two teams went back and forth. There were five ties and five lead changes in the first half. Neither side could shake the other in a physical battle that saw a seven-point 23-16 lead by Boise State with 7:24 to play as the largest advantage of the period. Hawaii’s largest lead of the game was four at 8-4 with 14:13 showing on the clock.
The Rainbow Wahine rallied from the seven-point deficit at 7:24 to take a one-point 30-29 lead into the break. Hawai’i dominated the glass in the first half out rebounding Boise State 35 to 17 for a 13 to four advantage in second chance points. Boise State had the edge in points in the paint 18 to 10 and points off turnovers 11 to two.
Lauren Lenhardt lit up Hawaii in the first half scoring 23 of Boise State’s 29 points going nine-of-11 from the floor and five-of-six from the free-throw line. Megan Tinnin led Hawaii with 10 points while Kamilah Jackson grabbed 13 boards.
The second 20 minutes was as intense as the first with the two teams playing physical, hard ball. However, other Broncos stepped up to help in the scoring in the final period. Only three Boise State players scored in the first half, by the end of the game seven of the 11 had points.
Janie Bos who was in foul trouble most of the night had four points in the first period, but finished with 10 and five rebounds. Melissa Rima, who was scoreless in the first half, hit two big 3-pointers to shift momentum to Boise State as she finished with six points and six boards. The first of Rima’s treys came after Hawai’i had tied the score at 42 all with 11:44 to go to spark a 8-0 run as the Broncos took the largest lead of the game at 50-42 with 10:27 left. Rima’s second trey came with 9:09 remaining to give the Broncos a six-point lead at 53-47.
There were three ties and five lead changes during the last period. Hawai’i’s last lead came at 12:58 to play in the game up 40-39. Cinnamon Lister hit a trey on the next possession to give the Broncos at two-point 42-40 lead. Though they would be tied at 42 all a minute later, Boise State never trailed again in the contest.
The Rainbow Wahine kept close on the backs of Shawna Kuehu, Megan Tinnin and Keisha Kanekoa who combined for 48 points, 24 in each half. Kuehu led Hawai’i with 18 points and eight rebounds, followed by Tinnin with 16 points and nine boards, and Kanekoa with 14 points and six assists. Kamilah Jackson entered the game as Wahine’s leading scorer at 14.2 points per game was held to seven, however, she dominated the glass with 22 rebounds.
Kuehu hit a 3-pointer with 1:57 to play to pull Hawai’i within one at 64-63. That was the last point of the game for the Rainbow Wahine as Boise State responded with the final five points of the contest. Lenhardt hit a short jumper with 1:41 left to put the Broncos up three at 66-63. Bos then finished the game off hit three of four free throws in the last 20 seconds to push the score to the final six-point victory spread at 69-63.
The Boise State team played well overall in a tight game that could have gone either way. All 11 players contributed to this win. The two freshmen point-guards Diana Lee and Cinnamon Lister played extremely well for the Broncos. Though they did not score a lot of points they were steady in the back court.
On the night Boise State shot 34.8 percent (23-66) from the floor, 26.3 percent (5-19) from behind the arc and 75 percent (18-24) from the free-throw line. Hawai’i countered with 31.5 percent (23-37) percent shooting form the court, 40.9 percent (9-22) from 3-point range and 50 percent (8-16) from the charity stripe.
Hawai’i dominated the glass on the night out rebounding Boise State 59 to 43 giving them a slight edge in second chance points 16 to 11. However, the Broncos made up for the deficit on the boards by forcing 21 Wahine turnovers while committing a season-low nine for a decisive advantage in points off turnovers by a 24 to six margin. The battle in the post evened out by the end of the game as Boise State held a 26 to 22 edge in points in the paint. The Broncos bench was big out scoring Hawaii 20 to four.
Fresno State 76, New Mexcio State 49 | Stats
Fresno, CALIF. - Yvette Roberts sat at attention inside the Save Mart Center as senior guard Jaleesa Ross scooped up a loose ball and drove to the basket, moving one step closer to breaking the record that has been hers for more than two decades.
Past and present collided Saturday night when Ross scored 16 points to help Fresno State beat New Mexico State 76-49. Ross now needs 21 more points to surpass Roberts' 1,778-point scoring record and become the most prolific scorer in program history.
"I think that's great," said Roberts, who played for Fresno State from 1985-89. "Records are made to be broken. I had my run. If she does it, congratulations. I would love to shake her hand."
Roberts got that chance Saturday. She was introduced to coach Adrian Wiggins, Ross and the rest of the Bulldogs following the game, an occasion that brought a big smile to Ross' face.
"That was awesome," Ross said. "She put a huge smile on my face. I was so surprised."
Roberts watched intently as Fresno State (12-6, 3-1 WAC) used a 20-4 first-half run to distance itself from the Aggies (8-10, 2-2). The Bulldogs led by as many as 29 points. Sophomore forward Rosie Moult led all scorers with 19 points, and senior forward Hayley Munro added 16 points.
Roberts was on hand for the duration and received a warm round of applause from the 2,895 fans in attendance. She was repeatedly stopped by onlookers, many of whom had watched her dominate the hardwood years before.
While there has been much made of Ross' climb up the scoring ladder, no such attention was paid to Roberts' accomplishment. Indeed, Roberts has no idea when she set the record. She doesn't know who the Bulldogs were playing at the time or whether they were at home or on the road.
"I don't remember at all," she said. "It wasn't for me to be a top-scoring person. I couldn't tell you when it happened. It was all basketball."
Former Fresno State coach Bob Spencer had everything to do with that.
"He said, `You better not think about that record,'" Roberts recalled. "You better get your (butt) out there and play. Don't think about any of that.'"
Of course, it was a different time when Roberts roamed the floor. A Fresno native, she readily recalls the Bulldogs having to clean trash from the bleachers at Bulldog Stadium before every home game in order to raise money for the team.
"We had our buckets, soap and water," Roberts said with a laugh. "That was our Saturday afternoon."
Times may be different, but Roberts' sense of pride for the program remains the same. Over the years, she's watched from afar as the Bulldogs began building their national profile, winning three consecutive WAC titles and regularly competing in the NCAA Tournament.