Utah State women drop heartbreaker to Boise St. Saturday

BOISE, Idaho – After clawing back from being down by 10 points in the second half, the Utah State women’s basketball team could not hold off a late push by Boise State, falling, 70-63, at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho on Saturday.With 2:23 left in the game, Utah State held a slight, 63-62, lead after a jumper by junior guard Alice Coddington. The basket would be the final made by the Aggies in the game. Boise State went on to score the final eight points of the game to earn the win.With the loss, Utah State falls to 11-10 overall and 3-5 in Western Athletic Conference action. Boise State improves to 14-7 overall and 3-4 in league play. The Aggies are now half way through the conference schedule, having played every team once.Utah State was led by junior guard Amber White’s 13 points and three assists. Redshirt-freshman Banna Diop had her first career double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Senior center Lydia Whitehead had a solid second half scoring all 11 of her points in the second stanza.Boise State was led by a game-high 17 points from Rebecca Kepilino who also brought down seven boards. Tasha Harris added 15 points, but the Broncos’ other leading scorer, Jessica Van Hoogen was held to only three points.The Aggies were able to capitalize on the fastbreak, out-scoring Boise State 10-0 in fastbreak points. Boise State bettered Utah State in second-chance points, out-scoring the Aggies 11-4, while USU was better in bench points 22-15.Both teams started off slow both teams scoring only seven points in the first six minutes of play.USU took a 9-7 lead off of a Coddington layup. The teams traded baskets and with 5:44 left in the half USU once again tied the score at 21-21 with a Williams layup. BSU took its biggest lead of the half, 35-28, with free throw by Tasha Harris to 0.4 seconds remaining in the first half. The half would end with the same seven-point lead for the Broncos.Utah State was led in the first half by seven points from the heroine in the Idaho game, TaHara Williams. White brought down six first-half points. Diop had a solid first half scoring five points and adding five rebounds and two blocks.USU scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead down to two points before a Kepilino three pointer stretched lead back to five points 37-32. Boise State then used a 7-2 run to increase its lead to 10 points, 44-34 with 17:07 remaining in the second half.After Diop scored five-straight points, the Aggies cut the lead down to 50-49. USU regained the lead, 52-50, on a LaCale Pringle-Buchanan with 10:22 left in the second half. USU used a 22-6 run to take its biggest lead of the game 56-50 with 8:28 left in the game. The Aggies kept the lead until 2:54 mark when Melissa Rima hit one of her two three pointers to put Boise State up, 62-61. Alice Coddington countered with a layup to give USU the, 63-62, lead which was the Aggies final lead of the game.For the game, the Aggies shot 47.1 percent from the field (24-of-51). The Aggies also shot 35.7 percent from three (5-of-14). USU shot 55.6 percent from the charity stripe (10-of-18). The Broncos shot 42.6 percent from the field (23-of-54), while shooting 36.8 percent from three (7-of-19). Boise State also shot 73.9 percent from the free throw line (17-of-23).Utah State now returns home to the friendly confines of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies next take on Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3:00 p.m. It is the first half of a doubleheader with the Utah State men’s team.Live stats will be available for most Utah State women’s basketball games through the women’s basketball page on www.utahstateaggies.com, by clicking on GameTracker in the current events box. All home games can be viewed by clicking on “Watch Live”, while they can be heard by clicking on “Listen Live.” Both can be accessed on www.utahstateaggies.com on the front page or the women’s basketball page.For tickets contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office at (435)797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) for more information or visit the Utah State athletic web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com.-USU-

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