<strong>LOGAN—</strong> For the first time in school history, Utah State women’s basketball swept the season series with Louisiana Tech, capturing a 70-56 victory Thursday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
This is the Aggies first-ever home win against the Lady Techsters, improving to 4-14 against Louisiana Tech. USU defeated the Lady Techsters, 76-75, in overtime in Ruston.
With the win, Utah State improved to 15-11 overall and 12-3 in Western Athletic Conference action. The 12 league wins is a school record. Louisiana Tech fell to 12-14 overall and 8-7 in conference games.
The Aggies had four players in double figures in scoring led by 19 points from junior guard Jennifer Schlott. She also tied a career-high with six steals and four assists. Senior guard Devyn Christensen added 16 points and six assists, while senior guard Jenna Johnson scored 13. Off the bench, senior guard Cristal Turner scored 10 points and tied a career high with four blocks. For the game, USU had 14 steals and eight blocks.
Brittany Lewis led all scorers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Whitney Frazier had 11 points and 15 boards. The Lady Techsters ended the game out-rebounding the Aggies, 45-37.
Both teams started slow and were plagued by early turnovers. Schlott’s fast break layup gave the Aggies the early 6-2 lead. USU used an 8-0 run to take a 10-2 advantage. LA Tech responded with six-straight points to cut the lead to 10-8 with 12:44 remaining in the first half.
A three by Turner improved the USU lead to 20-8 with under eight minutes remaining in the half. The Aggie defense remained strong with four steals and two blocks in the first 14 minutes.
Utah State took its biggest lead of the half, 17 points, with 1:59 left in the second half after a Schlott layup, taking a 26-9 advantage over the Lady Techsters. The half ended with USU allowing a season-low 11 points.
In the first half, the Aggies were led by nine points from Schlott with Christensen adding seven. Both Johnson and freshman guard Makenlee Williams brought down five rebounds for Utah State. USU added eight steals in the first half.
Frazier led Louisiana Tech with 11 rebounds and three points in the first 20 minutes. Lewis was the Lady Techsters’ leading scorer with four first-half points.
The Lady Techsters came out strong in the second half, cutting the lead to 36-22 with under 14 minutes to play.
Both teams were turnover prone in the second half, as the Aggies lost some of their rhythm. A Frazier layup made it a 10-point game with less than 13 minutes to play in the game, 38-28. The Lady Techsters got the score to single digits after a pair of Kelia Shelton free throws made the score 38-30.
Louisiana Tech would get no closer than six points, as the Aggies made their free throws down the stretch.
For the game, Utah State shot 44.6 percent from the field (25-of-56) and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-14). The Aggies shot 72.7 percent from the charity stripe (16-of-22).
Louisiana Tech shot 30.9 percent (21-of-68) from the field and shot 8.3 percent from beyond the arc (1-of-12). The Lady Techsters shot a solid 72.2 percent from the free throw line (13-of-18).
The Aggies will conclude the portion of the regular-season schedule against UT Arlington on Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m. After the game, Utah State will honor its four seniors, Devyn Christensen, Banna Diop, Pualei Furtado and Jenna Johnson in a ceremony