Despite allowing under 50 points for the third-straight game, the Utah State women's basketball fell to Monmouth in the championship game of the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic, 48-44, on Saturday at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. With the loss, the Aggies fall to 3-3, while Monmouth moves to 4-1 with the win. Despite the loss, the Aggies are still off to their best start since starting the 2004-05 season 3-3.
Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro was the leading scorer for the Aggies with 12 points nine of which came in the second half. Snelgro also added three assists and one steal in her 37 minutes of action. Junior Lydia Whitehead had eight points despite being in foul trouble much of the game.
Both Snelgro and fellow guard Ana Pares were named to the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic all-tournament team as voted on by the tournament's four coaches. Hawk Jennifer Bender was named both Defensive and tournament Most Valuable Player.
In the first half six different players contributed in the scoring as USU took a 24-19 going in to half time. The Aggies would have as big a lead as 12 points midway through the half after two three pointers by Ana Pares sandwiched between an Alice Coddington lay up. Monmouth would chip away at the lead after a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 22-15. The Hawks scored seven of its 19 first-half points from the free throw line as Taylor Smith was 6-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Utah State started the second half ice cold going over seven minutes without scoring as the Hawks would tie the score at 24-24. The teams would exchange leads six times throughout the game with the last tie occurring at 34-34.After that point, Monmouth extended its lead to 40-34 with 5:02 left in the second half on an 8-0 run by the Hawks where Bender scored four points.
Monmouth would not relinquish the lead after that point even though USU would cut the lead down to a one-point game at 42-41 after a Nicole Johnson free throw with 1:03 remaining. The Aggies were the victims of there own turnovers as USU ended the game with 19 turnovers, including five traveling calls in the first half alone.
For the game Utah State shot 34.0 percent (16-of-47), making only six field goals in the second half as the Aggies were outscored 29-20 in the second stanza. From the free throw line, USU shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12).
Jennifer Bender who led all scorers with 23 points had only five points at half time. Bender was 7-of-20 from the field. She was very damaging late in the game going 9-for-11 from the free throw line. The Hawks were deadly from the charity stripe, shooting 72.7 percent (16-of-22). From the field, Monmouth shot 33.3 percent (16-of-48).
The Aggies are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 6 against Eastern Washington at 11 am. Eastern Washington is the third Big Sky team that Utah State has played this season with a win against Northern Arizona and a loss to Idaho State. The early start time is due to the USU men's team taking on BYU at 5 p.m. in Salt Lake City.
Courtesy of utahstateaggies.cstv.com/
