LOGAN, Utah – Entering the game with only eight available players and facing one of two remaining unbeaten teams in Mountain West play, Utah State women’s basketball fought to the wire before falling in heartbreaking fashion to San Diego State, 73-72, on Saturday afternoon at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Though a string of injuries left the Aggies without several starters and rotation players, USU received a number of strong performances to maintain pace with the league-leading Aztecs. Senior guard/forward Jamisyn Heaton led the team with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a 3-of-5 showing from 3-point range, with four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. Senior center Sophie Sene added 17 points and nine rebounds while senior guard Karyn Sanford played a career-high 38 minutes and finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists.
Freshman guard Paloma Munoz Herreros set a new career-high with 13 points while shooting 4-of-9 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. Freshman guard Aitana Rosello Lopez led the team with four assists while scoring six points while sophomore guard Elise Livingston chipped in with five points, six rebounds and three assists.
The Aggies hung tough from the get go as Heaton and Sanford combined to score all 18 of USU’s first quarter points with Heaton hitting all three of her 3-pointers in the opening frame. The Aztecs led by eight late in the first quarter, 21-13, before a pair of baskets by Sanford sandwiched Heaton’s final 3-pointer to tie the game early in the second frame. USU then kept pace with SDSU for much of the quarter but was unable to claim their first lead of the contest before entering halftime trailing, 36-32.
Utah State then dominated the third quarter, outscoring San Diego State in the frame, 24-11, to take a nine-point advantage in the fourth quarter. Livingston began the Aggie burst with a 3-pointer on the team’s opening possession of the second half before a layup by Rosello Lopez put USU ahead for the first time on the day. Sene then scored the next seven points off a 3-pointer, mid-range jumper and a pair of free throws to help build a cushion for the Aggies.
USU led by as many as 11 twice early in the final frame following layups from Rosello Lopez and Sene before the Aztecs stormed back with a 15-3 run to retake a one-point lead with less than five minutes remaining. The Aggies continued to fight despite the odds as Sanford tied the game at the FT line before Munoz Herreros hit three FTs to put USU up, 67-64.
The teams battled back-and-forth in the final minutes as SDSU retook the lead only for Sanford to again tie the game at 69, this time with a driving layup. Following an Aztec layup to go up by two, Munoz Herreros then sank a corner 3 with 15 seconds remaining to give Utah State a one-point lead at 72-71. A pull-up jumper from the free throw line then gave SDSU the lead back with four seconds remaining and on USU’s final possession, an attempted game-winning contested layup by Sene bounced off the iron to seal the 73-72 win for the Aztecs.
Utah State shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from 3-point range, also shooting 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw line. SDSU shot 45.6 percent (31-of-68) from the field, 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from 3-point range and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from the FT line.
Up Next
The Aggies (6-9, 2-4) head to California to take on Fresno State on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 7:30 p.m. (MT), before returning to the Spectrum to host Boise State on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m. (MT).
