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Show Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 Page 8 MondayS Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com A new era: Lady Ags rout Utes By TYLER HUSKINSON staff writer None of the players on the roster were even born the last time this happened. Friday night in the Spectrum, USU beat the Utah in women's basketball, 67-58, which the Aggies hadn't done in 30 years. The Utes, who lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year, visited the Spectrum for the first time since women's basketball was reinstated in 2003. JUNIOR FORWARD AMBER WHITE hangs for a jump shot. White poured in 25 points as Utah State beat Utah for the first time in 30 years. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo Junior forward Amber White vividly remembers what happened the last time the Utes and Aggies met in 2007: The Utes dominated the Aggies in Salt Lake, 70-38. "I knew my freshman year it didn't look too good, but I didn't want to focus on the past," White said. White didn't seem bothered by the past as she surpassed her career best with 16 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 25. White was 10-of-14 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point land, part of an overll 54.2 percent shooting night by USU. White also had five rebounds and one assist. White is a much better player and she knows it. White said that last year with Ana Pares and Danyelle Snelgro in the front court, she was just trying to learn. This year she has different plans. "This year I am coming in and trying to take the lead and trying to fill the void that we lost last year," White said. "She's definitely a leader off the court," head coach Raegan Pebley said. "She is also a much better defender on and off the ball." Junior forward Stacey Howard also posted a careerbest eight points. Howard scored seven of those points in the first half. The Aggies got off to a quick start and led 18-5 only six minutes into the game. The Utes came storming back with a 9-0 run capped by a Kalee Whipple steal and layup midway through the first half. Utah State returned the favor with a 14-2 run and pushed its lead to 16 on a White jumper. The Aggies shot a blistering 62.1 percent from the field in the first half and made 6-of-10 3-point shots. Junior guard Alice Coddington continued to play well on both ends of the floor and scored 11 first-half points. Coddington finished the night with 18 points, three assists and two steals. Coddington is another player on the Aggie squad who has improved from last year. Coddington, like White, knows her performance has improved. She won't take any credit for much improved offensive output though. "I just think I have a great team around me," Coddington said. The Aggie defense made the Utes' offense look silly. The Utes shot 37.5 percent from the field and a meager 33.3 percent from the 3-point line. "It's not a win without defense, that's where everything started for us," White said. It was an overall team effort that stopped the Utes' offense, but senior center Lydia Whitehead and senior forward Nicole Johnson stopped the Ute guard and post players from scoring in the paint. The Aggie guards also frustrated the Utes' front court, creating many turnovers. "I think we knew in the end that defense was going to win this game for us," Coddington said. The Utes relied heavily on Mountain West Conference stand-out Kalee Whipple for offensive production the whole game. Whipple scored 14 points in the first half, the rest of the team scored 13. Center Taryn Wicijowski had the second most first-half points for the Utes with eight. White said the Aggies weren't solely focused on Whipple but on the visiting Utes as a whole. White said at the end of the game she didn't even know how many points Whipple had. "I just know they lost and we won and it feels good," White said. The Ags led by double digits most of the second half until Ute forward Diana Rolniak hit a layup and cut the Aggie lead to eight with 15 second left. This win may have meant I See ROUT, page 9 GAME 10: USU 24, SJSU 9 Protect this house Turbin runs wild as USU clinches winning home season By TIM OLSEN sports editor Robert Turbin, USU's phenomenal sophomore running back, needed 68 rushing yards Saturday to break the 1,000-yard barrier for the season. Turbin reached that landmark then added 122 more yards to go along with two touchdowns as he led the Aggies to a win over San Jose State, 24-9. "Congratulations to Robert and his offensive line and everybody that's around him to get him to 1,000 yards," USU head coach Gary Andersen said. "That's a great accomplishment for a young man, and I'm proud of him." The wind was blowing and the snow swirling during a blustery afternoon in Romney Stadium, as the Aggies picked up their second conference win of the season. USU quarterback Diondre Borel had an unusually unproductive day, but one week after giving up 360 yards rushing and nearly 700 yards of total offense, a surprisingly stout Aggie defense more than made up for it. "They knew as a defense that they played poorly, and that's not them at all. They're a way better defense than what they showed at Hawaii," Turbin said. "Coming into this week, the defense was really focused on that's not us, we want to bounce back, we want to play better and they did that today." The Aggies held the Spartans to 56 yards rushing and 301 yards of TouchBase Turbin earns recognition from ESPN BY USU ATHLETICS Sophomore running back Robert Turbin has earned national recognition for his milestone performance Saturday in leading USU to victory, collecting a helmet sticker from ESPN.com and earning honorable mention running back of the week from collegefootballperformance.com . Turbin is the lone Western Athletic Conference individual to earn a helmet sticker from ESPN.com , while the Boise State defense and the Nevada offensive line were also recognized among the non-BCS conferences, while three other individuals were on the honorable mention list for a helmet sticker. Turbin was joined by Nevada running backs Vai Taua and Luke Lippincott on collegefootballperformance.com's national list. On Saturday, Turbin rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the Aggies' 24-9 win over San Jose State. The 190 yards is the best individual rushing total for an Aggie running back since USU legend Emmett White's 233 yards vs. Weber State in 2001 and is the most vs. a FBS opponent since White's 274 vs. Wyoming in 2001. Turbin's 190 yards push him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season, becoming the first USU running back since White did so in 2001. Turbin now has 1,122 on the season, jumping up to No. 12 on USU's single-season rushing list. Turbin now has 1,624 yards for his career, becoming the first Aggie since White (1998-2001) to reach 1,500 career rushing yards. Saturday was Turbin's sixth 100-yard rushing outing this season, the most since White had eight in 2001. Volleyball to host Hawaii in Spectrum BY USU ATHLETICS SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK ROBERT Turbin plows upfield against San Jose State Saturday afternoon in Romney Stadium. PATRICK ODEN photo total offense, including a sack on a fourth-down play from the Aggies' seven-yard line late in the fourth quarter. It was the fewest rushing yards allowed since the Aggies held Hawaii to 47 in 2007. Utah State scored on its first possession for its third-straight game, and the Aggies never really looked back from there. Andersen pulled out the bag of tricks early when receiver and holder Xavier Bowman ran 25 yards on a fake 48-yard field goal attempt. Bowman was able to get the first down himself, but an outstanding block by tight end Jeremy Mitchell sprung the senior and set the Aggies up with a first and goal at the six-yard line. One play later Turbin punched it in for his first I See HOUSE, page 9 Utah State's women's volleyball team will continue Western Athletic Conference play this week with a home match against third-ranked Hawaii on Monday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. (MT). Utah State is 14-13 on the season and 5-9 in WAC play following a four-set win at San Jose State and a three-set loss at Hawaii last weekend. USU is led by sophomore outside hitter Liz McArthur who is hitting .179 and averaging 3.81 kills, 1.68 digs and 0.48 blocks per set, while sophomore opposite side hitter Emily Kortsen is hitting .215 and averaging 2.09 kills, 2.44 digs and 0.56 blocks per set. |