OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 Page 9 WednesdaySp0 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com MEN'S BASKETBALL Record margin in Ags' first WAC win then sophomore forward Brady Jardine hit a jumper to spark a 12-0 to give the Ags a 49-19 staff writer lead with fewer than two minutes left in the half. The dagger came at the close of the half, when Quayle hit a long buzzer-beater 3-point The Utah State Aggies made a big stateshot to give the Aggies a 54-26 lead. ment and notched their first WAC conference The second half started in the same fashion win of the season with a 98-54, thrashing of the first half ended for USU, who hit its first the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Monday at the five shots of the half. With about 11 minutes Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies (11-6, left in the game, sophomore guard Jaxon 1-2) were desperate for a conference win after Myaer sank a shot from 3-point range to give a tough road trip that ended with a 82-60 loss the Aggies a 49-point lead, the largest of the to Louisiana Tech Jan. 4. night. The Aggies finished the night shooting "I think what happened tonight is that we 61 percent from the field and 68 percent from were very hungry to get a win," Aggie head beyond the arc. coach Stew Morrill said. "We were aggressive The 54-point first half is the second highest shooting the ball and aggressive on the break. point total for a half in the 105-year history of We were playing hard defensively. It was nice the program, while the 98-point performance to see coming off a tough road was the most points scored trip." by the Aggies in a WAC conFour Aggies scored "We're definitely ference game. The 44-point in double figures. Junior margin of victory was the forwards Nate Bendall, Tai a different team largest ever in a conference Wesley and junior guard than we were a game for the Aggies. Tyler Newbold led the week ago." "We're definitely a team, scoring 15 apiece, different team than we were Tai Wesley, while senior guard Jared a week ago," said Wesley, Quayle finished with 11 junior forward who finished the night with points. The Aggies hit shot nine rebounds. after shot in the first half, Earlier in the seaconnecting on 73 percent of their attempts from the field and 87 percent son, Morrill said his players looked like they no longer enjoyed playing basketball and they from the 3-point line (7-8). were letting the pressure of past years' success Warriors leading scorer, senior guard have a negative impact on their play. Roderick Flemings, was held to eight points "We weren't out there worrying tonight," on the night and was held out for the majority Morrill said. "We were playing, we were of the second half, after receiving a techniflowing and that's nice to see. I just keep tellcal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Junior ing them to keep their focus and enjoy what guard Dwain Williams led the Warriors with they're doing. I thought we did that. I thought 12 points and senior forward Brandon Adams we had fun tonight, and we enjoyed playing. was the only other Warrior to score doubleWe were real focused on what we were trying digits with 10 points. The Warriors finished to do." the night shooting 32.8 percent from the field The Aggies have a tough task ahead and and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. will need to keep their focus as they travel to "They were obviously worn out, tired, not themselves. They're certainly better than that," Reno, Nev. to play the University of Nevada Morrill said of the Warriors, who lost 78-64 to Wolf Pack Wednesday, Jan. 13. "Everybody got to play, and with three Fresno State Jan. 9. "They had a tough night, games this week, I think that's important that and we just came out firing on all cylinders." we save some legs and limited some minutes," The Warriors (8-9, 1-3) kept the margin Morrill said. under double-digits with their 3-point shootTip-off against the Wolf Pack is set for 9 ing early in the game, until Quayle found p.m. MST at Lawlor Events Center and will be junior forward Pooh Williams for a dunk to televised on ESPN2. give the Aggies an 11-point lead about eight minutes into the first half. The Aggies would — ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu eventually push their advantage to 20 and By TYLER HUSKINSON - SOPHOMORE FORWARD BRADY JARDINE (22) dribbles past a Hawai'i Rainbow Warrior defender. Newbold scored solely from beyond the arc, going 5-5 for 15 points along with five rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes. Cody Gochnour photo Amber White named Utah State Student Athlete of the Week BY USU ATHLETICS LOGAN, Utah — Utah State junior guard/forward Amber White has been named the America First Credit Union Student Athlete of the Week. This is the second honor of the season for White. White, a native of San Leandro, Calif., led Utah State to a pair of Western Athletic Conference victories last week with a 69-66 win at Louisiana Tech and a 65-54 home win against San Jose State. Against LTU, White scored 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and two steals. She also scored 18 points against the Spartans to extended USU's winning streak to six-straight games, its longest since 1978. For the week, White averaged 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals, while shooting 37.8 percent from the field (14-37), 62.5 percent from three-point range (5-8) and 75.0 percent at the free throw line (3-4). This is the second-straight week that a women's basketball player has been honored as fellow junior LaCale Pringle-Buchanan earned the award last week. White and the Aggies are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 13 against Nevada at 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Utah State (10-5) has won six-straight games. The Aggies are also 2-0 in WAC play for only the second time in their five years in the conference. \MEM= . 1111111m. A WHITE (FAR RIGHT) WAS NAMED America First Credit Union Student Athlete of the Week for the secand time in her Aggie career. PATRICK ODEN photo Ir Ii Aggie gymnastics ready to meet the challenge of 2010 BY USU ATHLETICS LOGAN, Utah — Meet the Challenge. Not only is it the name of the statue representing Utah State Athletics, as well as the backdrop for this year's Utah State Gymnastics team and class photos, it could also be a theme for Utah State Gymnastics. The Aggies are looking to rebound from the struggles of last season, to not only have a successful season, but make it to NCAA Regionals. "My goals and I think the team's goals are to make it to regionals as a team. I don't think that is a far stretch. Utah State has been to the regionals many times, so I think it is an attainable goal," second-year head coach Jeff Richards said. "Along with that, we just want to do our gymnastics. We need to do what we can and do it the best we can. We don't need to try to go out there and do too much fancy stuff. We just have to take the skills we can do and make them the cleanest we can possibly do them." Richards has a year under his belt, and it was a rough year for Richards and the Aggies, who suffered numerous injuries along the way to a 1-19 overall record while getting blanked in Western Athletic Conference action at 0-9, finishing with a No. 47 national ranking. Richards has had a full offseason this year and he as seen improvement amongst his squad. "Last year coming in, the girls were here before I got here, and we were behind a couple of months. They were a little iffy on what to do over their summer break. They didn't know who the coach was going to be and what to expect," Richards said. "This year the team has done an incredible job over the summer. They went home and went to their gyms. They stayed in shape and came back ready to go." Richards and the team improved in all aspects in the offseason in preparation for this year in high hopes of making it to regionals. "We have been able to try to put in a little bit more than last year. I think we did very well last year with what we had. This year, we are trying to put in a few upgrades on a few of the girls. It gives us that little bit of extra that we really need if we are going to do well in conference and make it to regionals. We have to put in these upgrades. Right now they are more physically fit to handle it," Richards said. Richards and the Aggies have seven letterwinners returning to a roster that features just one senior in Heather Heinrich, one of the injury casualties last year, missing five meets with an illness. USU adds four newcomers, all talented and expected to contribute immediately. In addition to the seven letterwinners, junior Chelsea Marquardt returns after missing last season with an injury. "We have eight returners," Richards said. "Right now we look way better than we did at this time of the season last year. I think we will do well this season. We look physically better and I think they're better mentally. We are at a point where the team can go either way. They are adding some difficulty to their bar dismounts and we are adding difficulty to the tumbling as well. It is kind of touch and go as far as what we bring out. If we can I See CHALLENGE, page 10 |