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Show Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 Page 7 MondayS110 toe Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com TouchBase Aggie women struggle in Montana, drop second straight BY CURTIS LUNDSTROM WACStandings Football La. Tech Utah State Nevada Hawaii SJSU Fresno State NMSU Idaho WAC 6-1 5-2 5-2 3-4 3-4 3-4 2-5 1-6 OVERALL 8-4 7-5 7-5 6-7 5-7 4-9 4-9 2-10 RECENT RESULTS SATURDAY, JAN. 24 Utah State 24, NMSU 21 Brigham Young 41, Hawaii 20 SDSU 35, Fresno State 28 Top 25 Record 1. LSU (60) 13-0 2. Alabama 11-1 3. Oklahoma St. 11-1 11-1 4. Stanford 5. Southern Cal 10-2 11-2 6. Oregon 7. Arkansas 10-2 11-1 8. Boise St. 9. Wisconsin 11-2 10. South Carolina 10-2 11. Kansas St. 10-2 12. Michigan St. 10-3 13. Michigan 10-2 14. Clemson 10-3 15. Baylor 9-3 10-2 16. TCU 17. Virginia Tech 11-2 18. Georgia 10-3 19. Oklahoma 9-3 12-1 20. Houston 21. Nebraska 9-3 22. Southern Miss. 11-2 23. West Virginia 9-3 24. Penn St. 9-3 25. Florida St. 8-4 Pts 1,500 1,418 1,400 1,283 1,179 1,170 1,148 1,107 1,038 946 829 733 707 663 656 632 591 566 386 370 363 336 199 129 49 Pv 1 2 3 4 9 8 6 9 15 14 16 11 17 21 19 18 5 12 13 7 20 24 22 23 25 staff writer The Utah State women's basketball team suffered its second straight loss, falling 78-61 to Montana State on Friday. Senior center Maddy Plunkett finished with a career-high 14 points in the loss. "(Plunkett )was able to bring us a quick punch offensively," head coach Raegan Pebley said. "Her ability to stretch the defense with her perimeter shooting is a strength of hers." Plunkett, making her first start this season, got off to a quick start by scoring the first five points for the Aggies en route to an early 5-2 advantage. Montana State answered back in a competitive first half that saw six ties and five lead changes. Junior forward Rachel Semansky had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bobcats. It was a rough night for the Utah State defense, as Montana State shot 50 percent from the field in the first half. The Aggies connected on 66 It was a big wake-up call for us defensively. We have to bring our defense ... " - head coach Raegan Pebley, USU women's basketball only 38.2 percent of their field-goal attempts in the first half but trailed by only two at the break, despite poor shooting. Unfortunately for Utah State, Montana State continued its hot SENIOR FORWARD MADDY PLUNKETT puts up a layup against University of Cardiac Kids do it again *See WOMEN'S, Page 9 California, Riverside earlier in the season. Plunkett scored a career-high 14 points in a 78-61 loss to Montana State. KIMBERLY SHORTS photo USU wins fifth straight, finishes with most regularseason wins since 1979 USU to face Ohio in bowl game BY TAVI N STUCK! sports editor For the first time since 1979, the Utah State BY USU ATHLETICS The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl announced Sunday afternoon the Utah State football team will face Ohio University from the Mid-American Conference in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 3:30 p.m. at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Both USU and Ohio ended the regular-season with five-game win streaks, with the Aggies winning their fifthstraight game with a thrilling 24-21 win at New Mexico State on Saturday. Ohio had its five-game win streak halted with a heartbreaking 23-20 loss to Northern Illinois Saturday in the MAC Championship game in Detriot, leading 20-0 at halftime before NIU rallied and won with a field goal as time expired. The Bobcats are 9-4 overall, winning the MAC East Division title. Ohio is led by senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton, who broke 12 Bobcat singleseason records this year and ranks 20th nationally with 26 touchdown passes. This will be the Bobcats' third-straight bowl appearance. Ohio opened the season with a 44-24 win at New Mexico State on Sept. 3, the lone common opponent between the Aggies and Bobcats. USU will bring the nation's sixth-ranked rushing attack into the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, led by junior running back Robert Turbin, who is 10th in FBS in rushing (118.0 ypg) and tied for fifth in scoring (11.5 ppg). "I have tremendous See AGS, Page 8 JUNIOR WIDE RECEIVER MATT AUSTIN catches a touchdown at the back of the end zone in USU's home finale on Saturday, Nov. 26. Austin caught the game-winning touchdown against New Mexico State to lead USU over NMSU 24-21. TODD JONES photo football team has seven regular season wins after beating New Mexico State 24-21 Saturday. Down four, USU quarterback Adam Kennedy threw his third touchdown pass of the day and second touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Matt Austin, with 35 seconds left, to seal the three-point victory. USU head coach Gary Andersen said he does not purposely plan to have these exciting finishes. "Trust me, we do not," Andersen said. "We played well enough to win and there's a W there. It'll be there forever." In the first quarter, Utah State went for it on fourth down and failed on two different drives. If USU had taken the field goals, the wild finish might not have occurred. Utah State first scored with 8:52 left in the second quarter on a 21-yard pass from Kennedy to junior running back Robert Turbin, to go up 7-0 on his only catch in the game. Turbin finished with 25 carries for 98 yards. Senior running back Michael Smith said USU has a three-headed rushing monster. "Me, Kerwynn (Williams) and Turbin," Smith said. "We've been running the ball very well this season. Why not keep giving us the ball? We've been leading this offensive team all year long, so why not keep giving it to us - keep feeding us?" New Mexico State answered back two minutes later, when quarterback Matt Christian scampered 16 yards up the right side to even the score at 7. See FOOTBALL, Page 9 Men's basketball falls to Pacific BY TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor The Utah State men's basketball team hasn't dropped back-to-back games since the 2009-10 season and the Aggies have dropped two in a row just 17 times in the past 13 years. USU dropped its second consecutive game, as sophomore forward Ross Rivera came off the bench to score 15 points to lead the University of Pacific Tigers over the Aggies 65-57, on Saturday at the Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif. "They pretty much dominated us physically," USU head coach Stew Morrill said. "They had some big, strong guys and they were stronger than us at about every position. We don't carry a lot of bulk at any of our spots other than Brockeith (Pane), and it showed." Pane, who finished below double-digit scoring for the first time in nine games, hit a 3-pointer to pull the Aggies within six points, late in the game, but the comeback effort fell short. USU began the game on a 4-0 run with Pane hitting a jumper and Mitch Bruneel getting in the lane for an easy layup. Pacific began a run at a lead it would not relinquish. After a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Preston Medilin, who led the Aggies with 15 points, the Tigers would respond with a 7-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. A layup from senior forward Morgan Grim, who played limited minutes due to an ankle injury and illness, tied the game at 12-apiece, midway through the first half, but Pacific would outscore USU 19-10 to close out the half and gain a lead it never ceded. Junior forward Kysiean Reed, who finished with 13 points, scored USU's first 11 points of the second half to keep the Aggies within striking distance of Pacific. As it did for most of the game, USU struggled on both sides of the floor, nevertheless Pacific gradually increased its lead as the game progressed. A pair of free throws from junior guard Lorenzo McCloud gave Pacific its largest lead of the night at 56-39 with 8:21 to play. "I thought we tried, even when we got down See USU, Page 8 JUNIOR FORWARD KYISEAN REED drives to the basket against Denver forward Brian Stafford at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Reed scored 13 points in a 65-57 loss to former Big West foe Pacific Saturday night. CODY GOCHNOUR photo |