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Show Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Page 7 TuesdaySpOir Utah State University • Logan, Utah • Glance Aggie Schedules Baseball www.utahstatesman.com WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Heartbreak in Las Vegas for USU women FRIDAY, MARCH 22 USU at Colorado State, 7:00 p.m., SATURDAY, MARCH 23 USU at Colorado State, noon DH SUNDAY, MARCH 24 USU at Colorado State, 10 a.m. BY JASON BORBA staff writer So tball WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 USU vs. Utah, 4:00 p.m., Johnson Field FRIDAY, MARCH 22 USU at SJSU, 4:00 p.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 23 USU at SJSU, 1:00 p.m., DH G mnastics SATURDAY, MARCH 23 WAC Championships, 6:00 p.m., Cedar City, Utah Mr1=22.01=11 SATURDAY, MARCH 23 USU vs. Lamar 11:00 a.m., Sports Academy Women's Tennis FRIDAY, MARCH 22 USU at Weber State, 11:30 a.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 23 USU at UT-Arlington, 2:00 p.m. Sport Briefs Thomson earns WAC honors Utah State softball player Christine Thomson was named WAC player of the week for March 11-17. The senior batted .476 with 10 hits in seven games to lead the Aggies to their first win of the season with a sweep of Weber State on Wednesday. Thomson helped the Aggies to a 5-2 record last week. USU begins conference play Saturday against SJSU. Women's basketball to play in WBI Utah State women's basketball will host South Dakota in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational on Thursday at 7 p.m.. It is the third straight season US has advanced to a postseason tournament, led by senior Devyn Christensen who was selceted to the WAC tournament team. Doughty arrested in St. George USU junior linebacker Jake Doughty was arrested Thursday near St. George for supplying alcohol to a minor. An all-WAC linebacker, Doughty led USU with 109 tackles this past season, which was second in the WAC. After being booked into a Washington County jail, a $1050 bond was set and paid. It was the second offence on Doughty's record after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance last summer. ► 3 Complied from staff and media reports SENIOR GUARD DEVYN CHRISTENSEN dribbles past a Denver defender during the Aggies' quarterfinal win in the WAC tournament. Christensen and the Aggies suffered a semifinal loss to eventual champion Idaho despite a career-high 37 points. DELAYNE LOCKE photo With a chance to lock up a berth in the finals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the Utah State women's basketball team took the court Friday afternoon against the University of Idaho in the semi-finals. The Vandals upset the Aggies 84-82 despite a heroic performance from senior Devyn Christensen. "This is a tough place to be obviously, everybody puts a lot of time and emotion from August through March," said USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. "It's a long season for the girls. Lots of emotion is in play. We are very disappointed and frustrated." With 3.2 seconds remaining in the game USU found themselves down two after two made free-throws by Idaho's Addie Schivo. Following a timeout, Finkbeiner drew up a play for Christensen. The ball was inbounded to Jenna Johnson who tried to find Christensen but the pass was tipped, leading to a mad scramble for the ball. The final three seconds ticked away and the buzzer sounded with Christensen on the ground and the Aggies going home. All the drama came in the second half after the two teams played a closely contested first half. The Aggies came out on fire in the second half, making six consecutive 3-pointers. Every time USU looked to be pulling away, the Vandals had a response. Idaho stormed back and took the lead with 7:20 to play after a 3-pointer by Karr Krissy. From there, the Vandals went on a 22-5 run. With USU down six points with two minutes to go it seemed as though the Aggies had run out of gas, but Christensen wouldn't go away. She responded to every Idaho basket with one of her own, finishing with 10 points in the final two minutes. "Being out there, both teams were filling it," Finkbeiner said. "I think we were both on that edge. We wanted to get that lead and get that win. Devyn had an excellent game in my opinion, and she came through for us." Christensen missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left but Franny Vaaulu got the tip-in plus the foul. Vaaulu hit the ensuing free throw to tie the game 82-82. "Franny got a huge rebound and made her free-throw," Christensen said. "She struggled with her free-throws all year ►See AGGIES, Page 9 MEN'S BASKETBALL Second half comeback falls short for Aggies BY TAVI N STUCKI news editor Utah State nearly crawled out of a 18-point hole after a sloppy first half but lost 83-78 to UT Arlington in the Orleans Arena. The Aggies led 66-64 after sophomore forward Ben Clifford hit one of his four 3-pointers with 5:46 left in the game, their largest lead of the night. The Mavericks answered every USU attempt to put the game away down the stretch. Clifford hit from range again with 40 seconds left to cut the Arlington lead to two, but senior forward Kevin Butler was fouled shortly after the inbounds pass and drained both free throws to expand the lead to 81-78. "It's hard to say they mean really that much when the next time down the floor they get a big three, get a bucket," Clifford said about his hot shooting. Clifford threw the ball away on the next possession. Aggie guard Marcel Davis was forced to foul Arlington senior center Jordan Reeves, who missed both foul shots with 20 seconds left. Junior point guard TeNale Roland took the ball up the court, but Butler picked his pocket and put the game out of reach with a layup to make it 83-78. "We panicked a little bit," said USU head coach Stew Morrill. "When there was more time and we could have done some things, we turned it over when the game was on the line." The quarterfinal matchup ended much like it began: Utah State turned the ball over twice in the final 23 seconds and nine times in the first half. The Mavericks put USU down early, jumping out to an 18-point lead with 9:28 in the half. UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross said his team's 2-2-1 full court press was a difference maker in getting easy baskets from turnovers. "Utah State, they fight, they claw," Cross said. "They've had a tough road with all the injuries, but they they keep plugging away, keep battling." Utah State had two assists in the first half and couldn't keep their hands on the ball: UT Arlington scored 17 points off 14 Aggie turnovers. "We turned it over too much and obviously we had lots of chances," Morrill said. Arlington led 40-29 at halftime. Then the comeback began and the Aggies went on an 8-1 run to start the second half. Aggie guard Spencer Butterfield was the life force of Utah State's offense on either side of halftime. The junior was 5-6 from the field, including a score from beyond the arc to give the Aggies 14 points in the first half. Butterfield finished with 19 points, shooting ►See USU, Page 9 JUNIOR GUARD TENALE ROLAND dribbles up the floor during the Aggies' quarterfinal loss to UT-Arlington at the WAC tournament. DELAYNE LOCKE photo |