Aggie Women's Basketball Matches Home Win Record

Holding off a late comeback from the Spartans, Utah State women's basketball posted an 82-78 home win over San José State Wednesday night in the sole regular-season meeting between the teams.

Utah State was led by a 22-point performance from freshman guard Rachel Brewster. She matched her career-high in the win, recording 22 points for the third time this season. She was joined in double figures by freshman forward Hailey Bassett who matched her career-high with 16 points. Additionally, sophomore center Deja Mason recorded her second double-double of the season, tallying a career-high 13 points and matching her career-best with 12 rebounds.

Freshman forward Shannon Dufficy also finished the night with 12 rebounds, her 10th double-figure rebound game of the season. Utah native Dezz Ramos led the Spartans with 37 points, while two others scored in double digits.

The Aggies posted a season-high 52 rebounds in the win, while out-rebounding the Spartans who ended the night with 39. Utah State's 49 first-half points were the most the Aggies have scored in a single half this season. Followed by a strong second half, USU ended the night with a season-high 82 points.

With the win, the Aggies improve to 15-12 on the year, securing the most wins in a season since 2013-14. Utah State sits at 8-8 in Mountain West action, matching last season's conference win total. Additionally, the Aggies improve to 11-4 in home games this season, matching the program home win record. San José State falls to 10-17 overall and 7-8 in league action.

In a fast-paced game, scoring started early and quickly. Though San José State scored first, the Aggies responded with six-straight points to take the lead. The teams traded shots back-and-forth through the early minutes of the first quarter. Out of the media timeout, the USU defense stepped up and started to hold off the Spartans. San José State was limited to a single free throw in the final minutes of the quarter, giving the Aggies the opportunity to build up their lead. Utah State ended the first quarter with a 21-13 advantage.

The Spartans opened the second quarter with their first field goal in nearly four minutes, but that would be their only points for another three. In that time, the Aggies went on a 10-0 run to build up their lead. Down the stretch of the quarter, Brewster went on a run of her own, scoring 10-straight points for the Aggies. Her shooting spurt was broken up by a layup from Mason, who reached double figures for the second time this season. The Spartans found a bit of an offensive surge then, scoring eight-straight points. The teams alternated baskets over the final two minutes, while Bassett had the final say of the half with a layup just seconds before the buzzer to give USU a 49-33 lead at the break.

San José State spread out its offensive capabilities a bit early in the third, as three players contributed to score the team’s first nine points. The Aggies stayed in it, fitting shots in between the Spartan makes. Bassett became the third USU player to reach double figures with a layup at the 5:35 mark, followed by freshman guard Jessie Geer’s second 3-pointer of the game. The Aggies were then held without a point for just over three minutes, while the Spartans cut into USU’s lead. With what looked to be the last possession, SJSU had the chance to get back within single digits, but a last-second turnover kept Utah State up, 61-51 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter started out quickly in the Spartans’ favor, as they jumped out on an 8-0 run behind two 3-point shots. Followed with a pair of free throws, San José State was back within two, the closest the score had been since midway through the first. The surge from the Spartans continued, as Ramos drilled a trey to tie the score at 65 at the 6:09 mark. San José then momentarily took its first lead of the night, but a layup from Mason tied things up again, while Bassett added two free throws to out the score back in the Aggies’ favor. Bassett followed with back-to-back layups to match her career-high, while Brewster reached 20 points for the fourth time this season with a jumper at the 1:22 mark. The Aggie defense held San José State to just two free throws over a five-minute period, a stretch the Spartans ended with another trey. Seven Utah State free throws in the final minute, interrupted only by one last 3-pointer from Ramos, secured the win for the Aggies.

Overall, Utah State shot 41.3 percent (31-of-75) from the field, including 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from the 3-point line, and was 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the free throw line. San José State shot 40.0 percent (28-of-70) from the field, 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from behind the arc and 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the free throw line.

The Aggies have their final road game of the season this weekend in a 2 p.m. game at Air Force on Saturday, Feb. 25. The team will then wrap-up the regular season in a home game against UNLV on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m.

Fans can follow USU women’s basketball on Twitter, @USUWBasketball, on Instagram, @USUWBasketball, as well as on Facebook, at /UtahStateWBB. Aggie fans can also follow Utah State Athletics on Twitter.com, @USUAthletics, on Instagram, @USUAthletics and on Facebook at /USUAthletics.