USU Women's Basketball Begins 2011-12 Campaign

UTAH STATE vs Western New Mexico

Friday, Nov. 4 - 7 p.m. (MT)

Dee Glen Smith Spectrum

Logan, Utah

TIP OFF — Utah State [University] women's basketball opens the 2011-12 season with its only exhibition of the season against the Mustangs of Western New Mexico. Tip off time is set for 7 p.m. The Aggies bring back three starters from last season's historic squad that finished the season 18-15 overall and 10-6 in Western Athletic Conference action.

THE OPPONENT — In its only exhibition of the season, Utah State will take on Western New Mexico. The Mustangs are a Division II member that play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). Western New Mexico was recently picked to finish last in the 14-team RMAC Preseason Poll. Last season, the Mustangs were 1-25 overall and 1-21 RMAC. Before taking on the Aggies, Western New Mexico will take on Utah Valley in an exhibition Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m.

BRING ON THE RMAC — Both Utah State basketball teams will be taking on teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this week. On Friday, Nov. 4, the Aggie women will take on Western New Mexico. On Saturday, Nov. 5, the USU men will face Adams State, also a member of the RMAC.

UP NEXT — Following the exhibition against Western New Mexico, the Aggies open the regular season on the road for the first time since the 2006-07 season when USU began the season at Utah Valley. Utah State will take on Wyoming Friday, Nov. 11, in Laramie at 7 p.m. USU will conclude the brief two-game road trip at South Dakota State Sunday, Nov. 13, at 1 p.m. (MT). Last season, Utah State started the season slowly losing its first-four games of the season before breaking through to win five-straight games.

ADMISSION — Admission to Utah State's women's basketball games is $5 for adults, $1 for youth. A woman's sports pass is also available for $50. Contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office at (435) 797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) for more information or visit the Utah State athletic website online.

TURNING 24 — The 2011-12 season marks the 24th year of women's basketball at USU, and just the ninth since the program was restarted prior to the 2003-04 season. The women's hoops program at USU had been disbanded following the 1987 season due to budget cuts. USU is playing in its seventh season in the WAC after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.

AGGIES IN THE PRESEASON POLLS — Utah State women's basketball was selected second in the Western Athletic Conference coaches' poll and third in the media poll. Both predictions are the highest for USU since joining the WAC. Last season, the Aggies were picked seventh in both the coaches' and the media poll.

Senior forward Ashlee Brown made Utah State women's basketball history by becoming the first Aggie to earn WAC Preseason Player of the Year honors when she was awarded the honor by both the coaches and the media. Brown, who averaged 15.2 points per game last season, is the top scorer returning in the WAC. Last season, Brown was the WAC's Newcomer of the Year and earned first-team all-WAC honors.

The Aggies received 40 points in the WAC coaches' poll, including two of the eight first-place votes. Defending WAC regular season-champion, Louisiana Tech, was picked first with 47 points, including five-first place votes. Fresno State, the 2011 WAC Tournament champions, was picked third with 36 points and the final first-place vote. Nevada placed fourth with 33 points, followed by Hawai`i with 22 points. New Mexico State was picked to finish in sixth place with 18 points, while Idaho was just a point behind with 17 points to finish in seventh place. The coaches' poll was rounded out by San Jose State in eighth place with 11 points.

In the media poll, Utah State was voted third with 126 points, including three first-place votes. As with the coaches' poll, Louisiana Tech was picked first with 144 total points and 13 first-place votes. The only difference between the polls was that Fresno State took second-place in the media poll with 129 points and three first-place votes. Nevada earned the fourth spot with 80 points, followed by Hawai`i with 72. The media poll was rounded out with New Mexico State in sixth with 59 points, while Idaho (52 points) and San Jose State (22 points) were picked to finish seventh and eighth, respectively.

FOLLOWING THE AGGIES

• ON THE RADIO/WEB — All Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Craig Hislop taking the reigns this season. They can also be heard on the web by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and click on the "Listen Live" link in the right hand column.
• GAMETRACKER — Fans can follow Aggie home games through the USU website at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.
• ON THE INTERNET — All of Utah State's home games are available to watch live through Utah State TV via the Internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com. USU fans can also listen to every game both home and away, via USU's website.

WHO'S WHO — Utah State returns 10 players from the 2010-11 roster, including three starters in forward Ashlee Brown (15.2 ppg), center Banna Diop (9.5 ppg) and guard Jenna Johnson (6.6 ppg). USU brings back 75 percent of its offense, including its top three scorers in Brown, Diop and guard Devyn Christensen. The Aggies also welcome back the block leader in Diop (1.88 bpg), and Brown will also be back in the blue and white as USU's leading rebounder, bringing down 251 rebounds (8.4 rpg).

Read more, including “AROUND THE COURT” in the full announcement on the Athletics website.

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics website.