March 11, 2008

LOGAN, Utah -

Complete Release in PDF Format

GAME #29 - 7-Utah State (9-19, 5-11 WAC) vs. 2-Boise State (22-6, 14-2 WAC)
WAC Tournament - Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 12, 8:30 p.m. (MT)
Las Cruces, N.M. • Pan American Center (13,071)
Broadcast: 1390 AM • www.UtahStateAggies.com

QUICKLY - Utah State women's basketball (9-19, 5-11 WAC) will enter the Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the seventh-seed and will take on second-seed Boise State (22-6, 14-2 WAC) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. (MT) at New Mexico State's Pan American Center (13,071) in Las Cruces, N.M.

The Wac Tournament opens Tuesday, March 11, with eight-seed Idaho meeting ninth-seed San Jose State in the play-in game at 5 p.m. (MT). The winner of that game will meet top-seed Fresno State on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m (MT). Wednesday's action opens with fourth-seed Nevada taking on fifth-seed Louisiana Tech at Noon (MT). The evening session features host, third-seed New Mexico State facing sixth-seed Hawai'i a 6 p.m. (MT), followed by USU-BSU.

The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals with the Nevada-La Tech winner meeting the Fresno State-8/9 winner at Noon, which will be televised on CSTV, followed by the NMSU-UH winner taking on the Utah State-Boise State at 2:30 p.m. The semifinal winners advance to the championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. on national television on CSTV.

The seventh-seed is USU's second-highest seeding for a conference tournament under head coach Raegan Pebley. Utah State was the sixth-seed for the Big West Tournament in 2005, after being the eight-seed for the Big West Tourney in 2004. In the Aggies first season in the WAC, they were the ninth-seed losing to eighth-seed Idaho, 70-59, in the play-in game, while last season USU was the sixth-seed falling to third-seed Nevada, 61-60.

Utah State has not won a conference tournament game since being reinstated in 2003-04 and the last time an Aggie team won a conference postseason game was 1977 in the AIAW Playoffs.

USU, who was picked seventh in the WAC preseason poll, finished seventh in the conference standings. Utah State ended regular-season action with a 9-19 overall and 5-11 WAC record, falling to Idaho, 67-55, in Saturday's regular-season finale, as USU ended with three-straight losses after winning the previous two.

In its two meetings with Boise State this season, Utah State, 65-57, Thursday and fell, 85-77, at Boise State on Jan. 17. The Broncos lead the all-time series against the Aggies, 13-2, winning the last 10 in a row.

Boise State is 22-6 overall and 14-2 in WAC play. The Broncos ended their season on a 14-game winning streak, with its regular-season finale at USU on Thursday.

USU senior guard Taylor Richards scored her 1,000th career point on Jan. 12 at New Mexico State and became the fifth player in USU history to reach the 1,000 point milestone.

She currently holds the No. 3 spot on USU's Career Points list with 1,134 points. She needs 58 points to tie Brenda House (1978-81, 1,192 points) at No. 2.

Richards also set a new USU career three-pointers record on Jan. 26, surpassing the previous mark of 83 held by former teammate Brittany Hagen (2003-07). Richards has currently made 91 career three-pointers and now holds two records for USU, including the career assists record with 366 helpers.

The senior guard is also six steals away from owning her third career record at USU. Richards has 170 swipes and holds sole possession of the No. 2 spot, while Margaret Johns (1980-83) currently holds the No. 1 spot with 175 steals.

Aggie junior guard Danyelle Snelgro surpassed 100 career steals on Jan. 5 against San Jose State. She is now fourth on USU's career steals list with 141 and needs four to tie Carol Garrison (1980-81, 145) for third-place.

Snelgro is also fifth in career assists with 207 and needs 20 to tie Joy Rosenbrook (1980-81, 227) for fourth-place.

SEASON 20 - The 2007-08 season marks the 20th year of women's basketball at USU, and just the fifth 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 third season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.

ADMISSION - Available all-session tickets range from $30 to $225. Individual session tickets, if available, will be placed on sale beginning March 10 through the New Mexico State University ticket office at (575) 646-1420 / (866) 672-8524 or at Ticketmaster (575-532-2060).

AGGIES ON THE RADIO/WEB - All Utah State women's basketball games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play and former USU women's basketball player Ashley Rutledge will be providing color commentary for home games. They can also be heard on the web through Yahoo! Sports, by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the Yahoo! Sports link in the right hand column.

GAMETRACKER - Fans can follow all the Aggie home games through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.

WAC TOURNAMENT - Live Stats for the WAC Tournament will be available through New Mexico State's web site: www.nmstatesports.com.

WAC.TV - All of the WAC Tournament games are available through wac.tv. All-tournament passes will be available for $24.95 and all men's and women's games with the exception of the men's final on Saturday, March 15 will be available live on WAC.tv. The men's championship game will be available exclusively on ESPN2. Individual tournament games may be purchased for $7.95 each.

RETURNING - Head coach Raegan Pebley and the Aggies have three starters among nine letterwinners returning from last season's squad that posted an 11-18 overall record and 7-9 in the WAC... Senior forward Jenny Gross, senior guard Taylor Richards and junior guard Danyelle Snelgro return, as well as senior forward Jamelah Brown.

ABOUT UTAH STATE - The Aggies ended regular-season action with a 9-19 overall and 5-11 WAC record, falling to Idaho, 67-55, in Saturday's regular-season finale, as USU ended with three losses after winning the previous two games against two of the top three teams in the WAC standings.

As a team, Utah State is shooting 70.0 percent at the free throw line, currently second in the WAC statistics, but are sixth in the league in WAC only games (.698).

Overall, USU is seventh in scoring offense (58.8 pp) and second in scoring defense (64.1 pp), to rank seventh in scoring margin (-5.3). The Aggies are also third in steals (9.50 spg), sixth in blocked shots (2.86 bpg) and eighth in assists (10.96 apg).

Senior guard Taylor Richards (5-4, West Valley City, Utah) leads Utah State with 10.1 ppg and ranks third on the team with 4.3 rpg. Richards is seventh in the league stats in steals (2.04 spg), tied for 11th in assists (2.50 apg) and 14th in scoring. She also leads the team by posting double-figure points in 17 games.

After putting two marks in the single-season assists list, Richards has now made her way into the top 10 single-season steals list with 57 on the season to tie Joy Rosenbrook (1981). Richards has also made a second mark on the single-season three-point field goal pct. list, after shooting 32.8 percent (22-of-67) this season, currently standing in seventh. She also holds the No. 5 spot on that list, as she shot 34.4 percent (21-of-61) from behind the arc her freshman season.

In addition to being USU's career assists leader with 366, Richards also holds the record on USU's career three-pointers made list, currently with 91 and is No. 2 in career steals with 170 swipes, needing five more to tie Margaret Johns (1980-83, 175) for the No. 1 spot.

For the eighth time this season, Richards led Utah State in scoring with 14 points against Boise State on Thursday. She posted a season-high 18 points twice this season, last done on Jan. 26 at Louisiana Tech.

In Saturday's loss to Idaho, Richards had six points and for the sixth time this season led USU in rebounding, despite being the shortest player on the Aggies' roster at 5-4, pulling down seven boards.

Jenny Gross (SR, C/F, 6-2, Caldwell, Idaho) averages 10.0 ppg and leads the team with 5.6 rpg. Gross ranks ninth in the WAC stats in field goal percentage (.472, 103-of-218), seventh in free throw percentage (.742, 58-of-77), 12th in rebounding and 16th in scoring.

Gross recorded her first double-double of the season at Boise State on Jan. 17 with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while she tallied her second double-double also against Boise State on Thursday with 12 points and 11 rebounds. She tallied a career-high 19 points against New Mexico State on Jan. 24. Gross has recorded double-figure points in 15 games, including the last nine in a row, leading the team in seven of the last eight games. She posted a team-high 18 points and snared six rebounds against Idaho on Saturday.

She earned WAC Player of the Week for her performances against Nevada on Feb. 21 and Fresno State on Feb. 24. (See below for complete details).

Junior guard Danyelle Snelgro posted 9.5 ppg, 2.89 apg and 2.36 spg. In the league stats, Snelgro ranks third in steals, eighth in assists and 18th in scoring. She tallied 13 points and four assists against Idaho on Saturday, marking the 15th time this season that she has scored in double-figures.

The junior guard has also shot 33.8 percent from behind the arc this season, holding the No. 5 spot on the single-season three-point field goal percentage list.

Snelgro has moved up the career steals and career assists lists this season, as she currently holds the No. 4 spot with 141 career steals, needing four steals to tie Carol Garrison (1980-81, 145) for No. 3, while Snelgro is also No. 6 on the Career Assists lists with 207 and needs 20 to tie Joy Rosenbrook (1980-81, 227) for No. 5.

GROSS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS - Senior forward Jenny Gross was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office on Monday, Feb. 25. Gross was also named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week, which is voted on by a state media panel, for the period ending on Sunday, Feb. 24.

It is the first time in her career Gross has been named WAC Player of the Week. Gross is also the first Aggie this year to be honored by the conference. Overall, it is the third time that a Utah State player has received the weekly honor from the league office in the past two years. Gross is the second player this season to earn Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week honors as Danyelle Snelgro was named the USU Student-Athlete of the Week on Dec. 10. Overall, this is the fifth conference weekly player honor awarded to an Aggie player under head coach Raegan Pebley.

Gross, a 6-2 senior forward from Caldwell, Idaho (Vallivue HS) led Utah State to a 2-0 record over the weekend, as the Aggies defeated Nevada, 56-48, and WAC-leading Fresno State, 44-40, at home. She scored 13 points against Nevada to go along with seven rebounds and three assists, and was two points shy of her career-high with 17 points against Fresno State. She also had six rebounds, two blocks and two steals against the Bulldogs. For the week, Gross averaged 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 70.6 percent from the field (12-17) and 75.0 percent from the free throw line (6-8). Gross also played in her 100th career game against Fresno State and ranks ninth all-time in career games played.

NO USU PLAYERS ON ALL-WAC HONOREE LIST - For the second year in a row there were no Utah State players on the all-WAC awards list, released Sunday (March 9) by the conference office. This is the second season under head coach Raegan Pebley that USU did not have any conference award winners. (See page 7 for complete 2007-08 all-WAC award list.

RICHARDS IS USU CAREER ASSISTS RECORD HOLDER/TOP 10 STEALS AND POINTS LIST - Senior guard Taylor Richards now has 366 assists for her career as she holds the No. 1 spot on USU's Career Assists list.

Richards also has 169 career steals to hold sole possession of No. 2 on the USU Career Steals list. She needs six steals to tie for first with Margaret Johns (1980-83, 175).

The senior guard is also No. 3 on the USU Career Points list with 1,134 points. She needs 58 more to tie Brenda House (1978-81, 1,192) who holds the No. 2 spot.

SNELGRO MOVING UP CAREER ASSISTS LIST/CAREER STEALS LIST - Junior guard Danyelle Snelgro currently holds the No. 5 spot with 207 helpers. She needs 20 assists to become tied for fourth with Joy Rosenbrook (227 assists, 1980-81).

Snelgro also has 141 career steals and is currently in the No. 4 spot on the Career Steals list. She needs four more to become tied for third with Carol Garrison (1980-81, 145).

GROSS CLOSE TO CAREER REBOUNDING LIST - Senior forward Jenny Gross currently has snared 440 career rebounds and needs six boards to tie former teammate Jessica Freeman (2003-06, 446) for No. 10 on the USU Career Rebounds list.

THREE-POINTERS MADE LIST - Five players hold a spot on the USU Career Three-Pointers Made list. Senior guard Taylor Richards broke the career record against Louisiana Tech on Jan. 26 with her first trey of the game, surpassing former teammate Brittany Hagen's (2003-07) mark of 83 and Richards has currently made 91 career three-pointers. Junior guard Danyelle Snelgro is in sole possession of No. 4 with 54, surpassing former teammate Ashley Rutledge (2003-06) and Christina Zdenek (2004-05, 53) on Saturday. Junior forward Lindsey Shipley is seventh with 36, while senior forward Jamelah Brown and junior guard Ana Pares are eighth and 10th with 35 and 20 three-pointers made, respectively.

CAREER FREE THROW PERCENTAGE LIST - Senior guard Taylor Richards, senior center Jenny Gross and junior guard Danyelle Snelgro are all shooting above 65.0 percent from the free throw line for their careers and hold a spot in the top 10 on the Career Free Throw percentage list. Richards is fifth (217-of-314, .691), while Snelgro is seventh (115-of-169, .680) and Gross is eighth (164-of-242, .678).

GAMES PLAYED - Senior guard Taylor Richards is in sole possession of second on the USU Career Games Played list with 112 games. Senior center Jenny Gross has played in 103 career games and is tied for seventh with Brenda House (1978-81).

TIME SHARES - Nine Aggies are averaging at least 10 minutes a game with senior guard Taylor Richards leading the way at 32.0 minutes per game.

SCORING SPREAD - Six USU players have led or shared the lead in scoring this season with seniors Taylor Richards and Jenny Gross paving the way, as Gross has led in nine games while Richards has led in eight games... Richards tied a season-high with 18 points against Louisiana Tech on Jan. 26 and scored 17 points at Fresno State on Feb. 10... Gross has led the Aggies in seven of the last nine games with 13 points against Nevada on Feb. 21, 17 points on Feb. 24 against Fresno State and 18 points against Idaho on Saturday... Eight different players have led in rebounding, with senior Jamelah Brown leading the way with 12 games, as she tied a then-career-high nine rebounds against San Jose State on Feb. 14 and pulled down eight rebounds against Nevada on Feb. 21, while she recorded a new career-high with 11 rebounds against Boise State on Thursday.

PEBLEY'S BITS - Pebley is entering her fifth season as head coach at Utah State, which is the longest tenure in the program's history... Pebley has coached 139 games and became the all-time leader in most games coached after the game at Idaho State on Nov. 28, topping Cindy Perkins (1978-82) who coached 115 games in her tenure at Utah State.

- With 42 careers wins, Pebley is second on USU's coaching wins list... Fern Gardner is the current leader with 55 career wins from 1972-1976.

- Four players earned academic all-conference honors in 2007 which include Jenny Gross, Brittany Hagen, Brittany (Tressler) Phillips and Taylor Richards.

- With a total of seven newcomers (four freshmen, three transfers), this is the largest group of newcomer's since Pebley's first season in 2003-04.

LAST TIME OUT - LOGAN, Utah - Idaho spoiled Utah State's Senior Night Saturday as the Vandals knocked off the Aggies, 67-55, in the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball regular-season finale for both teams. The loss means that USU will be the seventh-seed for next week's WAC Tournament at Las Cruces, N.M.

Utah State's three seniors, guard Taylor Richards along with forwards Jamelah Brown and Jenny Gross were honored in a pre-game ceremony.

Gross led the Aggies with 18 points, hitting all eight of her free throws, and also pulled down six rebounds. It was Gross' ninth game in a row and 13th in the last 15 outings of posting double-figure points.

Junior guard Danyelle Snelgro tossed in 13 points and was matched by junior forward Shawnta Pope, who tallied career-highs with the 13 points as well as six rebounds. Pope more than tripled her previous career-high of four points. Richards, USU's shortest player on the roster at 5-4, snared a team-leading seven rebounds, as USU was out-rebounded by UI, 43-41. She also tied a game-high by swiping four steals.

The Vandals' bench outscored the Aggie bench, 37-16. Sara Dennehy scored 20 of those points, coming off the bench to lead Idaho, while Therese Riedel tallied 12 more in reserve play, while starter Carli Bakondy added 10. USU's defense held Idaho's leading scorer Katie Madison to half of her season average of 14 points, yielding only seven Saturday, but Madison snagged a game-high 10 rebounds, over three more than her average.

Utah State shot a paltry 26.9 percent (18-of-67) from the field, the Aggies' second-lowest shooting outing of the season behind 26.2 percent (16-of-61) at Hawai'i on Feb. 7. However the 7.7 percent (1-of-13) three-point shooting percentage was a new season-low.

USU was 18-of-24 (75.0 percent) at the free throw line, making more than Idaho attempted as the Vandals were 13-of-17 (76.5 percent).

UI hit 25-of-55 (45.5 percent) of its field goal shots, including 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) behind the three-point arc.

After a Richards baseline jumper from Richards to open the scoring, USU didn't make another field goal for nearly six minutes; meanwhile, Idaho opened up a 15-10 lead and the Aggies didn't get within six points from there on out. The Vandals led by as much as 14 points at 8:08 after a three-pointer by Alana Curtis put Idaho ahead, 24-10. UI led 31-22 at half as Dennehy drained a three-pointer from the corner with less than two seconds on the clock.

A 16-8 Vandal streak gave Idaho its largest lead of the game at 47-30 at the 11:47 mark on a Riedel layup. Utah State cut the gap to 47-38 with eight unanswered points, started with a Pope free throw and ended with a pair of Snelgro free throws with 9:05 remaining. Back-to-back buckets by Dennehy and Madison regained control for Idaho and the Vandals coasted to the win.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE - The defending WAC champion Broncos are 22-6 overall and 14-2 in WAC action, tying for a share of the WAC regular-season title with Fresno State, losing the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed. In its last action, Boise State defeated San Jose State, 74-65, on Feb. 28 and Hawai'i, 66-55, on March 1, while the Broncos ended their regular-season at Utah State with a 65-57 victory on Thursday. BSU is currently on a 14-game winning streak. Boise State fell in its first two conference games for the year, dropping a 73-63 decision at New Mexico State on Jan. 10 and then losing at Louisiana Tech, 79-65, on Jan. 12 but has not lost a game since.

Boise State is first in the WAC in both scoring offense (73.9 ppg) and free throw pct. (.705), second in steals (10.00 spg), third in blocked shots (3.93 bpg), fourth in assists (13.93 apg), field goal pct. (.403) and three-point field goal pct. (.333).

First-team all-WAC selection and all-defensive team honoree, Tasha Harris, a 5-7 junior guard, leads Boise State with 16.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, and she is also hitting 44.5 percent from field goal range (145-of-326). Harris is first in the WAC in scoring, second in assists (3.68 apg), sixth in steals (2.11 spg), fourth in free throw pct. (.762, 125-164), tied for seventh with teammate Jessica Thompson in three-point field goal pct. (.350) and 12th in field goal pct. Harris scored 13 points and tallied five assists against San Jose State on Feb. 28, while she added 11 points, five assists and four steals on March 1 versus Hawai'i. She also tallied a team-high 18 points and six rebounds at Utah State on Thursday.

Jessica Thompson, a 5-9 junior guard, was named a second-team all-WAC honoree and is second on the team with 13.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Thompson is shooting 35.0 percent from behind the three-point arc (41-of-117). She is second in the league stats in steals (2.61 spg), tied for sixth in assists (3.11 spg), seventh in scoring and tied for seventh in three-point field goal pct. Thompson tallied 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals on Feb. 28 against San Jose State. She was held to two points and two rebounds while she had six assists against Hawai'i on March 1, Thompson posted six points, four assists, four steals and two rebounds at Utah State on Thursday.

Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell (Northwest Nazarene, 1983) is in his third season at the reigns of the Broncos, posting a 59-30 record, including a 30-16 WAC record. Overall, this is Presnell's 21st season as a collegiate head coach, recording a 455-157 ledger. Presnell came to Boise State from Seattle Pacific, where he led SPU to nine straight and 10 of 11 NCAA Division II Tournaments.

SERIES HISTORY - This will be the 16th meeting between the Aggies and Broncos, and Boise State leads the series, 13-2, winning the last 10 in a row. BSU won both meetings this season, with an 85-77 victory on Jan. 17 at Boise and then won, 65-57, on Thursday at Logan.

Utah State's last win over Boise State was on Dec. 14, 1978, a 100-71 Aggie triumph.

USU is 0-6 vs. BSU under Pebley, losing last season's games in the home WAC opener, 80-70, on Jan. 4, 2007 and at Boise, 80-38, on Jan. 24, 2007. BSU also won both games in 2006, 70-38, on Jan. 12 and 72-55 at Logan on Feb. 23.

THIS SEASON'S FIRST MEETING - Jan. 17 - Senior forward Jamelah Brown scored a career-high 24 points and senior center Jenny Gross recorded her second career double-double with a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds as Utah State women's basketball fell to Boise State, 85-77, on Jan. 17 at BSU's Taco Bell Arena.

Gross posted the first double-double of the season by any Utah State player. Brown's 24 points is a season game-high as well. Junior guard Danyelle Snelgro scored 13 points for Utah State.

Senior guard Taylor Richards added 10 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Ana Pares also tallied a career-high four steals.

Tasha Harris and Jessica Thompson scored 19 points each for BSU, while Harris added a game-high eight rebounds. Jenna Galassi scored 15 points and pulled down five rebounds. Boise State and Utah State recorded 35 rebounds each.

Boise State scored the first points of the game as Harris shot four free throws in the first minute of action. USU responded with a 14-6 run to lead 14-10 with 13:15 left to play. The Aggies led until the 5:45 mark when the Broncos tied it up at 26 and then went on an 11-5 run to finish out the half and take a 37-31 lead going into the locker rooms.

BSU went on a 14-6 run to open up the second half at 51-37 with 13:21 left to play. Boise State took its largest lead of 16 points at 65-49 with 7:39 remaining in the half. USU came within six points at 79-73 with 45 seconds left to play but Boise State finished by shooting six free throws to clinch the victory.

Utah State finished the game by shooting 43.1 percent from the field (28-of-65) including 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from three-point range and shot 75.0 percent (15-of-20) at the free throw line. Boise State shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) including 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from behind the three-point arc and 76.5 percent (26-of-34) at the charity stripe.

THIS SEASON'S SECOND MEETING - March 6 - A 13-2 run midway through the second half was too much for Utah State to overcome as the Aggies were bucked by the Broncos of Boise State, 65-57, Thursday in Western Athletic Conference women's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Senior forward Jenny Gross posted her second double-double of the season, both coming against Boise State, and the third of her career with 12 points. Gross tied classmate and guard Jamelah Brown with 11 rebounds each as Brown recorded a new career-high. It was Gross' eighth double-figure point outing in a row and 12th in last 14 games.

The Aggies' third senior, guard Taylor Richards netted a team-high 14 points, including nine in the second half. Richards also swiped a career-high six steals, giving her 169 for her career and moving her within six of the school record held by Margaret Johns (1980-83) with 175. Richards already is the Aggies' career record holder for assists (363 after Thursday) and three-pointers, as she hit her 91st career trey Thursday.

Boise State was led by Tasha Harris' 18 points while Jackie Lee tossed in 13 points as well as snaring a team-leading nine rebounds. Lee drained four three-pointers while Jamia Malone hit three treys, all during Boise State's game-clinching 13-2 run.

USU battled back from down by as much as 13 in the first half to take its only lead of the game at 41-40 after a three-pointer by Brown at the 12:04 mark, but Malone spearheaded the rally to regain the lead for the Broncos and clinch the win.

Boise State took its largest lead of 13 at 20-7 on a Harris layup with 9:20 on the first-half clock. However a USU freshmen revolution led an Aggie charge as first-year guards Jade Hatchett and Amber White had intense defense on one end while providing key offense on the other, as White had a slashing drive and assist on a Gross layup. Hatchett later drained a trey from the left corner to pull USU within 20-17. That shot prompted a Boise State timeout with 7:14 left in the first stanza.

The Broncos regained control and took a 28-26 intermission advantage before the Aggies mounted their charge.

On the night, Utah State shot 21-of-64 (32.8 percent) from the field, including 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) behind the three-point arc. USU also was 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) at the free throw line.

Boise State shot better from three-point range (38.1 percent, 8-of-21) than it did overall field goal shooting (35.6 percent, 21-of-59). The Broncos also were 15-of-20 (75.0 percent) at the charity stripe, securing the victory by hitting six of their eight free throws in the final 51 seconds of play.

USU out-rebounded BSU, 45-42, marking the fourth time this season that the Aggies have had more rebounds than their opposition but lost, falling to 1-4 when doing so.

Boise State had a 27-14 advantage in points off turnovers, as Utah State commited 25 miscues, the most since 28 at Portland in the second game of the season on Nov. 16.

ABOUT THE REST OF THE WAC TOURNAMENT FIELD 1-FRESNO STATE - The top-seeded Bulldogs are 19-10 overall and ended with a 14-2 WAC record. Fresno State shared the regular-season WAC title with Boise State, but earned the top seed via the tiebreaker. The Bulldogs won their first-ever conference championship.

WAC Coach of the Year Adrian Wiggins is in his fourth season at the reigns of the Bulldogs, while Fresno State is led by WAC Player of the Year and first-team all-WAC honoree Tierre Wilson, a 5-8 senior guard, who is averaging 14.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game to rank fifth in the conference in scoring. Jalessa Ross, a 5-8 freshman guard, was the WAC's Newcomer of the Year and also earned second-team all-WAC accolades, as she is 12th in the league in scoring (14.6 ppg).

3-NEW MEXICO STATE - The Aggies were 21-8 overall and 11-5 in WAC action, as NMSU ended the season with a 59-58 win at Hawai'i, Saturday after they were already locked into the third seed prior to that game.

New Mexico State is led by first-team all-WAC selection Sherell Neal, a 6-0 senior forward, as she posts 14.3 ppg and 10.1 rpg, to rank sixth in the conference in scoring and third in rebounding. Anikia Jawara, a 6-0 senior forward, was a second-team all-WAC honoree, as she averages 12.8 ppg to rank ninth in the league in scoring. Darin Spence is in his sixth year at the helm of NMSU.

4-NEVADA - The Wolf Pack ended their regular-season on a four-game losing skid that started with a 56-48 loss at Utah State on Feb. 21 and ended by falling, 82-68, to Fresno State on Saturday to finish the season with an 18-11 overall and 9-7 WAC record.

WAC Defensive Player of the Year, first-team all-WAC selection and all-defensive team honoree, Dellena Criner, a 5-7 junior point guard, leads Nevada with 16.1 ppg, to rank second in the league stats in scoring. All-defensive team selection Cherlanda Franklin, a 5-10 junior forward, is averaging 7.9 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Nevada head coach Kim Gervasoni is in her fifth season at the leash of the Wolf Pack.

5-LOUISIANA TECH - The Lady Techsters are 15-14 overall and 9-7 in WAC play after defeating San Jose State, 78-64, on Saturday.

First-team all-WAC selection, a six-two senior forward, JoKeirra Sneed leads LTU with 15.8 ppg and 10.3 rpg to rank second in the conference in rebounding and fourth in scoring. Tarkeisha Wysinger, a 5-8 freshman guard, earned all-freshman team accolades after posting 8.9 rpg and ranks 22nd in the league stats. La Tech is coached by Chris Long, who is in his third season as head coach.

6-HAWAI'I - The Rainbow Wahine concluded their regular-season action with a 59-58 loss to New Mexico State, as Hawai'i is now 12-17 overall and ended with a 6-10 WAC mark.

Tanya Smith, a 6-3 senior forward, was a second-team all-WAC selection as well as an all-WAC defensive honoree and leads the Rainbow Wahine with 12.8 ppg and 11.8 rpg, as she ranks first in the conference in rebounding and 10th in scoring. Head coach Jim Bolla is in his fourth season at the helm of the Rainbow Wahinee.

8-IDAHO - The Vandals are 4-24 overall and were 3-13 in WAC play. Idaho, which plays ninth-seed San Jose State in Tuesday's play-in game defeated Utah State, 67-55, on Saturday.

Katie Madison, a 6-0 sophomore forward, earned second-team all-WAC honors, as she ranks eighth in the conference in scoring (13.8 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (6.7 rpg). Yinka Olorunnife, a 6-0 freshman forward, was named to the all-Freshman team, after averaging 9.0 ppg and 7.3 rpg to rank fifth in the WAC in rebounding and 20th in scoring. Head coach Mike Divilbiss is in his seventh season at Idaho.

9-SAN JOSE STATE - With a 2-27 overall and 1-15 WAC mark, the Spartans are the ninth-seed and will face Idaho in the play-in game Tuesday. San Jose State just lost to Idaho, 77-66, on March 1.

SJSU is led by Natalie White, a 5-9 junior guard, who averages 16.0 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Pam DeCosta is her first season of guiding the Spartans.

UP NEXT - The winner of the WAC Tournament will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.