March 5, 2007 (USU Media Relations) -LOGAN, Utah - Utah State¹s women¹s basketball team will be the
sixth-seed for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and will take on
third-seed Nevada in the quarterfinals, Wednesday, March 7 at 8:30 p.m. (MT)
at Las Cruces, N.M.
Utah State¹s sixth-seed matches the Aggies¹ highest seeding for a
conference tournament under head coach Raegan Pebley. Utah State was a
sixth-seed for the Big West Tournament in 2005, after being an eight-seed
for the Big West Tourney in 2004. Last season in the WAC Tournament, the
Aggies were the ninth-seed, losing to eighth-seeded Idaho in the play-in
game.
Utah State has never won a conference tournament game under Pebley, and
the last time an Aggie team won a conference postseason game was 1977 in the
AIAW Playoffs.
However, the Aggies are unbeaten at NMSU¹s Pan American Center, winning
both regular season meetings with New Mexico State the past two seasons.
Utah State ended regular-season action with an 11-17 overall and 7-9 WAC
record, falling at Fresno State, 71-60, in Saturday¹s regular-season finale,
as USU ended with four losses in the last five games after winning the
previous three in the row. In the Saturday¹s regular-season finale, Utah
State lost at Fresno State, 71-60.
Nonetheless, the Aggies surpassed last season¹s overall win total (3-24)
and last year¹s WAC victory total (2-14), as well as exceeding preseason
expectations as USU was picked ninth in both WAC preseason coaches and media
polls.
Utah State just lost at Nevada, 61-49, on Thursday, as the Aggies split
the regular-season meetings after USU beat Nevada, 59-44, at Logan on Feb.
15. The all-time series between the Aggies and Wolf Pack is tied, 3-3.
Nevada is 16-13 overall and 10-6 in WAC play. The Wolf Pack had their
four-game win streak snapped with a 68-57 loss at New Mexico State Saturday
night.
The WAC Tournament opens Tuesday, March 6, with eighth-seed San Jose
State meeting ninth-seed Idaho in the play-in game. The winner of that game
will meet top-seed Boise State on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday¹s action
opens with fourth-seed Fresno State taking on fifth-seed Hawai¹i at Noon.
The afternoon session features second-seed Louisiana Tech facing host,
seventh-seed New Mexico State at 6 p.m., followed by USU-Nevada at 8:30 p.m.
The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals on Friday, with
the Fresno State-Hawai¹i winner meeting the Boise State-8/9 winner at Noon,
followed by the La Tech-New Mexico State winner taking on the Utah
State-Nevada winner at 2:30. The semifinal winners advance to the
championship game Saturday at 1 p.m., on national television on CSTV.
Tickets for the WAC Tournament are still available by contacting the USU
Athletics Ticket Office at (435)797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1
(1-888-878-2831) for more information
Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman
calling the play-by-play and Clair Anderson providing color commentary. They
can also be heard on the web by going to the women¹s basketball home page at
www.UtahStateAggies.com [1] and clicking on the LISTEN link.
Live Stats will be available through New Mexico State¹s website:
www.nmstatesports.com [2].
All of the WAC Tournament games are available through wac.tv.
All-tournament passes on WAC.tv will be available for $14.95 and all men¹s
and women¹s games with the exception of the men¹s final on Saturday, March
10th will be available live on WAC.tv. The men¹s championship game will be
available exclusively on ESPN2. Individual tournament games may be
purchased for $7.95 each.
WAC Tournament Schedule - Pan American Center - Las Cruces, N.M.
Tuesday, March 6 8-San Jose State vs. 9-Idaho 5 p.m.
Wed., March 7 4-Fresno State vs. 5-Hawai¹i Noon
1-Boise State vs. 8/9 winner 2:30 p.m.
2-Louisiana Tech vs. 7-New Mexico State 6 p.m.
3-Nevada vs. 6-UTAH STATE 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 9 4/5 Winner vs. 1/8-9 Winner Noon
2/7 Winner vs. 3/6 Winner 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 10 Championship Game {CSTV} 1 p.m.
-USU-