RENO, Nev. — Utah State women's basketball continued its season of firsts as the fourth-seeded Aggies defeated fifth-seeded Idaho in overtime, 59-58, in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the Lawlor Events Center.
It was USU's first postseason win. The Aggies were 0-4 since the program was revived in 2003 after 16 years.
With 43 seconds remaining in the second half, freshman Chelsea Burns drilled a 3-pointer to give the fifth-seeded Aggies a 52-51 lead before No. 4 Idaho's Derisa Taleni tied the score at 52-52 on a free throw with 23 seconds left. USU got the ball back one more time but could not win the game in regulation.
"That was just two teams who are so similar, who've taken similar paths to get here and two teams who were just dying to advance," said Utah State coach Raegan Pebley. "In the end, we were able to get more stops."
With the win Utah State improves to 16-14 and will take on top-seeded Fresno State Friday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated No. 8 Hawaii 65-50 in the day's second quarterfinal game.
This was the second time that the Aggies and the Vandals played an overtime game this season. On Feb. 22, Utah State edged Idaho, 70-64 in a game extended to a pair of extra sessions.
Utah State was led by its pair of all-WAC senior guards Danyelle Snelgro and Ana Pares. Snelgro scored 15 points and added seven rebounds and six assists. Pares chipped in 12 points