Utah State women's basketball (3-11, 1-2 MW) returns to the familiar confines of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as it hosts UNLV (6-7, 1-1 MW) on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 2 p.m.
All regular-season home and Mountain West games will continue to be broadcast as a USU Athletics Production on the Mountain West Network. Live stats and play-by-play information will be available through GameTracker, while updates will also be provided through the team’s social media outlets. Utah State women’s basketball games are also broadcast on the radio on 92.3 KBLU, with Jaden Johnson on the call. The games will be streamed on the air and online. Links to each option will be available online prior to every game.
UNLV comes to Logan with a 6-7 overall record, including a 1-1 Mountain West ledger. After an early conference bye, the Lady Rebels dropped their opener at Boise State, 69-60. UNLV hosted San José State earlier this week, topping the Spartans, 79-60.
The Lady Rebels returned four starters to the court this season, along with six other letterwinners. Last season, UNLV went 22-11 on the year, including a 12-6 conference record. Senior guard Brooke Johnson leads the Lady Rebel offense, averaging 15.5 points per game. Senior forward Katie Powell is the defensive leader, averaging 9.4 rebounds per game. As a team, UNLV is averaging 66.2 points per game, while allowing 70.2 points from its opponents. Overall, the team is shooting 37.6 percent (297-of-789) from the field, 25.8 percent (57-of-221) from the 3-point line and 70.1 percent (209-of-298) from the free-throw line. Kathy Olivier is in her 10th season as the head coach at UNLV, where she has an overall record of 144-153.
The series between UNLV and Utah State dates back to the 1975 season, where the Lady Rebels lead the Aggies, 19-4. All four of USU’s wins have come in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The teams met three times last season, where the Aggies went 1-2. Each team won its respective home contest, while the Lady Rebels knocked USU out of the Mountain West Championships with a quarterfinal tournament win.
Sophomore guard Olivia West is the leading scorer for the Aggies, averaging 15.5 points per game, while sophomore guard/forward Shannon Dufficy is the top rebounder, averaging 8.5 boards per game. As a team, Utah State is shooting 39.7 percent (323-of-813) from the field, 26.0 percent (64-of-246) from the 3-point line and 66.7 percent (152-of-228) from the free-throw line.
Megan McCuistion is an Assistant Media Relations Coordinator at Utah State.