LOGAN, Utah - It took a full regulation and two overtimes to do it, but Utah State women’s basketball beat Idaho, 70-64, Sunday afternoon in Western Athletic Conference action at a pink-themed Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Sunday was “Think Pink and Bleed Blue” in USU’s annual Pink Zone day.

With the win, USU head coach Raegan Pebley ties Fern Gardner for the all-time winningest coach in Aggie women’s basketball history with 55 wins.

Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro netted 28 points, one shy of her career-high, while sophomore guard Alice Coddington registered her first career double-double with 10 points and a game-high matching 14 rebounds. Senior guard Ana Pares added 12 points, while fellow senior, forward Shawnta Pope tossed in nine points.

Idaho was led by Yinka Olorunnife’s double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Rachele Kloke netted 16 points off the bench as the Vandals’ only reserve player to see action. Derisa Taleni and Shaena Kuehu added 15 and 11 points, respectively, as the Aggie defense clamped down on Taleni after she tallied 31 points in the first meeting between this

The win improves USU’s overall record to 13-12 overall and 7-5 in WAC action, matching 2006-07 for the most league wins during the Aggies’ four seasons in the conference. The 13 wins by Utah State is its most since 14 in 2004-05.

Idaho, who entered Sunday tied for second-place in the WAC, dropped to 11-13 overall and 8-5 in league play with the loss.

Utah State and Idaho are now 4-4 against each other in WAC play, but the Vandals hold an 11-4 all-time advantage.

Sunday was the Aggies’ fifth OT game this season, improving to 3-2 in extra session games, with four of them coming at home. It was also USU’s second double-OT game this year, after the 61-60 2OT loss at BYU on Dec. 13.

Idaho bolted out to an 18-11 lead on a jumper by Alana Curtis before Utah State responded with a 10-2 run, capped by a steal, layup and ensuing free throw by Snelgro for a 21-20 lead with 12 seconds left in the half. However, Kloke was fouled on her three-pointer in the waning seconds, hitting all three free throws for a 23-21 Vandal advantage at the half. It was the Aggies’ second game in a row with 21 points in the first half, tying Thursday’s first half scoring outing at Boise State for the third-lowest this season.

UI took a 35-29 lead on a Kuehu three-pointer at the 14:11 mark, but USU rallied to tie it at 47-all on a layup by Pope with 11:26 to go in regulation. The teams traded small leads back and forth, before Pares gave the Aggies a 53-51 lead with 1:56 left with a three-pointer from the right corner. The Vandals countered with a Taleni layup to knot the score at 53’s with 1:26 to go.

Kloke missed a layup with 44 seconds left but Snelgro also missed a layup with 36 ticks to play, however freshman guard Chelsea Burns collected the rebound and USU called a timeout to set up a final shot. Snelgro took that shot with five seconds on the clock, but it was blocked by Olorunnife, sending the game to its first overtime.

Both teams only scored five points each in the first OT frame, as Burns hit a trey one minute in, but USU didn’t score again until 42 seconds were left on two Snelgro free throws. Idaho countered with two free pitch shots by Keuhu with 25 seconds on the clock. USU again had the last shot, as Burns’ layup was off the mark, Pope corralled the rebound but her desperation shot at the buzzer missed to force the second extra stanza.

The Aggies made sure that OT number two didn’t come down to a last shot, pulling away for a 66-61 lead with 1:48 to play after a bucket by junior forward Lydia Whitehead and a jumper from Coddington. The Vandals closed to 66-64 on a Kuehu three-pointer, but Coddington hit a pair of free throws and Pares hit an open layup with 13 seconds left to secure the win.

Utah State shot 38.0 percent (27-of-71) from the field, hitting a nearly identical three-point percentage at 37.5 percent (6-of-16), while shooting 62.5 percent (10-of-16) at the free throw line. Idaho was 19-of-61 (31.1 percent) field goal shooting, including 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) behind the three-point arc, as well as 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) at the charity stripe.

USU had a 49-42 rebounding advantage, the Aggies’ second most this season behind 50 on Nov. 19 at Northern Arizona. The Aggie are now 10-1 in games in which they out-rebound their opponent.

Coddington’s double-double was USU’s fifth this season and she is the third different Aggie to register one, joining Snelgro and Whitehead, who have two each.

Utah State concludes its four games in eight days stretch on the road, traveling to Las Cruces, N.M. on Thursday, Feb. 26 against New Mexico State and then to Ruston, La., to tangle with Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 28.

USU finishes regular-season action with a pair of home contests, hosting San Jose State on Thursday, March 5 and Fresno State on Saturday, March 7, part of a doubleheader with the Aggie men who face San Jose State.

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 Ashley Rutledge providing color commentary for home games. They can also be heard on the web by going to the Utah State Athletics home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Aggie basketball tickets are 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 or visit the Utah State athletic web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

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