By Tyler Riggs

THAT'LL DO: Christina Zdenek checks the scoreboard in the waning moments of the Aggies' victory against Cal State Northridge. / Photo by John Zsiray

With 27 lead changes and 10 ties, Thursday night's game between Utah State and Cal State Northridge almost could have been decided by the flip of a coin.

The Lady Aggies (4-16, 4-8) took the lead with 3:06 remaining and didn't
look back, defeating the Matadors (3-17, 2-10), 76-71. Four Aggies
(Christina Zdenek, Brittany Tressler, Brittany Hagen and Ali Aird) scored in
double figures, but it was defense down the stretch that earned the team its
first home win since Jan. 10.

"I thought defensively we played a better game for the most part," said Aggie Head Coach Raegan Pebley. "That was just a good basketball game."

The teams battled back and forth throughout the game with neither squad holding a lead of more than six points.

"We beat this team at their house so we knew we could beat them here," Aggie guard Zdenek said. "We needed to take advantage of that confidence to beat them again."

Zdenek led the Aggies with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Zdenek scored 13 in the second half.

"The key to being the shooter is to not stop shooting when you're missing," she said. "You're going to start making it, but you can't make it if you don't shoot it."

Two of Zdenek's field goals couldn't have came at a better time.

With 14:08 remaining, the Aggies and Matadors had just traded the lead on six straight possessions. Zdenek received the ball as the shot clock expiring and heaved the ball toward the basked, hitting the three-pointer. After a defensive stop, Zdenek took the ball from baseline to baseline for an easy lay-in, giving the Aggies a 50-46 lead.

"I kept shooting; it happened to be at good times in the game," Zdenek said.

The Aggies took the lead for good with 2:27 remaining on a Jessica Freeman (nine points) basket and foul shot. With the lead, Utah State couldn't finish off the Matadors until the final seconds.

Freeman fouled out with 8.2 seconds remaining and Matador forward Brezya Rhodes hit two free throws to make the score 74-71. The Aggies had trouble getting the ball inbounds on their next possession and had to call a timeout.

After the timeout, however, Utah State still couldn't get the ball inbounds and received a five-second violation. The Matadors took possession and inbounded the ball to guard Kim Gildersleeve, but her three-point shot was blocked. The Aggies' Tressler (16 points) took the ball to the other end and scored as time expired.

"It is great to win again," Zdenek said. "We'd lost the last two: we had to get a win again."

With the win, the Aggies took sole possession of eighth place in the Big West Conference standings. The top eight teams make the Big West Tournament next month in Anaheim.

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