The Utah State men's basketball team opened its two-game exhibition season in style on Friday night, defeating Northwest Nazarene 85-51 before 8,641 at the Spectrum.

The Aggies opened the game with a 16-2 run, led 48-26 and were never challenged. Along the way, some new faces impressed. Nate Bendall, a transfer from Salt Lake Community College, scored 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field. Freshman shooting guard Preston Medlin had 12 points, while freshman forward Tyrone White scored 11 points.

Junior forward Tai Wesley scored a game-high 17 points, including 14 in the first half.

"I thought the guys were excited to play and I thought it was a good beginning," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "I thought we did some good things, and I thought we did some bad things. We'll get better next week."

The Aggies play their second and final exhibition next Saturday night against Trinity Western. They open their season in two weeks at Weber State.

Tony Jones

Women's basketball

Westminster 94, William Jessup 60 » In Rocklin, Calif., Keshia Catten scored 17 points to lead six Westminster players in double figures, and the Griffins forced 25 turnovers in the win.

 

Women's soccer

Utah State 2, Louisiana Tech 1 » In Logan, freshman striker Jamee Dyches' first collegiate goal broke a 1-1 tie to lift the Aggies to the victory.

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With the win, Utah State clinched a spot in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference Soccer Tournament in Boise, Idaho.

The Aggies (9-8-2, 4-2-1 WAC ) took the lead in the 38th minute when sophomore forward Shantel Flanary took a direct kick from senior defender Sydne Garner and scored 6 yards out on the right side.

The Lady Techsters (12-6-1, 1-6-1) tied the scored in the 66th minute before Dyches scored the game-winnter in the 77th minute.

 

Volleyball

South Dakota State 3, SUU 1 » In Brookings, S.D., SUU's Jazmine Ma'afala and Analaine Pelaez had 21 kills each but the Thunderbirds (6-17, 4-9 Summit League) fell to the Jackrabbits 25-17, 25-17, 24-26 and 25-21.

Lewis-Clark State 3, Westminster 0 » The Griffins (9-17, 6-6 Frontier Conference) suffered their first home loss of the season as Lewis-Clark State won 25-16, 25-20 and 25-21. Ericka Evans and Talita Kresser led Westminster with eight kills each.

Northern Arizona 3, Weber State 0 » In Ogden, Weber State's Jenna Leggat and Chelsea Bair had 11 kills each, but the Wildcats (5-18, 3-8 Big Sky) lost 25-22, 25-22 and 25-16.