Utah State women's basketball coach Raegan Pebley understood the difficulties in the creation of a new program. There were bumps in the road that set her plans back a bit.
Now, however, on the heels of its first winning record in Western Athletic Conference play, as well as the school's first WAC Tournament victory, the Aggies can see the road ahead.
Despite a loss at San Francisco on Sunday, USU (2-1) looks forward to a productive season, including Saturday's home game against Montana Western.
"I probably would not have bet on us being 2-0 before practice started," said Pebley, who is in her seventh season at USU. "As practice started, I began to see the potential of the team. The challenge was to find a way to maximize that talent, trying to get everybody on the same page."
Utah State opened the season with an upset victory against visiting Utah, then went on the road to beat a quality Portland State team.
The Aggies have been led by a pair of juniors, Amber White and Alice Coddington, who have combined for more than 26 points a game. Senior Lydia Whitehead, a former Ute, leads the WAC in with an average of 9.3 rebounds per game.
"It takes time to build leadership and tradition," Pebley said. "So far, I'm happy with the progress we've made."
Continuity helps as well. The program began in the Big West Conference and looked to be gaining a foothold. The Aggies finished at .500 in their second season.
Then Utah State moved to the more competitive WAC. USU simply didn't have the athletes to compete.
"We weren't ready for that," Pebley said. "Ever since, we've been getting better. It's a testament to the commitment of the administration and the staff's patience."
Still, USU has to convince others that last season was not a fluke. The Aggies were picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference.
"I feel expectations should meet the commitment level," Pebley said. "Nobody, when they win, looks back at preseason polls."
Number 300
Salt Lake Community College women's basketball coach Betsey Specketer won her 300th career game Saturday, going all the way to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho to gain her milestone. Specketer, who has been the third-ranked Bruins head woman's basketball for 14 years, defeated North Idaho 62-61.
Allie Blake converted a free throw late to grab the victory for SLCC, which has won seven straight. Blake finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. The Bruins are 2-0 in the Scenic West Conference.
Specketer has coached nine NJCAA All-Americans and 14 First Team All-Conference players. Friday, the Bruins are home against Colorado Northwestern at 5:30 p.m.
All-conference
BYU's Kayla Walker and Utah's Karolina Bartkowiak were repeat first team selections for the Mountain West All-Conference volleyball team. Utah's Chelsey Sandberg was a first-time selection to the team.
Colorado State dominated the list with five selections, including coach of the year Tom Hilbert. Colorado State's Danielle Minch was the Player of the Year.
