USU, SUU basketball: T-Birds beat former gym coach

CEDAR CITY — Utah State head coach Jeff Richards returned to Southern Utah as the Aggies' head coach for the first time Monday but came up short against his alma mater and his former team, losing 194.750-191.925 at the SUU Centrum.

Junior Heather Heinrich and sophomore Nicole Simoneau were USU's event winners, as Heinrich won the vault with a 9.800 and Simoneau captured the bars title with a 9.850, logging a 9.800 or higher for the 16th time in 17 career meets.

The Aggies scored a 48.525 on bars, a 47.850 on vault, a 47.825 on floor and a 46.325 on beam for the 191.925 final score. The Thunderbirds posted 48.650 on vault, 48.100 on bars, 48.800 on beam and 49.200 on floor for the 194.750 total.

USU's team total as well as bars and beam scores were season-high's.

The loss drops the Aggies to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in WAC action while the T-Birds improve to 2-1 both overall and in WAC competition.

USU opened on bars with sophomore Lyndsie Boone leading off with a 9.650, followed by a 9.400 from freshman Brandie Dickson. Junior Heather Heinrich notched a 9.625. Sophomore Jackie Dillon then scored her career-high for the third meet in a row with a 9.800 and classmate Nicole Simoneau followed with her winning score of 9.850. Senior Nicki Felley closed out the rotation with a 9.600.

USU ended the rotation with a 48.525 while SUU notched a 48.650 on vault

Swapping apparatus, the Aggies were on vault while the T-Birds went to bars. Freshman Rebecca Holliday led off with a 9.050 before Simoneau and Felley followed with 9.325 and 9.350, respectively. Boone then tallied a 9.625 for the second week in a row. Heinrich than posted her winning post of 9.800, just shy of her career-best of 9.850. Dillon completed the rotation with a 9.750, giving USU a 47.850. Meanwhile, SUU had three falls on bars, scoring a 48.100.

SUU led 96.750-96.375 at the meet's midway point.

On the floor, Boone opened with an 8.825 before freshman Haley Hogan notched a 9.600. Dillon's 9.575 preceded a 9.700 by redshirt freshman Erica Huelsmann, improving on her career-best for the third time in as many meets. Heinrich logged a 9.125 before Felley completed the rotation with a 9.825, a new season-high and short of her career-high of 9.900. USU notched a 47.775 on floor while SUU posted a 48.700 on the beam to extend its lead to 145.550-144.200.

SUU scored a 49.200 on floor to secure the team victory. Huelsmann led USU off on the beam with an 8.250, before Felley scored an 8.775. Hogan then posted a season-high 9.675 preceding a 9.825 by Holliday, also a season-high. Simoneau then followed with a career-best 9.800 before Heinrich posted a 9.650, giving USU a 46.325.

Heinrich finished third in the all-around with a 38.200 while Felley was fifth with a 37.550.

Simoneau also won the post-meet handstand-off between USU and SUU while the scores were calculated.

Utah State travels to Boise to take on defending WAC champion No. 23 Boise State on Friday at 7 p.m. before returning home to host Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 6.