WBB Preview: At Long Last, Aggies Close Road Trip Against Idaho

After a grueling stretch of games, Utah State is finally set to end its month-long road trip against a 6-2 Idaho team. The Vandals were projected to be a laggard in the Big Sky this season, led by first-year head coach Arthur Moreira, but are not to be trifled with, and they're on a roll lately. They got their losses out of the way early when they dropped their opening slate of games to BYU and Washington State in two close games, and have only been winning since, stringing together six wins in a row, most recently with a 94-54 win over Montana Tech and a 76-54 win over St. Thomas (MN).

Granted, they capitalized on the opportunity to beat up on some overwhelmed opponents, but they've also routed Cal Poly, UC Riverside, Southern Utah and Walla. Utah State, meanwhile, is on a seven-game skid but has shown promising moments within that stretch. Most recently, the Aggies took GCU to the wire without the services of Cheyenne Stubbs, Taliyah Logwood, Gracie Johnson and Karlie Banks. They’ve also collected close losses to Omaha and Stetson on this road trip and would love to find their way to the other side of that at some point. The Aggies are getting much-needed contributions from a slew of players outside of Stubbs, but it hasn’t yet culminated in a return to the win column.

With Stubbs missing the previous three games, Jamisyn Heaton has stepped up and become the team’s leader in total points. The Aggies also got 16 points from Denae Skelton against GCU, and Mia Tarver has been averaging 11.6 points in her last five games, even with a three-point dud against Utah.

Utah State is looking to put it all together against Idaho. At its best, Utah State is a team that could threaten to end Idaho’s six-game win streak, but on the other hand, if the Aggies can’t get out of their own way, they won’t register much resistance as Idaho makes it seven in a row.

Idaho boasts a vicious frontcourt. Led by a duo of 6-1 transfers, Rosie Schweizer and Jennifer Aadland, the Vandals have a big presence in the post. Between the two of them, they're averaging over 23 points, 17 rebounds and a block per game. 

When healthy, Utah State has a worthy frontcourt of its own, but two key contributors to that effort missed the last game. Logwood and Johnson both sat against GCU but would be useful in holding off the Vandal bigs if they can play on Sunday. Johnson, at 6-6, is the prime example of Utah State’s actual size advantage, while Logwood, at 5-9, is the prime example of a player who plays much bigger than her frame. Sophie Sene, who recovered from her own injury and is getting up to speed, and Allyzee Verdan add reliable size to Utah State’s game, while Samiana Suguturaga and Heaton can help down low as well. 

The whistle hasn’t been kind to the Aggies this year and Johnson, Logwood, Sene, and others have found themselves in foul trouble more than once this year. Schweizer and Aadland both get to the line with some regularity and can do some damage there.

While Utah State will be looking to keep up in the post, on the perimeter, the Aggies may have a chance to make up some ground. The Aggies are much more comfortable in space and will look to get ahead with guard play that has been developing nicely.

The Vandals have taken 167 threes and Utah State has unleashed 307. The Aggies thrive in a fast-paced environment and, although they give up plenty of their own, love to force turnovers. Led by Stubbs (when healthy) and backed up by an impressive cast including Tarver, and Isabella Tanedo with a core of freshmen such as Elise Livingston and a pair of sharpshooters in Denae Skelton and Carlie Latta, Utah State can speed the game up and pour it in from beyond the arc. 

Idaho has reliable guard play too, especially in the form of Hope Hassmann, but the team relies on feeding the ball to the post. If the Aggies can speed up the Vandals and force turnovers, they could make it very difficult for Idaho to execute its game plan.

Players To Know

Jennifer Aadland: Aadland is a forward from Laramie, Wyoming, and makes up half of the dangerous tandem of post players for Idaho. A graduate student transferring in from Augustana University, Aadland has had no trouble at all adjusting to life in the Big Sky. Since arriving in Moscow, she's nearly averaging a double-double and is currently the Big Sky’s leading rebounder.

She’s the third-leading scorer for the Vandals, putting up 9.8 points per game and her conference-leading performance on the boards is worth 10.4 rebounds per contest. She is kicking in 2.8 assists per game as well, also the third-most on the team, and she is grabbing 1.4 steals and a block per game, both team highs.

She can score seemingly at will inside but is capable of stretching the floor and hitting from deep. She is shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc this year, and has proven to be a perfectly capable passer who can find an open teammate. Because of how dangerous she is anywhere on the court, she has a gravitational pull that can generate open looks for fellow Vandals.

Despite nearly averaging one, she has only recorded a single double-double this year, when she filled the stat sheet to the brim with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks against Walla Walla. Her season high in rebounding of 18 came the game before that against Wazzu, and her season high in scoring of 15 came the game after, against Southern Utah. After back-to-back games in double digits, she is coming off a five-point game against St. Thomas, but made up for it with 12 rebounds, three assists, four steals and three blocks. 

Rosie Schweizer: Schweizer has stepped into a big role for Idaho. After spending four years at Pacific as a role player coming off the bench, Schweizer has started in each of Idaho’s eight games this year and has been leading the team in scoring.

She has been going to work in the post but, like Aadland, can also shoot the three. In her last year at Pacific, she was second on the team in three-point percentage, shooting 40 percent. She hasn’t shown that much this year at Idaho and is far from the main three-point threat, an honor that belongs to Anja Bukvic, but Schweizer is a deceptively versatile scorer. Her team-high 2.8 offensive boards per game and 59.7 percent field goal rate paint her as a putback specialist limited to life at the rim, but she’s more than that.

Schweizer is averaging 13.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. She scored her season-high of 23 as she recorded a double-double with 13 rebounds against Washington State. Playing just 13 minutes, she was quiet against Montana Tech but is coming off a 21-point game with four rebounds and a steal against St. Thomas.

Hope Hassmann: Hassmann and Olivia Nelson make up a nice arrangement at the guard position. The two are playing more than anybody on the team and are averaging over 30 minutes a game, with Nelson slightly higher than Hassmann. The two are putting up similar numbers, but Hassmann has the edge statistically, checking in at No. 2 in points and steals and leading the team in assists.

After one year at CSU Fullerton, Hassmann has jumped right into a leadership role with the Vandals. She was an instant starter at Fullerton averaging 9.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and playing for Idaho has unlocked another level to her game. She's averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game for Idaho.

She’s an excellent distributor and an accurate shooter who can prowl the perimeter and look for opportunities to shoot, drive, feed a teammate, or grab a loose ball or rebound. After Bukvic, she is the second main three-point threat, shooting 35.3 percent.

An impressive addition to her game is ball control. She’s careful with the ball and is only giving away 2.3 turnovers per game. Utah State runs a turnover-heavy system on both sides of the floor and relies on forcing turnovers to make up for how often it gives the ball away. The Aggies will need to get Hassmann to make more mistakes than she’s usually willing to make – if they can't, they'll have a hard time disrupting a consistent Vandal offense.

Hassmann’s play has been impressive, but it's worth looking at her counterpart, Nelson, because of how similar their numbers are. At 30.8 and 30.4, they are separated by less than a minute of playing time. Nelson is averaging nine points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and three turnovers per game. Hassmann plays off of Nelson and Bukvic to open up her game, while she uses her own to open things up for her interior teammates. With a frontcourt as solid as this one, a high-IQ, do-it-all guard can be a dangerous commodity.