WBB Preview: Utah State Prepares For Fresno State RFematch

Utah State is set for its first rematch of the year, looking to avenge a 20-point loss against Fresno State on Saturday afternoon. The Aggies and Bulldogs first met on Jan. 15 in Fresno and Utah State fell, 74-54.

The Aggies had no answer for Mia Jacobs and were bothered by Mariah Elohim and Saga Ukkonen. Jacobs shrugged off Utah State’s best efforts and shot the ball like she was practicing in an empty gym, racking up 26 points while shooting 10 of 13 from the field, 3 of 4 from behind the arc and 3 of 3 from the line. She added seven rebounds, an assist and two steals. The only sign of fallibility was her seven turnovers. Elohim added 14 points, Ukkonen added 10, and the Bulldogs also enjoyed some bench production with Danae Powell coming in and adding seven points, three rebounds, four assists and a block.

Cheyenne Stubbs was Utah State’s scoring leader with 16 points, three rebounds and a steal. Stubbs was backed up by the freshman duo of CJ Latta and Elise Livingston. Latta had 14 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Livingston had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, five rebounds, a steal and a block. The Aggies were without Taliyah Logwood and couldn’t find a way to get Jamisyn Heaton involved on offense. Both players are averaging nine points a game, and a game decided by 20 points suddenly looks a lot more manageable if their 18 points were factored in.

Right after dispatching Utah State, the Bulldogs were blown out by 65-36 at Air Force, and followed that up with a 73-48 loss to UNLV before rattling off three wins in a row against New Mexico, Nevada and San Jose State. Most recently, they fell to San Diego State 65-57 on their home floor. Utah State has been less busy, playing five games instead of six since the two teams met in January, but in that time, the Aggies notched their first conference win of the season with a 70-64 victory over San Jose State.

It will be interesting to see how Utah State deploys the full-court press and how the Bulldogs react to it. Early in the first meeting between these teams, Utah State’s full-court press completely derailed the Bulldogs, but some Fresno State adjustments negated Utah State’s defensive attack. The Aggies forced seven turnovers in the first quarter, which helped to keep them in the game, trailing 17-14 after the opening frame. But, the Bulldogs adjusted to press at the break and Utah State forced just three turnovers in the second quarter. By halftime, the Aggies trailed 37-23.

For Utah State, the press doesn’t even need to be as effective as it was in the first quarter, it just can’t disappear like it did in the second. In the first quarter, Utah State was on pace to force 28 turnovers – an unsustainable and completely unnecessary figure. In the second quarter, the Aggies were on pace to force just 12, not nearly enough for a team that relies on pace and chaos. Somewhere in between those numbers would be just fine for Utah State as it looks to speed up the Bulldogs and get some extra possessions out of its full-court press campaign.

The usual suspects of Jacobs and Kylee Fox are always ones to watch out for in matchups with Fresno State, but earlier in the year, players like Elohim and Ukkonen made it clear that the Aggies can’t afford to ignore them. Jacobs was riding a hot hand last time the Aggies found themselves in her path, but she has somehow only gotten better. She’s coming off four straight double-doubles, while Fox is also coming into the game playing well, having logged back-to-back double-digit performances.

Players To Know

Mariah Elohim: With 14 points, two rebounds and four assists, Elohim gave Utah State a sample of her scoring ability earlier this year, but she didn’t put her three-point shooting on full display. The three is one of Elohim’s most effective weapons, and Utah State has proven to be particularly weak against it all year. 

She went 2 of 6 from deep against the Aggies earlier this year, but that’s only a small fraction of what she’s capable of from behind the arc. Two games ago, Elohim dropped 15 points exclusively on three-pointers. She slowed down a bit with just four points against San Diego State, but would love to get back on track against a team that has a hard time defending the three. She is the second leading scorer on this Bulldog offense behind only Jacobs, averaging 10.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

Saga Ukkonen: Ukkonen had a good game against Utah State and has grown better and more consistent in the weeks since that meeting. She had 10 points, two rebounds, four assists and a steal against the Aggies. 

She set a new season high of 13 points on Jan. 25 against New Mexico and has been playing well in the three games since then, averaging 11.3 points per game in her last four appearances. Ukkonen is also adding that third level of scoring to her game.

Immediately after playing Utah State, she played a three-game stretch without a single trip to the line. She broke out of that in a big way again Nevada with a 5 of 5 performance from the line, and in the next game she found her way to the line for 10 shots against San Jose State, knocking down seven of them. She is averaging 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this year.

Danae Powell: Powell is only averaging 4.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, but it is worth keeping an eye on the promising freshman, especially after both Powell and Holly Griffiths came off the bench and offered solid secondary production this year against the Aggies.

On a team headlined by Jacobs, Fox and Elohim, Powell has delivered several of those sneaky performances this year, one, of course being against Utah State. In her next game she had nine points, three rebounds, seven assists and two steals against New Mexico, and has grabbed at least seven points nine times in 23 appearances.

She or Griffiths could again come off the bench to hurt the Aggies, but Powell has been playing more minutes lately and is probably more of a threat to do so. There is really no stopping Jacobs, but as the Bulldogs look to the rest of the team to help her, Powell could be a crucial piece of the equation.