WBB Preview: Utah State Welcomes New Mexico To Logan

With a fast, tough, talented New Mexico team coming to town, Utah State freshman point guard Elise Livingston wants to throw the first punch.

“We have to come in with a good mindset of being physical and punch them first so we don’t dig ourselves in a hole,” Livingston said.

Both teams love to play fast, so landing a blow early will be valuable, and both teams will come out of the gate swinging. New Mexico is coached by Mike Bradbury, who, to Utah State's Wes Brooks, is a contender for the Mountain West Coach of the Year. Brooks noted the influx of new players and commended New Mexico’s efforts thus far.

“They’re playing really, really well… they want to bully you and they’re physical and they get after it," Brooks said. "We have to be prepared to take a punch and fight back. I think it will be a great opportunity to play against one of the best teams in this league. We have to be ready for the challenge and we’ll embrace it.”

Brooks said that the Lobos could be one of the best teams in the conference, and he might not be far off. New Mexico’s only loss in league play is to UNLV, the undefeated juggernaut of the Mountain West. The Lobos had a bumpy debut with a 1-3 start, and sat at 5-5 through 10 games. Now, they are comfortably above .500 with a 12-7 overall record and a 5-1 record in conference play, including wins over San Diego State, Wyoming and Colorado State.

Even with a slew of new faces, there are a few familiar foes on this team. Among them are Viane Cumber, who is in her fourth year with New Mexico, and Amhyia Moreland, who scored nine and then eight points on Utah State last year as a San Jose State Spartan. Headlining the newcomers is the 5-9 sophomore phenom, Destinee Hooks. She is joined by Lydie Mwaba, who also transferred in this offseason, and freshmen Reza Po and Joana Magalhaes.

The Aggies have been focusing on defense, and implementing that will be the priority against New Mexico. After losing to Boise State, Brooks noted that he's "just trying to find five people who are going to guard.” It appears that he has figured out a way to find those players. Ahead of this game, Brooks determined that from here on out, starters would be selected purely based on defensive performance.

At Monday’s practice, players were given points for forcing turnovers, getting stops, boxing out, grabbing rebounds and other defensive accomplishments. They lost points for blown rotations, missed assignments, slow closeouts, fouls and other blunders that might cost them points in a real game. After practice, the staff added up the points and made the decision without any other input or criteria. The players who play defense in practice will start, and that’s that.

The final count from that practice brought Utah State to a starting five of Ava Smith, Cheyenne Stubbs, Livingston, Jamisyn Heaton and Sophie Sene. Those five, after earning their place in the starting lineup in a particularly unorthodox way, will certainly approach that role differently, even if they have been there before. They know that it's their defense, not their shooting, passing, or scoring, that got them on the court. Brooks is hoping that mindset, and the countless drills they have been running, will be enough to get the defense on track.

Utah State’s entire identity, and especially its defensive identity, is tied to the press. As Brooks has said, the press works, but only when it's executed properly, which is something the Aggies have had a hard time with. They have struggled to defend the back of the press and have been giving up easy buckets as a result, and they aren’t communicating nearly as well as they need to be – something that both Brooks and Livingston mentioned at the practice.

Utah State won’t have any trouble deciding where to aim its newly refocused defense. Both Hooks and Cumber are poised to cause major problems for the Aggies, and they have a supporting cast that can’t be ignored, so the Aggies will have their hands full. Hooks is the star of the show this year, but with the way that Utah State has struggled to defend against the three, a sharpshooter like Cumber will be top of mind for the Aggies as well.

New Mexico plays fast, but not as fast as Utah State, and Heaton hopes that between the refocused defensive efforts and the pace of play, the Aggies can compete with the Lobos.

“I think they are a good team," Heaton said. "They’re big and they’re strong and they’re very athletic. Obviously, their record shows that too. But I really do think that we can compete with them if we focus on the defensive end of it, because even though they are a great offensive team, I think that we can push our pace."

Players To Know

Destinee Hooks: Before she was a standout at New Mexico, Hooks was a star at JUCO Vincennes University. She played her freshman year at Vincennes before arriving in Albuquerque, averaging 21.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in her lone season at the JUCO level.

She scored 21 points in her DI debut and hasn’t really slowed down since. Two games later, she dropped 28, her season high, against Texas Tech. She has only dipped below double digits twice, and she nearly met her season high just two games ago against UNLV when she had 27 points.

She’s leading the Lobos in scoring and is the fourth-leading scorer in the conference behind only Mia Jacobs, Allyson Fertig and Emma Ronsiek. Hooks is shooting 49 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from deep while averaging 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Viane Cumber: Cumber, an Albuquerque native, is in her fourth year with the Lobos. She’s deadly accurate from just about anywhere and is one of the best three-point shooters in the conference. Hitting 2.4 triples a game, she’s tied with Ronsiek for the most per game among MWC players, while shooting 43.1 percent from the field, 38.6 percent from deep and 96.6 percent from the line.

Even compared to her high clip, she has had a hot hand lately. She’s shooting 50 percent from three-point land in her past three games, and dropped 25 points in her last outing, adding 11 rebounds, an assist and a block. This season, players have outpaced their shooting percentages against the Aggies, so a player hitting at a 50 percent pace over the past three games is a terrifying prospect. 

To make matters worse, she’s also a crafty defender and rebounder, who snatched four steals against Gonzaga earlier this year and has three double-doubles on the season. Cumber is averaging 15.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Alyssa Hargrove: Hargrove found her way to New Mexico after starting her career at Stetson for two years, and then spending a year at Austin Peay. Her role at Austin Peay was significantly smaller than it was at Stetson, but she fit right in and got back on track in Albuquerque. In her first year, Hargrove has become the catalyst of the Lobo offense, averaging 8.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

She leads the team in steals and generates a lot of extra possessions while getting the Lobos into transition opportunities. In the half-court, she is the facilitator of the offense, sitting atop the team leaderboard in assists and spreading the ball around to feed her high-scoring teammates. She is tied for second in the conference for most steals per game and is dishing the fifth-most assists.

Hargrove is also an effective ball handler. She doesn’t take too many shots and often opts to pass first. She has more assists than turnovers, and most of the turnovers she does commit she gets right back with steals. She takes 7.8 shots of her own per game, dishes 3.5 assists to just 2.8 turnovers and generates 2.3 steals. 

The quickest way for her to hurt the Aggies is by getting open looks for Cumber, but if the Aggies seal off her passing lanes, she can score on her own. The Aggies have made a point to protect the ball this year, and have had some success at times, but Hargrove and her 2.3 takeaways a night, with help from Magalhaes, Hooks and Cumber will put that to the test.