WBB Review: Aggies Run Out Of Gas At Boise State

BOISE – Passing the previous mark of 247, Utah State set a program record for made three-pointers in a season in its loss at Boise State. After five makes, the new record now stands at 249.

And of course, it was Utah State’s senior leader, Cheyenne Stubbs, who hit the record-setting 248th three-pointer. With nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Aggies trailed 51-43. Stubbs desperately tried to keep the Aggies competitive as the Broncos began to pull away. CJ Latta had the ball up top, and Stubbs cut from the baseline to meet her beyond the arc. Taliyah Logwood and Jamisyn Heaton both set screens, creating a forcefield in Boise State’s zone defense and letting her get to the three-point line with plenty of space. Latta zipped a pass to Stubbs, and in one fluid motion, she received the pass, turned, located the basket, lifted off and released. To celebrate the record-breaking moment, Stubbs hung her hand in the air only long enough for the ball to find its way home, then blitzed the baseline to implement a full-court press.

The three came as Utah State was searching for ways to stay close in the final frame, and it succeeded in holding off the Broncos for a bit longer – and helped the Aggies push even closer as Logwood hit a layup moments later to make it a one-possession game at 51-48. The Aggies ultimately fell short, but the accomplishment signifies a successful implementation of identity that the team has been working all year on.

It’s not often that a coach will tip his hand and publish his playbook for the world to see, but in his first head coaching job, that’s exactly what Wes Brooks did. Ahead of his first game as a head coach in Logan, an exhibition match against Westminster, Brooks took to Twitter and quoted a post from the team with the hashtag, #ShootAggiesShoot. And that’s exactly what the Aggies have done. The team made the three-point shot a core tenet of its identity, and it all culminated in a record-setting performance in the regular season finale.

For the Aggies to set a program record for made three-pointers in a loss that gave the team a 4-26 regular season record is bittersweet. It’s a microcosm of the season at large and an ideal representation of where the program is in the earliest stages of a rebuild. The record won’t last long if Brooks has his way, because this is just the start. Since he arrived, Brooks has talked about recruiting, developing and empowering shooters, and setting this record in year one is just the proof of concept he needed to keep recruiting, developing and empowering shooters. 

A 4-26 record is not the end goal, but so far, Brooks has at least some evidence of progress. Utah State’s loss was matched by San Jose State’s loss to Colorado State on the same day, giving Utah State a 10th-place finish in the Mountain West.

“Small steps,” Brooks said when a 10th-place finish became a likelihood after the Aggies beat Nevada on senior night.

Now that the situation has gone from a possibility to reality, and in year one, the Aggies have avoided a last-place finish. It’s the first time the Aggies have finished better than last place since 2021-22 and just the second time since the 2018-19 season.

Utah State started strong and kept up with the Broncos for the vast majority of the 40 minutes, but a significant size advantage and elite guard play from Boise State gave the Broncos a few extra minutes of high-level basketball, and they used it to pull away from the Aggies late in the fourth frame.

Opening the game, Heaton hit a layup off a turnover, and Stubbs hit a three-pointer before the Broncos got on the board, and the Aggies raced to a 9-2 lead once they did. Gordie Presnell’s Broncos weren’t going to stay quiet for long on their senior night, however, and Tatum Thompson and Natalie Pasco added four points for Boise State, and then Heaton and Thompson swapped buckets to cap off a low-scoring quarter with the Aggies enjoying an early 11-8 lead at the break. 

The Broncos continued to settle in during the second quarter as the Aggies pushed their lead to eight, but a 10-0 run erased that edge and put the Broncos in command. Heaton broke it up and tied the game, but Elodie Lalotte and Pasco added four points to the Boise State score, and claimed a 26-22 margin at the half. Utah State’s interior disadvantage was already on full display at the break as the Aggies were getting outrebounded 25-12, yet only trailed by four.

The Aggies actually made slight inroads in the third quarter and shaved a point off Boise State’s lead, forcing a one-possession game to start the fourth quarter. The game really started to shift when Logwood fouled out. She picked up her fourth with 9:16 left, but her services weren’t expendable in the six-point game, and she remained on the court. It was soon an eight-point game when Teryn Gardner hit both free-throw tries awarded to her by Logwood. 

Then, with 7:28 remaining, Logwood picked up her fifth and departed for the bench, taking her eight points with her. She was replaced by Sophie Sene, so the Aggies actually gained a few inches of height on the floor in the transaction, but were still overwhelmed by Boise State’s physicality. The score was 53-48 at the time. The Broncos outpaced the Aggies with a 19-11 scoring margin the rest of the way.

Without Logwood, the Aggies only had one last stand left in them when Heaton nailed a three to make it 54-51 with 6:07 to play, but Boise State’s response was a 12-2 run that dashed any remaining hopes of the Aggies clawing their way back into the game. At that point, the Aggies were down by 13 and out of gas, and the Broncos turned on cruise control for the rest of the way.

Utah State’s foul trouble was reminiscent of its first meeting with the Broncos. In that game, Gracie Johnson fouled out in 15 minutes, and in this game, it took Logwood only 10. Heaton had three fouls in the first game and picked up four this round. The Aggies again faced a significant size advantage against Boise State. Despite that, combined with star scoring efforts from Pasco and Thompson, Utah State withstood the toughest of what Boise State had to offer and found ways to play competitive basketball.

Utah State’s guard play was solid and helped to make up for the interior mismatch set up by Boise State’s stout frontcourt. Defensively, the Aggies excelled on the perimeter, forcing Boise State to miss its first 11 three-point attempts and go 6 for 23 on the day, with Pasco being the only exception to Boise State’s cold spell from range. She hit 4 of 10. Dani Bayes was particularly bothered and gave an 0-for-7 shooting performance from deep, and Thompson didn’t even attempt a three. 

Even without the long ball playing a huge factor, it was a clinic from Pasco and Thompson that lifted the Broncos to their 13-point victory. Pasco had 25 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal with only one foul and one turnover. She was 9 of 18 on the night and hit all three of her free-throw attempts. Thompson came off the bench and contributed 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.

Inside, Elodie Lalotte and Abby Muse combined for only seven points, but harassed the Aggies with their 14 rebounds and six blocks. Lalotte had four points, eight rebounds, an assist and a block without picking up a foul. Muse had three points, six rebounds, a steal and five blocks. 

The Aggies were led by Stubbs and Heaton, who scored 17 points each. Stubbs also added six rebounds, an assist and three steals. Heaton added four rebounds, an assist, two steals and a block. Logwood had eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a block. Livingston had seven points, six rebounds and an assist. Latta had four points, six assists and a steal. Utah State will be in action next on Sunday evening against Air Force in the first round of the Mountain West tournament.