WBB Review: Utah State Drops Road Game Against Colorado State

FORT COLLINS – The Aggies went on the road and did their best to stop the star power of Colorado State, and though they had a hot start, over the course of 40 minutes, Colorado State’s depth and physicality proved to be too much for Utah State to keep up with.

It didn’t even take the full 40 minutes for the Rams to separate themselves from the Aggies. Utah State had a great first quarter, and led the frame with 51 seconds left, but the strong start came to a screeching halt in short order as soon as the second quarter started. Hannah Simental opened the quarter with two three-pointers and a two-pointer, giving the Rams eight unanswered points and an eight-point lead. This little run quickly got out of hand as Kloe Froebe, Brooke Carlson and Marta Leimane joined in, and the Rams cashed in 15 unanswered points to open the quarter and cap off an 18-0 run to take a 16-point lead.

The Aggies didn’t get on the board until there was just 2:19 on the clock, when Cheyenne Stubbs hit two free throws. Their first of just three field goals in the frame came at 1:46, when Sophie Sene knocked down a jumper in the lane. Mia Tarver added another, but Carlson hit one of her own to take a 14-point lead with 43 seconds to play. Utah State's third and final field goal of the frame was a dramatic one, as Taliyah Logwood hit a half-court buzzer-beater to bring the Aggies within 11 at the half.

It was a significant deficit to face, but after utterly disappearing for most of the quarter and confining all of their scoring to the final two minutes, the Aggies were lucky to be that close. The Aggies have erased double-digit deficits before, and coming out of the break, it seemed they were going to do just that.

Elise Livingston hit a triple to cut the lead to eight, and when the Rams pushed their lead back to 11, CJ Latta did the same thing. The Rams seemed to be escaping for a bit and gained a 15-point advantage, but when the Aggies once again got within 11, Tarver fired off another triple to make it an eight-point game for the third time in the quarter. Colorado State strung together a 7-0 run that ended the third and opened the fourth period, and the Rams started to escape again — this time for good. With just under five minutes, Colorado State eclipsed a 20-point margin and cruised to a 72-54 win.

Hidden in the 18-point loss was a gem of a defensive performance. The Aggies gave up 72 points, but along the way, they did something no team in the conference has done, and contained the Ronsiek sisters. In doing so, the Aggies dared the rest of the team to beat them and, unfortunately, Carlson, Simental and Froebe rose to the occasion to get the job done.

Still, the Aggies held Emma Ronsiek, the pre-season Mountain West Newcomer of the Year and co-Player of the Year, with an 18.3 PPG average, to just nine points. It was her second-lowest scoring game of the year, and her lowest ever in a Mountain West conference game. She’s a 43.3 percent field goal shooter, and the Aggies held her to a 25 percent clip, her worst since Nov. 25. They also held Hannah Ronsiek to five points, her lowest since Jan. 18. She is now averaging 9.5 points and 6.2 rebounds, but the Aggies held her to five and five, turning a stellar basketball player into a non-factor.

If Emma and Hannah had these numbers the last time these teams met instead of instead of 20 and 14 points, the Aggies, instead of falling by nine, would have outscored the Rams 74-63.

For a team built around these sisters, particularly Emma, it is very impressive that the Aggies were able to stop them, but even more impressive that the Rams could survive and excel without them at their best. In doing something nobody had done before on defense, the Aggies forced the Rams to do something they hadn’t ever done before on offense. Froebe dropped a new career high of 20 points and earned her second career double-double with 11 rebounds. She also had three assists and a steal. She did nearly all of her damage inside the perimeter, shooting 9 of 12 without a three-pointer and with only two free throws. Her 20-piece was also the game-high. 

Carlson and Simental also punished the Aggies for successfully stopping the Ronsieks. Carlson, a promising freshman, enjoyed the larger opportunity and stepped up with 14 points, her most since Jan. 18 in a loss to New Mexico, and six rebounds, a new career high. She also had an assist, two steals and a block. Simental, a proven scorer in her own right, added 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal to the cause. Her veteran, reliable and efficient presence on the court helped anchor an offense that was led by two freshmen who were both testing the upper limits of their capabilities.

Utah State used a tighter rotation and played just eight players. Stubbs led the Aggies but had 10 fewer points than she did last time when these two met, and recorded 17 points, three rebounds and two assists. Logwood had eight points, four rebounds and three steals. Tarver had eight points for rebounds and a steal. Livingston had six points, five rebounds and two assists. Latta, who nabbed 19 last time, had just five points with a pair of rebounds and assists.

The Aggies were cleaned up on the boards and grabbed just 28 rebounds to Colorado State’s 42. They turned the Rams over 12 times with five steals but gave away 13 turnovers with nine assists. They'll be back in action on Saturday afternoon at San Diego State.