WBB Review: Aggies Contain Fertig, Still Fall At Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. – On the road against their second all-conference caliber opponent in a row, the Aggies fell to Allyson Fertig and the Wyoming Cowboys by 20, 73-53, though it wasn’t necessarily Fertig’s doing. Utah State is now on an 11-game losing streak with a record of 1-13 (0-2).

The Aggies honed in on Fertig and did everything they could to slow her down, daring the rest of the team to step up and beat them. It's not an uncommon game plan, and the Aggies executed it well, but it's just not a strategy that works on a team this deep. The Aggies also did a good job containing Emily Mellema and Tess Barnes, but Malene Pedersen got away. 

After three quarters of play, Fertig only had eight points, barely on pace to reach double digits. With Taliyah Logwood fouled out and Gracie Johnson in foul trouble, she got loose in the fourth and scored six points. Still, neutralizing a team’s number one option is a step in the right direction, and stopping Fertig was an impressive feat, especially for a team trying to build an identity on the perimeter around speed and three-point shooting. 

As the focus was mainly on Fertig, and with the three-guard powerhouse of Barnes Mellema and Pedersen taking up what was left of Utah State’s attention, Wyoming had plenty of weapons to throw at the problem. With Fertig’s game disrupted, Pedersen stepped up and made the Aggies pay. She was 7 of 13 from the field, 2 of 2 from deep and 6-6 from the stripe, logging 22 points, enough to single-handedly cover the game’s point differential with a bucket to spare. She also added two rebounds and three assists.

The pattern was apparent as early as the first quarter, when Fertig only managed one shot attempt, which she converted for two points. Pedersen, meanwhile, was already 2 of 4 from the field and hit her only three-point try in the frame. She accounted for a third of the team’s offensive production, recording five of Wyoming’s 15 points as the Cowgirls took a 15-7 lead after a quarter. The trend continued through the half. Pedersen hit another dagger from beyond the arc, and was now responsible for over a third of the team's offense – 14 of the team’s 40 points.

While the Aggies were forcing the ball away from Wyoming’s star, the Pokes began with the same strategy. Cheyenne Stubbs was 0 for 2 in the first quarter and the leading scorer was Sophie Sene with three points, which she earned on her first career three-pointer. Stubbs was a bit more involved in the second quarter, but not enough to keep the Aggies engaged in a close battle, and no one was stepping up to fill the void.

Stubbs had seven points, going 2 of 5 from the field, 1 of 2 from deep, and hitting both her charity attempts in the first half. Logwood had four points on two shots and Samiana Suguturaga stepped in and added a quick spark, immediately hitting a three, then face-guarding Fertig to keep her entirely out of the play, including a potential rebound, to get Utah State the ball back as it tipped out of bounds after a shot. On the other end, she drew an off-ball foul on Fertig, but ended her day shortly after, playing only three minutes. Sene hit a layup to bring her total to five, but it was Stubbs, after a scoreless first, who led the team with seven at the break. 

It was a 15-point game at the half, and it didn’t get much better. The Aggies put together a bit of a run in the third, but it didn’t amount to much: Stubbs hit a three, which Wyoming could only match with a free throw, then Mia Tarver got a steal and took it coast-to-coast, and Denae Skelton hit three free throws to make it an eight-point game with 3:05 left in the third.

Stubbs had another seven-point quarter in the third and added four in the fourth to end up with a team-high of 18. After her shaky return to the floor, the Aggies have to be pleased with her performance, but the rest of the team had just 35 points and the next Aggies in line were Johnson with seven and CJ Latta with six. That’s just not enough to get the job done. Stubbs is a prolific scorer but she can’t do it all, and the Aggies need to re-learn how to play with her on the court in a hurry. When Stubbs was out, Utah State made a lot of progress and Jamisyn Heaton emerged as the leading scorer in her wake. Now that she’s back, the Aggies can’t afford to give up the progress they made without her, and they certainly can’t afford to give up the scoring from Heaton.

With 13.6 PPG for Stubbs and 9.8 PPG for Heaton, the two are the team’s leading scorers, but can’t seem to find a groove at the same time. In Stubbs’s return against UC Riverside, Heaton had 14 while Stubbs struggled to get her legs back and had three. In the next game against Colorado State, Stubbs was back to form and had 27, but Heaton added only two points. Against Wyoming, Heaton had three, all at the free-throw line. In the last game before Stubbs was sidelined, the team fell 79-77 to Omaha in overtime – Heaton led the team with 18 and Stubbs had seven. Though Stubbs has finished in double figures six times and Heaton has hit that mark in seven games, the two have overlapped those performances just three times, in the first three games of the season.

For a team that has struggled to put it together, this might be the most telling piece. Stubbs and Heaton are the team’s top options and the team needs to find a way to get them involved accordingly. Both players should probably be scoring double digits in every game, and if the Aggies want to win games, they have to get their best players the ball. There’s plenty of talent on this team, even beyond Stubbs and Heaton: Tarver, Logwood, Latta, Skelton and Elise Livingston are all capable of adding points, but they can’t just keep taking turns doing it. One player scoring double digits with the rest of the team adding small contributions won’t work.

In addition to her 18 points, Stubbs had a rebound, two assists and two steals. Heaton’s low-scoring night was overshadowed by her commendable efforts everywhere else, including on the other side of the floor against Fertig. She had three points, six rebounds, three assists and astoundingly, did not record a single foul or turnover in 24 minutes.

Johnson has been putting together a string of nice games lately and added to it with seven points, five rebounds and two blocks. Latta hit a pair of threes to add six points, a rebound, two assists and two steals. Sene had five points, six rebounds and a steal. Tarver had four points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. 

The Aggies are still looking to put it all together, and subsequently, are still looking for their first conference win as they prepare to host the 11-5 Boise State Broncos.