WBB Review: Aggies Suffer Another Tight League Defeat

LOGAN – Utah State fell short, but put its progress on full display yet again in an 82-77 loss to Boise State which provided plenty to like, even as the Aggies dropped to 1-14 and 0-3 in conference play.

Utah State protected the ball and gave up only seven turnovers, marking the first time in program history that Utah State gave up fewer than 10 turnovers in back-to-back games – a significant step in the right direction, and a bleak reminder of past futility. The Aggies also made adjustments to their press, which had already been effective at times, to cut down on open layups at the other end when it breaks down.

But, when contested layups resulted in a miss, the Aggies struggled to come down with the ball, giving the Broncos too many extra tries underneath. Overall, they forced 14 turnovers but gave up 14 offensive boards and 17 second-chance points.

The Aggie frontcourt proved, again, to be very resilient on defense. Utah State had to take the court without Taliyah Logwood, who is sidelined with a high ankle sprain, but still stood up to a tall test, holding Boise State star Abby Muse to eight points – a tick above her average, but far below her potential. Utah State had no such luck in boxing her out, though allowing eight boards to the veteran center. Those interior efforts came at the cost of Utah State foul trouble, too. Gracie Johnson fouled out of the game after 15 minutes and Jamisyn Heaton picked up three in 27 minutes.

With Muse mostly contained, the real damage came from Natalie Pasco and Mya Hansen, who combined for nine three-pointers and 46 points, and Tatum Thompson, who added another 15 points. The Aggies have handled traditional bigs relatively well in the past few games, but have struggled against attacks from the backcourt, and will have to find a way to stop high-scoring guards and wings with players like Lexie Givens, Mia Jacobs and Destinee Hooks coming up in short order.

But, as has so often been the case this season, the real roadblock for Utah State was a 10-0 run in the first quarter and two more (8-0 and 9-0) in the third. The first saw Utah State fall into a very quick 12-2 deficit, while the latter two proved even more damaging. Early in the third frame, CJ Latta hit a pair of free throws to make it 41-38, a one-possession game, but the Broncos responded with eight unanswered points, pushing the lead up to 11 and forcing a Utah State timeout.

The last big surge came right on the heels of the second. The Aggies picked themselves up and fought back as Elise Livingston hit a three-pointer with under four minutes to play to make it 51-45, but they ran out of gas soon after, and the Broncos made it 60-45 with 1:22 left in the third. Those three runs accounted for a total of 27 unanswered points for Boise State in three short sprints, and coming back from that while being outrebounded 43-29 is just too much to ask, even for a team making progress.

“If we take that out, if we don't get off those runs, we win the game tonight,” head coach Wes Brooks said. 

On Utah State’s side, it was Cheyenne Stubbs and her 20 points leading the way. She needed just a game to get back up to speed since returning to the court and has been scoring at a high clip – her season average is 14.2, but she’s averaged 21.7 points over her last three games. If she can sustain anything close to that, she and the Aggies will find themselves on the other side of these close games soon.

Mia Tarver, who has quietly put together a really impressive campaign so far, added a commendable effort. Her energy is irreplaceable on the court and she’s nearly impossible to keep up with. Because of her athleticism and crafty aggressiveness, she regularly finds herself in the right place at the right time – sometimes at the top of the three-point line with nobody in her vicinity, sometimes at the basket with her defender playing out of position. Either way, Tarver came off the bench and added 14 points, six of which came at the free-throw line. She also added three rebounds, three assists and three steals, while picking up just a single foul in 24 minutes of action.

Heaton got the game-opening points but didn’t find the net again until the fourth quarter when she hit a layup. The team's second-leading scorer finished the game with just three points. It's a growing cause for concern. But, on the positive side, Latta’s past three games have her on quite the trajectory. She showed flashes of her scoring abilities earlier on in the year, but she has been on another level since conference play, starting with the 19 points she unleashed on Colorado State. Going 4 of 5 from deep, she had 16 points, two rebounds and a steal against Boise State, and is now averaging 13.7 points per game in conference play and 8.1 on the season.

Johnson, meanwhile, had three points, three rebounds, two assists and three blocks. She didn’t have a single turnover, though she did foul out of the game. Livingston is doing a great job staying productive in the face of sporadic scoring and had three rebounds, three assists and five points. Denae Skelton and Sophie Sene both came off the bench and played big minutes. Skelton did what Skelton does and hit two threes, while Sene also did what Skelton does and added a three of her own on her only attempt from deep.

Utah State is back in action on Saturday afternoon as it takes on Nevada in Reno.