WBB Review: Heaton's Big Day Lifts Aggies To Victory

LOGAN – Three games into the 2024-25 season, the Wes Brooks era has arrived in earnest. After two close misses to open the year, Utah State claimed its first win of this new era against Cal State Bakersfield, 67-51, earning Brooks his first career win as a head coach. It's the first Utah State win since Feb. 21, 2024, snapping a six-game losing streak. This is also Utah State's first 15-plus-point win over a DI opponent since an 81-64 win over Utah Tech in 2021.

“This game was just about trying to find a way to win," Brooks said. "We needed to get one… You have to get one before you start building and stacking wins."

Now they have one, they can start building, and, hopefully, they can start stacking wins. This was Utah State's last home game before a lengthy road trip, and the Aggies were hungry to get on the board before they left Cache Valley. They had quite a bit of support in tow to send them off, as thousands of local youngsters filed into the Spectrum for Utah State's annual Elementary Day game.

That excitable crowd made its presence felt immediately – the first score of the game was a free throw from Jamisyn Heaton, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. She hit another. More hysteria.

The Roadrunners had no response and the Aggies quickly gained the upper hand and some momentum. The crowd again erupted to a Carlie Latta three-pointer as the Aggies surged to a 9-2 start. After the first quarter, Utah State led 21-13, and kept adding to that edge. Six quick points to open the second quarter capped off an 11-0 run, pushing the Aggies into a 28-13 lead with 8:48 left to play in the half. Utah State didn’t stop there, and led comfortably at the half, 42-23.

“That, I felt like, got our momentum going," Heaton said of the quick start. "We really set the pace and I felt like that kept a lot of girls confident through any mistakes. It was a good start to our game."

With 42 points at the break, the Aggies had already amassed nearly enough points to beat a team that came into the game averaging just 46.5 points per game. All that was left to do was win. But, for this young and newly-constructed Aggie team, that's no easy task. Coming out of the half, they experienced a brutal regression while Bakersfield found its footing.

On Utah State’s side of the floor, it was missed shot after missed shot with the far-too-common turnovers sprinkled into the mix. The Roadrunners weren’t playing perfect basketball, but they were doing enough to advance against the Aggies, who were suffering from a sudden bout of ineptitude. Utah State didn’t record an assist, committed six turnovers and forced only one in the third quarter while shooting 1 of 13 from the field and 0 of 5 from behind the arc. The only place the Aggies found any sort of solace was at the line, where they went 5 for 6. They were outscored 15-7, and a 21-point lead eroded to just an 11-point difference entering the final period.

The fourth quarter opened up with Ari Dizon knocking down a three, carving even further into that Utah State edge. Elise Livingston hit a pair of free throws in response, but that was quickly matched by a layup on the other end. Latta hit a huge three to break the eight-point lead and momentarily keep the Roadrunners at bay, though Bakersfield knocked down two more shots with nothing but a Mia Tarver free throw to match it, cutting Utah State's lead right back down to eight points, 55-47, with 6:16 to play.

“I think when adversity hits that, ‘Uh oh, here we go again’ (feeling) comes," Brooks said. "Being where I've been, I didn't have to coach that over the last seven years as an assistant coach. It’s an adjustment for me having to coach kids who aren't used to the winning way. We got better at that, and we have to continue to get better."

That’s when Heaton found another gear. She had already been having a solid night, contributing by doing just about everything, but with the Roadrunners in a furious pursuit and Utah State’s first win slipping away, Heaton took over.

She grabbed a loose ball rebound off a Roadrunner free throw and set up shop at the top of the key, driving hard to the basket with her left hand, spinning to her right and banking a pretty layup off the glass. A play later, she posted up and got the ball in the same spot. This time, she backed her defender down and faked to her left, drawing a premature jump that left plenty of space for her to spin back to the right for another layup. Later, Cheyenne Stubbs inbounded the ball to Heaton on the wing. She tried to go to the baseline but got cut off, so she pivoted back over to the paint, backed her defender up again and broke to the left, getting straight to the glass for another two points.

Six unanswered points from Heaton put the Aggies back in control with a 61-47 lead and 4:18 remaining. The same adversity that defeated Utah State twice this year reared its head, but as Brooks promised, the Aggies were ready this time.

“I don't think that we were really feeling that adversity," Heaton said. "There might have been signs, but that's just basketball. I feel like we were still very calm and we knew that we had this game… We'll have setbacks, and maybe it was an eight-point game at one point, but I don't feel like we played like that."

Complying with Brooks’ plea from the sideline, the Aggie offense slowed down and shifted their attention to their other opponent – the clock. They added six more points, all at the free-throw line, and for the first time since Nov. 12, 2023, the buzzer at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum sounded to seal an Aggie victory.

After two stellar performances coming off the bench, Heaton earned the start and was the star of the show. In addition to her six-point stretch to seal the deal, she put up a really impressive line, logging a team-high 19 points with five rebounds, five blocks and four steals. Stubbs added 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals. Livingston had the best night of her young career with nine points, five rebounds and an assist. Tarver also added nine points with eight rebounds and three assists. Utah State will return to action on Sunday with its first road game of the season, at 1-2 Northern Colorado – which had its first experience with a Mountain West opponent in a 73-66 loss to Air Force on Nov. 11.