WBB Review: Shorthanded Aggies Push Grand Canyon

PHOENIX – Playing their seventh consecutive game away from home, the Aggies were without some key players as they faced a strong Grand Canyon team. Cheyenne Stubbs missed her third game in a row with a foot injury, joined by Gracie Johnson, Karlie Banks and Taliyah Logwood on the list of unavailable players. The Antelopes have NCAA tournament aspirations, but Utah State took them to the wire without its leading scorer and several big-time contributors.

Outside of a few short rough patches, the Aggies played a complete 40 minutes – perhaps as complete as any performance all year – and found quality minutes, clawing their way back from being down big multiple times. They picked up solid contributions from the bench, while starters Jamisyn Heaton and Mia Tarver continued to be reliable. They had a game plan to deal with not just one, but two elite scorers, and they responded well to the speed, physicality and experience of their hosts.

The Lopes fired a warning shot at tipoff as Trinity San Antonio found the basket in the seconds, but Utah State responded right away with a Heaton three-pointer to take an early one-point lead. That wouldn’t last long though, and it’s all thanks to Utah State’s old friend from UNLV, Alyssa Durazo-Frescas. She pulled up on a fast break and hit a three-pointer to regain the lead, the first of three deep shots in two and a half minutes from Durazo-Frescas. After her scoring barrage, it was 15-6, Grand Canyon, and the Lopes added five more points to cap off a 10-0 run, staking out a 14-point advantage with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Tarver stopped the bleeding with a layup that cut the GCU lead to 12, but the Lopes quickly pushed it back to 14, then to 16. The Aggies were struggling, but Denae Skelton closed the book on the first quarter with a crucial three-pointer to give her team some life.

Early in the second frame, Utah State again found itself in real danger. Skelton’s three was a necessary shot in the arm, but it didn’t give the Aggies much more than a pulse and the Lopes took a 19-point lead, their largest of the game, with three straight buckets to open the quarter. The Aggies were backed up against the wall, playing on the road against a solid team, staring down a nearly 20-point deficit, and operating without some of their best players. The second quarter had just started and the Aggies were looking at the very real possibility of the game getting out of hand.

Heaton went to work, drawing a foul and hitting both tries. It wasn’t much, but it was a small step in the right direction. On the next possession, Tarver got the steal and was fouled as she knocked down a layup. She went to the line and completed the three-point play. GCU turned the ball over again and Isabella Tanedo knocked down a jumper. Then, Skelton buried a big-time three to bring the GCU lead back to single digits, giving the Aggies a 10-0 run and forcing the Lopes to call a timeout.

GCU was still unable to find the basket out of its huddle, and Elise Livingston added a free throw to Utah State's onslaught. Then, Skelton stuck again from distance, slashing the Grand Canyon lead to just five points. It was a 14-0 stretch for Utah State, which brought the Aggies from the brink of a blowout to well within striking distance.

They couldn’t go unchecked forever, though, and the run finally ended as the Lopes rallied to score six points. But, just as she did in the first quarter, Skelton hit another three to finish out the half and keep Utah State alive, trailing 36-28 at the break.

To open the third quarter, Tarver hit a layup to cut it to six and Durazo-Frescas missed a three-point attempt, which Heaton pulled off the glass, giving the Aggies a chance to start strong. But, the Aggies couldn’t go anywhere with it and hit a rough patch, suffering four straight turnovers without taking a shot from the field, leading to a 14-point deficit.

Sophie Sene and Tanedo registered layups to answer a Grand Canyon free throw and draw Utah State within 11 points of the lead, but that dropped right back to 15, putting the pressure firmly on Wes Brooks' team to respond. Once again, they answered the bell. Heaton hit a layup and Tanedo broke free on a fast break for four quick points. The Aggies forced a turnover and Skelton added a layup, and after another GCU turnover, Tarver hit a three. Nine straight points to end the quarter turned into an 11-0 run when Heaton hit a layup to open the fourth.

The Aggies had gone from down 15 to down four, but again, they couldn’t sustain their momentum. Grand Canyon started to pull away, but not without a heroic effort from Carlie Latta. The freshman had been quiet in the first three quarters but erupted in the fourth. Facing a 10-point gap, Latta got on the board with a three-pointer, added a four-point play not long after, and knocked down a third try from deep following a Grand Canyon layup to get the Aggies within nine with 2:43 remaining. GCU added four more points, but still couldn’t break away. Even with an Aggie loss becoming more likely, Skelton hit a pair of free throws, Tanedo converted another layup and Heaton earned a trip to the line for a point to round out Utah State’s scoring on the night. GCU, finally comfortable, led by 10 with 30 seconds left and added four points for good measure, nabbing a 76-62 win that did not come easily.

Utah State held San Antonio, Grand Canyon's best scorer, to just 10 points, forcing her into four fouls and limiting her to just 18 minutes. After Durazo-Frescas torched the Aggies with a 3 of 3 start and nine quick points, they adjusted. Outside of her early sprint, she missed five three-pointers and added just four points, ending the night with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting from deep.

Meanwhile, on Utah State's side of the floor, Skelton came off the bench and dominated. The Aggies relied on the freshman to put in 35 minutes, and she delivered. She was lights out from deep and dropped a new career high of 16 points, shooting 5 of 10 from the field and 4 of 9 from beyond the arc while adding to her massive performance with three rebounds, two assists and a block.

Tarver has been on a roll lately and has now notched double digits in four of her last five games, pitching in 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Missing Logwood’s contributions in the post, Heaton and Sene shouldered the work down low. Heaton had 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block, while Sene contributed four points, five rebounds, two assists and a block. Latta’s fourth quarter accounted for all of her scoring and she ended up with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Tanedo gave what was possibly her best performance as an Aggie. With a short staff, the Aggies called on her for 23 minutes of action, her career high. She had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and a rebound with only one personal foul, allowing her to live up to her mandate of staying on the floor.

The Aggies get to rest up before their next contest, a Sunday afternoon bout with Idaho for another rematch from last year. This year's Vandal team is 6-2 on the season.