WBB Review: Livingston's Career Night Not Enough To Topple Idaho

MOSCOW, Idaho – The Aggies couldn’t cash in on their eight-game road trip and will return home instead with an eight-game losing streak. Despite going winless, the Aggies ended the trip on a hopeful note. Finding hope in losses isn’t ideal, but with a 1-10 record, all the Aggies can do is look for a silver lining.

Utah State played a tough slate of games and lost its leading scorer, Cheyenne Stubbs, along the way, but in her absence, the Aggies found production elsewhere that could prove critical as the season carries on. The obvious candidates were the experienced Mia Tarver and Jamisyn Heaton, both of whom have been excellent, but it also created room for an impressive freshman class to establish itself.

Particularly in the last two games of the road trip, the Aggies showed resilience and depth. Utah State was short-handed as it took on the Lopes of Grand Canyon and, with a few adjustments, was similarly disadvantaged against the Vandals. The Aggies returned Taliyah Logwood to the lineup but were forced to remove Heaton (illness). Against GCU, it was Denae Skelton who stepped up. In a 71-56 loss to Idaho, Elise Livingston provided a superstar effort. Though the Aggies fell to the Vandals, the highly anticipated recruit from Cache Valley’s Ridgeline High School delivered the game the Aggies had been waiting for.

It was a career night for Livingston, who willed the Aggies back into a competitive contest after falling behind early. Adding to an impressive early season showing for the team’s youngsters, Livingston is the fourth freshman to notch a double-digit game this year.

The Vandals gave it their best shot early but couldn’t get away – the Aggies were leaving a bit to be desired, but were doing enough to stick around. For the first portion of the opening quarter, the only Aggie score was a free throw from Livingston, allowing the Vandals to jump to an 8-1 lead. The Aggies hit their first field goal when Isabella Tanedo knocked down a jumper, and Livingston followed it with a three-pointer, but Idaho was pouring it in by then and surged to a 16-5 edge. Sophie Sene hit a shot through contact and went to the line to complete a three-point play in response.

Trailing 16-8, Livingston made a play for the final shot of the frame. She patiently waited at the top, carved through the defense, and banked a layup as time expired. The Aggies were still trailing, but after falling behind by 11, a five-point run kept them in the hunt after one frame, trailing 16-0.

Utah State kept the momentum rolling as it started the second period with Livingston continuing to lead the charge. She nailed a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game, but Idaho matched with a three of its own. Logwood provided a spark next, hitting a three to cut the lead back down to five, but Idaho responded with a layup. Logwood answered with two free throws, and on her next play, she drove to the basketball and scored. It was a 7-3 run from Logwood alone to get the Aggies within striking distance.

With a one-possession game, the Aggies turned to Tarver and she delivered, drilling a three-point ball to tie the game at 27. Idaho hit a three in retort, but Livingston threw a haymaker right back with one of her own to get to 11 points in the half and keep it tied. The Vandals found one more bucket and snuck away with a two-point lead at the half, 32-30.

The third quarter was less than ideal for the Aggies. After weathering the storm in the first quarter and outscoring Idaho 20-16 in the second quarter, they fell flat coming out of the half and gave up their gains. They shot 6 of 17 from the field, hit just one three-pointer, and didn’t get to the free-throw line at all. They were outscored 20-13 and used all of their timeouts just to stay alive, entering the final frame with a 55-43 deficit.

Gracie Johnson put on a clinic to open the final frame. She got it started by hitting a three and then swatted a three away on the other end. Skelton added three points, and Johnson blocked another shot at the rim. In under a minute, Johnson had three points, a rebound and two blocks, helping the Aggies cut the Vandal lead to seven. She added another three to make it a four-point game. The Vandals responded to the 11-0 run with a triple, and Latta drove to the hoop for a layup in retort, but Idaho was starting to pull away. Idaho added another layup, then a three, and a mid-range jumper. Skelton notched a three-pointer, but it was only enough to make it a nine-point game with three minutes left, and the Vandals added another layup right away. From there, they cruised to a 71-56 victory.

Livingston had the best game of her career and looked like the point guard Utah State has needed. She led the team in scoring with 16 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. She was 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Johnson also looked her best this season with a high-efficiency scoring clip and loads of boards and blocks. She had a season-high of seven points and added six rebounds, plus four blocks. She shot 3 of 7 from the field and 1 of 2 from beyond the arc. For Utah State’s continued success, Livingston needs to keep letting it fly and hitting big shots in big moments, and Johnson needs to score like this without a high volume of shots while playing complementary basketball by grabbing rebounds and blocks.

Upon returning to the lineup, Logwood’s presence was immediately evident as she had 11 points, three rebounds and a steal. She was highly efficient, too, as her 11 points came on just seven shot attempts. She was 4 of 7 from the field, 1 of 2 from deep and a perfect 2 of 2 from the line. Skelton netted a pair of threes to grab six points with two rebounds and an assist. Sene had five points, four rebounds, an assist and a block. Latta and Tanedo pitched in four points each.

Tarver had an off night and was just 1 for 12 from the field. She only had three points, which came in the form of a big three-pointer to tie the game late in the second quarter, but she did add six rebounds, an assist and three steals to go with it. Utah State will finally return home on Wednesday evening against UC Riverside.