WBB Review: Aggies Fall In Overtime At Omaha

OMAHA – Utah State had a rollercoaster of a game, mounting an impressive comeback to erase a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, only to leave points on the table to fall short, suffering a heartbreaking 79-77 overtime loss to Omaha. It's Utah State's fifth loss of the season, and the Aggies have yet to pick up a win away from home. They enjoyed stellar performances from Jamisyn Heaton, Mia Tarver and Taliyah Logwood, but with 21 turnovers and an 11-of-23 shooting performance from the stripe, they couldn't pull out the win.

The teams were in lockstep early, but the Mavericks slowly pulled away to a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter. The Aggies chipped away at the small Omaha lead for the better part of the second quarter until they finally had a breakthrough when Heaton was fouled on a layup and converted at the free-throw line to tie the game. Then, she grabbed a defensive board to get the Aggies back in possession, nabbed an offensive rebound and moved the ball to Logwood, who hit a layup to give the Aggies their first lead of the game. That advantage was short-lived, as the Mavericks immediately tied the game back up with 3:32 remaining. A scoring drought hit both teams to close out the half and it was 31-31 at the break.

The Aggies staved off their familiar third-quarter disaster, but not for long. They scored first out of the half and worked their way to a 35-34 lead with 8:16 on the clock. A 13-0 Omaha run flipped the script, and suddenly facing a 12-point deficit, the Aggie offense tried its best to shake itself awake. Tarver, Elise Livingston and Carlie Latta all hit three-pointers, each of them immediately matched by a three from Omaha. It was a big letdown for the Aggies, and the Mavericks took advantage, pushing their lead to 14 by the end of the quarter.

Despite the lopsided score, Utah State was undaunted. Heaton and Tarver hit back-to-back buckets before Ja Harvey took a layup the other way and put the Mavericks back on top by 12. Heaton made another attempt at jump-starting the Aggie attack, this time in the form of two free throws, but again, Omaha fought back, this time pushing its lead all the way back to 13 points.

With time running out and a persistent double-digit deficit, the Aggies had their backs against the wall, and it was beginning to look like their own mistakes in the third quarter would be too much to overcome. If they would make another push, they had to find a way to do it soon. The answer came from the freshman, Logwood, whose relentless effort kept the Aggies energized all game. 

Heaton snatched a defensive board off the glass to get the Aggies the ball, and on the other end, Cheyenne Stubbs found Logwood for a quick layup. On the very next play, Utah State followed the same blueprint with a defensive rebound for Heaton, an assist for Stubbs and two points for Logwood. It was a nine-point game, the closest score of the quarter. Then, Logwood grabbed a steal and tried a three-pointer, which was off the mark, but she crashed into the lane and grabbed her own rebound for a putback. Six unanswered points from the freshman had the Aggies back in the ball game.

Harvey hit another layup to try to take the wind out of Utah State’s sails, breaking up the Aggie run and taking a nine-point lead, but USU shrugged it off as Tarver took a shot across the bow and responded immediately with a three-pointer to cut the lead to six points with 5:15 remaining. Grace Cave hit a free throw, but Tarver hit a layup in response to cap off an 11-3 run fueled entirely by her and Logwood. 

The Aggies had a five-point game, but their climb was not complete, as Harvey hit a free throw, Cora Olsen hit a free throw and Harriet Ford hit two free throws – in under half a minute of game time, the Aggies had committed three fouls and lost a turnover, watching helplessly as the deficit climbed painfully from five all the way back to nine points.

With a score of 72-63 and 3:39 left, the Aggies still refused to give up. Heaton tipped a ball in to cut it to a seven-point Maverick lead before fouling out of the game. Then, Sophie Sene picked up an offensive board and made the putback to make it a five-point game. A flagrant foul on Olsen gave Utah State a chance with 1:14 to play – down by five, Stubbs would be at the line shooting two, and the Aggies would keep possession.

She missed the first but hit the second, leaving it as a two-possession game, which Tarver turned into just a one-point game on a deep catch-and-shoot three. Omaha missed its attempt to ice the game, Stubbs got the board, drew a foul and went to the line with a chance to put the finishing touches on the comeback effort. She again split her tries, which was enough to send the game to overtime, but not enough to surmount Omaha's advantage entirely. Missed opportunities from Omaha had let the Aggies get back in the game, while missed opportunities on the other end ultimately kept those Aggies from winning it in regulation.

Cave got the Mavericks started in the extra period with a three-pointer, and the Aggies responded with a free throw from Logwood. Sene hit a layup to tie the game back up at 75, and after a free throw from Omaha, she hit another layup to put the Aggies in front, 77-76. Utah State would not score again in overtime while Omaha scrounged up three more points, enough to take a slim victory.

Though she had to sit out the final portion of regulation and overtime, Heaton was sensational. She had a double-double with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 12 rebounds – both game-high figures. She also added an assist, two blocks and three steals. Her stats are impressive, but still only tell part of the story. She came up big when the Aggies needed her to, logging her lone assist to Logwood to take the lead in the second quarter, and recording one of her blocks in the fourth quarter amid the Logwood and Tarver 11-3 run that got Utah State back into the game.

Tarver was also exceptional. She went off for her season-high of 17 points and was 3 of 4 from deep, including two massive three-pointers in the fourth quarter – one to keep an Aggie run alive halfway through the frame and the highlight reel of a shot she hit to make it a one-point game late. She also knocked down a triple in the third quarter that kickstarted a flurry of threes for the Aggies, and while that may be a moment that gets overlooked, it helped keep Utah State from coming completely unhinged as things fell apart. She added five rebounds, three assists, a block and two steals as well.

Logwood rounded out the trio of Utah State’s double-digit scorers. Logwood has been putting together a very impressive freshman campaign and had another addition to her resume against Omaha, setting a new career high of 13 points, topping her previous high of 12 which came in her last game at Colorado, and had eight rebounds, one assist, one block and three steals. Unfortunately, she also fouled out, making it all three of Utah State's top scorers to do so.

While the top three performers provide more than a glimmer of hope for the Aggies going forward, there are also some causes for concern hidden behind the standout performances, the first being that all three fouled out. Utah State can’t have its three leading scorers on the bench and expect to win many games. But, the issue goes behind those three – Sene and Stubbs each had four, Gracie Johnson had two in three minutes, and Denae Skelton had two in five minutes.

It’s not only an issue of keeping players on the court. The foul trouble simply gives opposing teams too many opportunities. Utah State was bailed out by a poor shooting performance from the Mavericks, particularly down the stretch, but gave them 26 tries at the free-throw line (16 makes) and 12 in the fourth quarter (six makes).

The other cause for concern is that if they get 18 points, 17 points and 13 points from Heaton, Tarver and Logwood and still lose, something else has gone wrong. With a team this young, player development won’t be linear. Young players will overperform in some spots and underperform in others. When it's the former, as it was with Logwood against Omaha, the team needs to take advantage of that rather than let it rattle the game plan. With top-end scoring performances like this from Heaton, Tarver, and Logwood, the rest of the team needs to find enough points to beat a team like Omaha. The margin for error is too small for the Aggies to let those outings go to waste.

One place to look for a few extra points is the team’s leading scorer, Stubbs. She was held to just seven points, and while she still found ways to help the team with six rebounds, five assists and three steals, she still went just 2 of 9 from the field, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 6 from the line. That's a lot of points left on the table, a luxury the Aggies can’t afford from their star in a two-point overtime loss.

Beyond Stubbs, Sene had a nice performance as she made her way back into the rotation. She played 25 minutes and had nine points, seven rebounds and two steals. Livingston had six points with two assists and was the only Aggie to avoid foul trouble, picking up just one foul in 23 minutes of play.

The road ahead only gets more difficult. The Aggies are headed to Florida for the Daytona Beach Classic and will play two games in two days, starting with the 11th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, a team that head coach Wes Brooks is well-acquainted with, taking over in Logan after three seasons as an assistant for Kevin McGuff – who has led the Buckeyes to seven NCAA tournaments since taking over in 2013, including three in a row.

“We got the juggernaut coming,” said Brooks. He would certainly know, having helped to build it.