WBB Review: Latta, Aggies Push Colorado State Hard In Loss

LOGAN – After going 3 of 5 from deep and dropping 19 points on her way to Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors, Aggie guard Carlie Latta had one thing on her mind.

“Losing doesn’t feel that good.”

Sure, she had just gone for a career-high, but the Aggies fell 83-74 to Colorado State, and that’s what she was focused on. She didn’t carry a negative tone or attitude – in fact, she was surprisingly chipper for someone who just lost a conference opener at home, and opened a press conference talking about how much she dislikes losing. She was beaming with optimism. Latta’s performance wasn’t just about the 19 points, she also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal, going 8 of 12 from the field and 3 of 5 from deep. For the young freshman, this game was an opportunity to learn and grow, and to take one step closer to winning.

“It feels awesome seeing that the work we’re putting in is progressing us and getting us to where we want to be," Latta explained. "We have a goal and we’re working towards it. We know we have a ways to go, but we’re getting there and we know we're coming… Losing sucks, but we know that we're going to get some more in (the win) column soon.”

After the game, head coach Wes Brooks said that one of Utah State's key values as a program is to "learn, celebrate, and move on." Latta was doing an exemplary job of it, even if she was a bit light on celebrating and heavy on learning and moving on.

“This game that we just played, we learned a lot from it and this was really good for us," Latta said. "We got a lot better today and this week. We’re coming. We’re ready.”

Coach Brooks agreed that the previous week was good for the team.

“We are getting better," Brooks said. "Christmas break was really good for us because we got beat up in the first semester. It is what it is. (We’re 1-12), but I told them, if we continue to practice with consistency and we play like we played today, good things are going to happen, it's just a matter of time. But, we have to be consistent with our effort, we have to be consistent with our discipline, (and we have to) be consistent with our energy.”

Their optimism and pride aren’t misplaced. The Aggies took potentially the second-best team in the conference down to the wire in the Spectrum, a year removed from losing to the same Colorado State program in the same building by 22 points. The Rams were filling it up and knocked down 13 of their 25 threes, and if a 52 percent shooting performance is what it now takes for a top Mountain West team to beat the Aggies, so be it.

The opportunity for rest and practice benefited Cheyenne Stubbs as much as anybody. After missing four games with a foot injury, she made her return against UC Riverside but was far from her usual self, scoring just three points with a single field goal and one rebound. With the benefit of an 11-day break, she returned to her standard form when she took the court against Colorado State, scoring 27 points with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Like Latta, she was in a groove from deep and hit four of her eight three-point attempts. Having Stubbs not only back, but back to her old tricks, helped the Aggies put together an offensive attack that Brooks thought was good enough to win.

“We need to defend a little bit better," Brooks said. "We can't give up 52 percent from three. We can't let a team shoot 47 percent… Once we defend better, we scored enough to win."

Gracie Johnson also helped the Aggies respond to the onslaught of three-point haymakers the Rams were throwing. She went 3 for 3 from beyond the arc, adding nine points with four rebounds, a steal and three blocks. Elise Livingston and Mia Tarver each added a three-pointer as well, doing their best to weather the storm. Livingston finished with six points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal, while Tarver came off the bench and had five points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jamisyn Heaton had two points, four rebounds and an assist from the frontcourt. 

The offense missed a few opportunities, but was solid throughout the game, riding a late surge to close out the first half that led to a 23-point third quarter. With 3:23 remaining in the half, Emma Ronsiek hit a three to put the Rams up by 11. Stubbs responded immediately with a three of her own, and Sophie Sene stole the ball back. The Aggies couldn’t convert, but neither could the Rams, and the next points came at the 1:41 mark when Jadyn Fife hit a jumper.

The Aggies missed two threes on their next possession, but two offensive rebounds from Heaton kept the Aggies alive until Latta hit a jumper. Johnson got a steal, and this time, the Aggies did convert in the form of a triple from Latta. Johnson followed that up with another defensive trick up her sleeve, a blocked shot, then, five seconds later, a defensive rebound. With two seconds left, the Aggies put a cap on the flurry as Stubbs assisted Latta on a layup to make it a three-point ball game at the half. In a near-perfect stretch of basketball, the Aggies outscored Colorado State 10-2 with two steals, a block, and just one foul.

The Aggies carried that momentum into the third quarter where they shot 9 of 14 from the field and 5 of 7 from three. They took a 46-45 lead when Johnson knocked down back-to-back threes, and led again at 54-53 when Stubbs hit a three, got a steal and laid it in for five quick points. They traded buckets and briefly retook the lead one last time, but it wasn’t enough. Partially due to Colorado State's 5-for-5 shooting frame from deep, the Aggies just couldn’t quite keep up, and took a nine-point deficit into the final quarter, which was maintained the rest of the way.

It would be easy for the Aggies to get discouraged or distracted, but keeping their eyes trained forward keeps them focused. The Aggies have adopted a 1-0 mentality, always focusing on the next game, trying to go 1-0 every time. There's nothing they can do about the 12 losses behind them, but they have plenty of basketball left in front of them, and the lessons they have learned along the way will help them as they continue through their schedule.

“I think it helps a lot. Instead of focusing on the 1-11, we focus on the game we’re at now and going 1-0. I think it takes our mind off of the negative and focuses on the positive, and I think that's really good for our team,” Latta said.

The Aggies are back on the road, looking to go 1-0 this Wednesday as they take on Wyoming in a New Year’s Day showdown. Allyson Fertig and the Wyoming Cowgirls are stout, and the 6-6 squad will put the Aggies, and their continued improvement, to the test.