WBB Review: Utah State Topples Nevada For Senior Day Victory

LOGAN – There was a lot of confidence around Logan heading into Utah State’s long-awaited rematch with Nevada. Honoring the team’s seniors a game after returning to the win column against San Jose State, spirits were high and the team felt good. Maybe a little too good.

“I think the emotions of senior day and all of that (played into it). These are young people, so that happens,” head coach Wes Brooks said.

After a slog of a first half, though, the good vibes came rushing back, ushered in by a 37-point behemoth of a third quarter, which Utah State turned into a commanding 93-75 victory – its largest over a conference opponent since Jan. 19, 2019. The win moved Aggies into a tie for 10th place in the MWC, and with a sweep over San Jose State in hand, nearly guarantees that they will avoid a last-place finish in the league for the first time since 2021-22.

“Small steps” Brooks said with a smile after the game.

Nevada took advantage of Utah State’s senior day emotions and ran out to a 9-2 lead in the early going. The Aggies finally got started and chipped away at the lead, but couldn’t catch up for the rest of the frame. The Wolf Pack wriggled into more space in the second quarter, and even pushed out to an 11-point lead, at which point Utah State started to look a bit flustered.

With just over three minutes left in the half, Cheyenne Stubbs provided a small bit of relief and eased the team’s nerves with a three-pointer to keep the Aggies alive at 34-26. It was a much-needed sign of life, but they still needed time to settle in, and six unanswered points from the Pack put them up by 14 at 40-26. Then, the Aggies pieced together an 8-2 run to close the half and fight back to a single-digit deficit, 42-34.

“There wasn’t really much to say (at halftime),” Brooks said. "I think the game was going how we wanted it… We were getting shots, and we were getting good shots, we just missed.

“In the first half, we were turning them over, we just weren't converting," CJ Latta added. “So, we came in at halftime, we talked about how we were in a great spot, (shots are) not falling for us right now, but we were in a great spot. We tweaked a couple of little things and after that we came out in the third quarter and the ball was falling for us.”

The Aggies opened the third quarter by mirroring the 8-2 run they used to close the previous half to get within two points. But, they were just getting started. Jamisyn Heaton kept it going when she scored a layup to tie the game. Lexie Givens briefly retook the lead for the Pack, but Latta hit a three and in the process, drew a foul on Audrey Roden that sent her to the bench. Latta stepped up to the line and hit her free throw to complete a four-point play and give the Aggies a two-point advantage. 

Givens converted a layup to tie it, but the Aggies earned another and-one opportunity, this time on a layup from Stubbs. Dymonique Maxie hit a layup to make it a one-point game, but Mia Tarver knocked down a three on the other end. Back-to-back layups from Roden and Maxie tied the game once again at 54, but the Wolf Pack’s efforts were beginning to prove futile as Elise Livington picked off an errant pass and fed it to Taliyah Logwood, who fought through contact and earned another and-one for Utah State. This kicked off the Aggies outscoring the Wolf Pack 17-8 the rest of the quarter, and in total, Utah State outscored Nevada by 17 in the frame, going off for 37 and allowing 20. Even Latta, who was a major contributor to the scoring, couldn’t keep up.

“Thirty-seven points in the third quarter… that was crazy. I didn’t even know that was the actual stat,” she said afterward.

Controlling the middle of the game with a 16-4 run that spanned across the halftime break springboarded the Aggies into a third-quarter onslaught, and by the time they were done with their scoring frenzy, a shell-shocked and depleted Nevada team was left desolate. To its credit, Nevada still shot well during the Aggie rampage and did its best to stave off the surge. The Wolf Pack hit 8 of 16 attempts from the field and 4 of 4 from the stripe to garner 20 points, but when Utah State’s onslaught didn’t let up, the Pack finally succumbed.

Disaster tried to strike once more when Tarver went down with an ankle injury. In a display of how much Tarver means to this team, she was carried off the court by a trainer under her right arm and Logwood under her left – a move that earned Logwood a bit of an earful for delaying the game. Tarver had already collected 18 points, but that was far from her biggest contribution. She plays with an energy that is difficult to describe, even for her. Earlier in the season, she tried her best to put it into words, calling it a type of “rah-rah energy."

The Aggies had earned a comfortable lead for themselves, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. They led 78-69, but losing a spark plug, a vocal leader, and one of the game's top scorers in one fell swoop in the fourth quarter could have taken the wind out of Utah State's sails and allowed the Wolf Pack to sneak back in.

Instead, the team rallied and withstood the adversity. To do it, the Aggies tightened down the clamps to snuff out any hope of a Nevada comeback, and after only a little bit of resistance, the Wolf Pack agreed to accept defeat. The Aggies held Nevada to a 32 percent shooting clip and just 13 points in the fourth quarter en route to the 93-75 victory. The Aggies, who were down by eight at the half, notched more points in the third quarter than the Wolf Pack did in the entire second half.

The two-guard lineup of Stubbs and Latta again proved to be a top-caliber tandem. A game after combining for 50 points, the duo teamed up for 48 this time around, as both eclipsed the 20-point mark for the second straight game. They became the second Aggie tandem ever to record back-to-back 20-point games, and the first since Jennifer Schlott and Makenlee Williams in 2014.

Stubbs made the most of her senior night, scoring a game-high 28 points with three rebounds, six assists and three steals. She was 8 of 17 from the field, 5 of 8 from beyond the arc and a perfect 7 of 7 from the line. After nearly a full season of learning from her, Latta showed that she was ready to take the torch from Stubbs. She had 20 points for the second straight game on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from deep. She added a rebound, three assists and a block.

Tarver was delivering an electrifying performance until she went down. She ended the night with 18 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. She was also contributing to Utah State’s successful three-point shooting campaign and was 3 of 7 from deep. After the game, Brooks said that Tarver won’t be back in time to suit up against Boise State, but he’s hopeful to have her ready to go in the Mountain West tournament.

Heaton provided a well-rounded contribution, a much-needed addition from one of the more experienced players on this roster. She combined her veteran presence with her aggressive physicality and added eight points, two rebounds and two assists before fouling out. She was 3 of 6 on the night and hit both of her free throw attempts. Sophie Sene let the others do most of the scoring and had just four points on 2-of-3 shooting, but added a team-high seven rebounds.

Logwood came off the bench and was Utah State's best performer in reserve. She added 14 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. She picked up three fouls but was able to keep her hands clean enough to play 24 minutes, which was particularly helpful when the Aggies lost Tarver. It was the type of complete performance this team has worked all season to find.

“It took us 29 games,” Brooks noted, “but that's the vision, that's how Aggie women’s basketball is supposed to look.”

The Aggies are playing their best basketball right now. They are feeling more confident than ever, and finally have justification for it. They'll look to keep rolling against Boise State before heading to the Mountain West tournament. They played Boise State close at home, falling 82-77 after coming up just short of a comeback, and will get their shot to avenge that loss in Boise on Tuesday evening.