WBB Review: Lobos Outrun Aggies In Logan

LOGAN – As the Aggies fell 101-79 to the Lobos on Tuesday, they got a glimpse into what could be their future if things go according to plan. New Mexico operates much like Utah State would like to, but is significantly further along.

“They are kind of where we want to be and how we want to play. We would love to put up 100,” head coach Wes Brooks said.

Utah State is in year one of a much-needed rebuild, and is starting from scratch with Brooks. New Mexico is in the ninth year of Mike Bradbury's tenure, which has been very successful. Brooks and Bradbury – who Brooks mentioned as a contender for the MWC Coach of the Year award – share a mentor. Both coaches learned under Kevin McGuff, the legendary women’s basketball coach at Ohio State and originator of the up-tempo style both coaches now deploy.

“(Bradbury) worked for Kevin McGuff at Xavier… We kind of have the same style of play and the same general philosophy,” Brooks said. “New Mexico is bigger and stronger. We fought to the best of our ability tonight.”

Defense was the emphasis at practice after giving up 85 points to Boise State, but that hard work amounted to surrendering 101 points to New Mexico.

“Even with our focus on defense, I feel like we are still trying to figure out those missing pieces," forward Jamisyn Heaton said. "I know we can do it. Now we have to implement that in a game."

“It’s a little frustrating defensively because I know the girls are working hard, but we’re still just late on rotations,” Brooks added. “I thought we were really good offensively, but as I’ve been emphasizing, we have to defend better.”

The Aggies are averaging 64.1 points per game, which puts them above Fresno State and within reach of about half of the league. They give up 79.7 PPG, which is the worst in the conference, and it’s not close. It’s nearly 10 full points worse than the next team, San Jose State, which averages 69.4 (and happens to be USU's next opponent).

Just like Elise Livingston predicted ahead of the contest, both teams started the game aggressively, each trying to punch the other first. They traded blows early, with the Aggies making the first move. They got on the board with a 2-0 lead, and when New Mexico matched, Elise Livingston hit a three to go up 5-2. Again, the Lobos matched and tied the game, so Sophie Sene hit a jumper to get the Aggies back in front. Destinee Hooks landed a jumper of her own to tie the game, and the Aggies couldn’t hit back. The Lobos exploded, rattling off an 11-0 run to go from down by two to up by nine. Cheyenne Stubbs hit a three to try to slow down the Lobo onslaught, but they took it in stride and collected eight more unanswered points to cap off a 19-3 run to go up by 14.

With the defense unable to stop New Mexico, the Aggies used a burst of offense to re-engage. Three-point specialist Denae Skelton knocked down back-to-back triples to make it 24-16, and after one more Lobo bucket, the Aggies trailed 26-16 at the end of the first quarter.

Lara Langermann hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 28-16 early in the second period before the Aggies made another push. Stubbs hit two free throws and Utah State deployed the full-court press on the inbound. The Lobos barely got the ball in before Heaton picked off a pass in stride, took a dribble, and laid it in. Skelton immediately grabbed another steal, but the Aggies couldn’t make anything of it. Then, Sene added a steal of her own, and Stubbs turned in a jumper on the play. Four points on three steals gave the Aggies a 28-22 game. They got within six a few more times that quarter, with the latest instance coming as Livingston hit a free throw to make it 37-31, but the Aggies still took a 10-point deficit into the half.

Utah State's offense had one last try left in the tank. Sene snatched an offensive board and a layup to start the second half, and Ava Smith followed it with another layup. Viane Cumber hit a three-pointer going the other way, but Heaton responded with a three-point play of her own that came in the form of a hard-fought bucket and a trip to the foul line. Her free throw got the Aggies back within six, and Livingston hit a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game.

The Lobos added five quick points, but Livingston wasn’t letting the Aggies lose their momentum easily. She threw another punch in the form of a three-pointer to try to stay within reach at 56-48. Skelton helped the cause with another three-pointer to make it a five-point game. Alyssa Hargrove hit a layup to try to shake the Aggies off, but Livingston was still fighting and knocked down yet another triple to make it a four-point game. New Mexico got some breathing room with six more points, and Gracie Johnson tried to give the Aggies one last surge with a three-pointer to make it a seven-point game, but they were slowing down, and the Lobos outscored them 14-4 to close a 30-point third stanza.

“We can’t (give up) 30-point quarters. That’s unacceptable,” Brooks later said of the defense during the frame.

The fourth quarter merely confirmed what the first three had already determined, and New Mexico crossed the 100-point mark just seconds before earning the victory, leaving the Aggies 22 points behind.

Heaton and Sene took the mandate for increased defense to heart. They both earned the start with defense in practice and turned it into some impressive defense against New Mexico, combining for five of the team’s ten steals and both of the team’s blocks. Heaton also pitched in with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists to go with her two steals and block. Sene had eight points, four rebounds, a block and a team-high three steals.

Eclipsing the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season, Stubbs had the team high for the third game in a row. She finished with 24 points, narrowly missing Cumber’s game-high of 25, and added three rebounds and four assists. Riley Ward checked into the game for the first time in her Aggies career, which did two things for Brooks, allowing him to continue to work on the culture he is trying to build and reaffirming Utah State's commitment to a youth movement.

“I’m trying to build a culture,” Brooks said of Ward’s playing time. “That’s just my way of trying to instill the culture here.”

The Aggies played six freshmen, who accounted for 101 minutes and 31 points. The only freshman who didn’t play was Taliyah Logwood, who was unable to due to a high ankle sprain.

Most of that scoring came from Livingston and Skelton. Livingston took advantage of the defensive focus on other players like Stubbs and Latta and took career highs in shot attempts with 12 and three-point attempts with 10, which was also the team-high in tries from deep. She knocked down three of her three-pointers and hit both of her attempts from the free-throw line to get to 14 points with three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Skelton took nine shot attempts, with only one from inside the three-point line. She was on fire from deep and went 4 of 8 for 12 points with an assist and a steal.

After posting double digits in four of her first six conference games (including a career-high of 19 against Colorado State), CJ Latta is no longer flying under the radar. New Mexico had seen enough film and didn’t want to take a chance, allowing her to take only seven shots, of which she converted just one.

“That’s what happens when you’re a good player. They game plan to stop you,” Brooks said of Latta. “(She) has their full, undivided attention. They played her like a shooter.”

Playing Latta like a shooter is a good game plan. In fact, it might be the only good game plan. Even after her 1-for-7 shooting night against New Mexico, she’s shooting at a 40.2 percent clip from the field on the season.

Utah State still got plenty out of its offense, as both Heaton and Brooks noted, but it is continuing to fine-tune the defense to find its way back into the win column, which the Aggies will have the chance to do on Saturday as they face San Jose State.

“I really do feel like our press is evolving and growing every single day and once we can figure out every single piece, we’ll start getting those wins,” Heaton said.