WBB Preview: Aggies Continue Their Search For Streak-Snapping Win At San Jose State

Utah State is back on the road tonight with a lot at stake. 

Last time the Aggies played a game with this much on the line, they lost to Air Force 73-50. After that, they played two games against heavy favorites to get them to a 6-18 (2-13) record with a 12-game losing streak. 

With each loss, especially the one to Air Force that put the Falcons out of reach and into the middle of the pack, the delta of possibilities has narrowed. 

At the upper end, Utah State can win a few more games to close out the season, and with some help, finish as high as 10th place, and maybe even catch someone off guard in the tournament. 

At the lower end, Utah State could fall out of 11th place and into 12th, last place in the league. 

Tonight’s game will narrow that delta even more and make it very hard for the Aggies to change their fate. 

The last time the Aggies and Spartans met, it was in Logan, and it went very well for the home team. The Aggies won 74-61, capping a 6-6 start that pushed the standard of the program and a 3-1 stretch with wins over Idaho, Air Force and San Jose State and a narrow loss at Colorado State. That was Utah State’s last win, and what ensued hasn’t been pretty. 

Aaliyah Gayles sat out against Stanislaus State earlier in the year, but this was the first game that she missed with that leg injury that sidelined her for five games. 

The Aggies did have both Marina Asensio and Sophie Sene at the time, and they combined for 26 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists. 

Sene tied a team high in points and a game high in rebounds with 19 and 13. Asensio had seven points, six rebounds, nine assists and three steals. 

Fortunately for the Aggies, they also got monstrous performances from two players who will be on the court tonight. Jamisyn Heaton had 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Karyn Sanford came off the bench and added 16 points, seven rebounds and a steal. 

Asensio and Sene won’t be, but Gayles will be on the court this time. Combine that with the emergence of freshmen Paloma Muñoz Herreros and Aitana Rosello Lopez and the hot streak that Elise Livingston is on, and they should have enough firepower to overcome the injuries to Asensio and Sene. 

What they might not be able to overcome is travel. The Aggies have struggled on the road. It’s too late to overcome that in time to save their season, but with two more road games, a potentially high-stakes and winnable home game against Nevada, and a conference tournament that won’t be held in Logan, the Aggies still have plenty to play for. Snapping the 12-game losing streak and learning to win away from home could still reap rewards. 

The Air Force series still looms large as the Aggies head to San Jose State. Both of Utah State’s games against Air Force seem to represent the team at the time. At first, Utah State was a team on the rise, and later, it was a team missing its last chance to pull out of a tailspin. 

When the Aggies beat Air Force, they took a rare 1-0 start to conference play and had a two-game winning streak. It looked like things were starting to come together for them, and they enjoyed a 12-point margin over their conference foes.

When they lost, they lost by 23, a 35-point swing. Plenty of factors went into that game, but playing on the road is a big one. 

The Spartans are beatable, which the Aggies proved once this year, and they are certainly beatable at home, which their 3-8 home record shows. They are on a six-game losing streak of their own and only have one conference win, a narrow 60-57 win over Nevada in San Jose. 

Maya Anderson is the leading scorer with 13.2 points per game, with Amira Brown pitching in with 9.7. Both played well against the Aggies last time. Anderson had a game-high 23 points with seven rebounds and an assist. Brown had 14 points, 13 points, two assists, a steal and a block. 

In addition to her team-high 13.2 points, Anderson averages 6.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Brown averages six rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Utah State needs to lock those two down and do whatever else it takes to avoid repeating what happened against Air Force and complete the season sweep. Even without Asensio and Sene, the Aggies have enough talent and depth to end the 12-game win streak. Heaton and Sanford combined for 35 points, and Livingston is averaging 14 points per game. Gayles is back and averaging 11.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and two assists per game.