WBB Recap: Aggies Battle But Fall Again To UNLV

LOGAN – There were a few silver linings in Utah State’s 11th straight loss. 

The first is how Utah State played. UNLV completed the season sweep, but it’s a far cry from years past. In the 2023-24 campaign, the Aggies lost to UNLV 107-68 and then 104-44, a combined deficit of 99 points. This year, the Aggies lost both games by 11 points each.

This game had 14 lead changes. The Aggies led at the half and trailed by only three heading into the fourth. Still shorthanded, they got three solid performances out of their stars. Jamisyn Heaton looked like herself again, even with the mask protecting her face after a broken nose, and Elise Livingston had 17 points on a 5-of-7 clip from deep. Aaliyah Gayles went 1-for-7 from the field, but scraped together eight points and contributed elsewhere with six rebounds and four assists.

Of course, as Livingston pointed out, Utah State’s impressive performance against UNLV comes with a caveat. 

"We've competed with a lot of the teams in the conference and then (against) some of the lower teams we've lost by more than against the top teams," Livingston said. 

The second silver lining was the seven full days off between games following the loss.

"We need it a lot," Livingston added.

The Aggies limped into the bye about as battered as they could be, badly in need of a chance to recover ahead of the season's final stretch.

In the opening sequence, UNLV took the lead, and Utah State stayed right behind. 

Meadow Roland hit a layup to get things started, which Heaton matched with a layup of her own. The Rebels got back-to-back buckets to take a four-point lead, then Karyn Sanford knocked down an early triple to make it a one-point game.

When Mariah Elohim hit a three with 4:46 to go, it gave the Lady Rebels another four-point lead. But a 7-2 Aggie run put the home team in control with under two minutes in the first quarter. The Aggies couldn’t hang on to their edge, though, as two free throws from Roland put the Rebels back on top, but the Aggies trailed by just a point after the opening frame.

That slim margin gave Utah State a chance to retake the lead on its first second-quarter possession. Aitana Rosello Lopez picked up an assist as Macie Brown buried a three-pointer to put the Aggies back in front. Again, it didn’t last long. A free throw from Aaliyah Alexander made it a one-point game for USU, then her layup made it a one-point game in the opposite direction.

But Utah State responded in kind. Rosello Lopez hit a layup to reverse the one-point game again, then Heaton added two free throws to bolster the lead. Moments later, Heaton gave the Aggies a four-point lead with a layup, but a layup from Roland and a three from Elohim evaporated the Aggie edge. Down by one, the Aggies still had enough momentum for a Sanford layup, which was matched by a jumper from Roland to put the Aggies right back down by one.

Then Heaton got loose. A 7-0 run by Heaton ended when Destiny Brown hit a layup, but it turned into a 10-2 run for the Aggies when Bella Cosme hit a three to give the Aggies a seven-point advantage. Jasmyn Lott added a jumper before the close of the half to chip away at the Aggie lead, but Utah State still enjoyed a five-point edge going into the break.

Coming out of the half, things started to fall apart for the Aggies. They started off fine, giving up just a little bit of ground and hitting some timely shots. After Lott opened the third with a two-pointer, Livingston hit a three to extend the Aggie lead to six points, but nine unanswered points gave UNLV a three-point edge. Gayles hit two free throws to make it a one-point game, and a Livingston three gave the Aggies a two-point lead, their last of the game.

Another set of nine unanswered points put the Rebels in control. Utah State came close, but UNLV stayed on top for the remainder of the game. Another three from Livingston got the Aggies within a point as the final moments of the third approached, and by the end of the quarter, the Aggies were within reach, down three. UNLV extended its lead to 12 points in the fourth, then Utah State made one last push and cut the lead to six with 1:22 to play before the game settled with an 11-point deficit. 

Despite Utah State playing without Sophie Sene and having Heaton forced out of position, the Rebels gave up a lot of ground to the masked crusader. She played a physical 39 minutes and earned eight free throws and picked up four fouls in the fray. On those trips to the line, she converted five of the eight and went 7-of-12 from the floor. She grabbed five boards, dished an assist and had three steals. 

Livingston put together another nice game. She followed her 12-point game against Air Force with 17 points and two rebounds. She went 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from deep. Brown played the whole game and was the only player in the contest to log the full 40 minutes. She added three points and tied team highs with six boards and four rebounds. She also grabbed a steal.

Gayles tied Brown in both team highs with six boards and four rebounds. She added eight points, despite having a slow shooting night and going 1-of-7, and two steals. Sanford had seven points, three rebounds, a steal and two blocks. The bench unit added five points, three from Cosme, who hit her only attempt of the game, and Rosello Lopez, who had two points, two assists and a steal.