WBB Review: Aggies No Match For 11th-Ranked Ohio State

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Utah State tipped off its time at the Daytona Beach Classic with a matchup against head coach Wes Brooks’ former team. The Aggies were no match for Ohio State and fell 87-51.

Ohio State opened the game by breaking off an 11-0 run before Carlie Latta got the Aggies on the board with a three-pointer. Elise Livingston drove and hit a layup and Sophie Sene followed it up with a layup of her own, to pull the Aggies back within four at the 4:47 mark in the opening quarter. 

Chance Gray responded to Utah State's run with a three-pointer and Ava Watson extended the lead to nine with a pair of free throws, and the Aggies spent the rest of the quarter trying not to give up any more ground. Taliyah Logwood hit a layup but Madison Greene hit one as well. Jamisyn Heaton hit two free throws, but Gray did the same. Logwood knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to seven again, then Elsa Lemmilä hit a layup and the Aggies took a nine-point deficit into the quarter-break. It was a reasonable place to be, especially given the fact that Utah State had committed six fouls and nine turnovers in the frame.

The Aggies inched a bit closer at the beginning of the second quarter before the Buckeyes broke free and escaped. Sene hit a jumper to cut the lead back to seven, then Ohio State went on a 21-0 run and outscored the Aggies 23-5 in the period. At the end of the half, the Aggies trailed by 27.

Coming out of the half, the Aggies got back on pace with what they did in the first frame, slowing down the free fall of the second quarter, and gave up just a bit more ground to lose by 36, playing the Buckeyes (which had removed their foot from the gas) to a 42-33 score in the last two frames.

It’s tough to glean too much from this game, and the Aggies would be doing themselves a major disservice to overreact to a loss to one of the best teams in the country. The opposite is also true, however. Brooks approached this game as a learning opportunity, and he would be doing his team a disservice just to ignore the game entirely.

Plenty went wrong for the Aggies, but a lot of it can be chalked up to the caliber of the opponent. Some of it, however, represents a larger pattern. One point of concern for Utah State is the lack of scoring from Cheyenne Stubbs. She only had two points against the Buckeyes and has been quiet in two consecutive games after her seven-point performance against Omaha. Despite her recent struggles, she’s still the team's leading scorer, and opponents know her explosive scoring ability well.

Being the main target of a defense like Ohio State’s is inhibiting, to say the least, and Stubbs having a low-scoring game did open up the game for players like Logwood and Tarver. But if Stubbs will be the centerpiece of the offense, the Aggies need to find ways to get her more involved. Getting two points from the leader of the offense is not a winning strategy, even against teams that aren’t Ohio State.

Another concern is the fact that Utah State has struggled to put together complete games. It’s a pattern they have seen before, notably in their previous two games against Colorado and Omaha. The Aggies were pretty consistent through the other three frames ranging from 13 to 17 points and averaging 15.3, but in the second quarter they scored only five. If they had matched their average output and scored 15 points, they still would have been outscored 87-61, but four periods of relatively consistent basketball have evaded this team. Delivering as much will constitute a necessary step in the right direction.

There were, despite the lopsided score, some things to like. One was the contributions Utah State got from its complementary players. Stubbs and Heaton, the team’s leading scorers, each had two points, and while this predictably led to a lull on offense, it left room for a few players who gave pretty impressive performances. Tarver led the team with 12 points and has strung together a pair of really nice games after posting 17 at Omaha. Logwood continued her impressive freshman campaign and also scored above her season average against the Buckeyes, finishing with 11 points. Latta stepped up and hit three triples for nine points. In a more evenly matched game, performances like those will go a long way, especially if Utah State’s stars can get involved.

Another strength that Utah State showed was its adjustments after the near-lifeless second quarter. It’s been a silver lining that Utah State can seemingly compartmentalize those brutal quarters it has been so prone to. The Aggies gave up a 21-0 run in the middle of the period and were outscored 23-5 in the frame. Heading into the quarter, the Aggies had a somewhat close game and trailed by nine, cutting it to seven to open the frame. After the quarter, they were down by 27. Instead of giving up, they came out of the break and fought for the entire second half. They were severely outgunned and never really cut into the Ohio State lead, but the Aggies got themselves back on track. Ultimately, they need to stop giving a full quarter away, but it's a good sign that they aren’t compounding their mistakes, nor are they giving up on games.

The Aggies get one night of rest and are back in action against the 3-3 Stetson Hatters to conclude the Daytona Beach Classic. It's an early one, tipping off at 9 a.m. MT.