WBB Round-Up: Aggies Struggle Away From Home After Record-Setting Win

Utah State 96, Stanislaus State 41

In a landmark victory, Utah State broke a slew of records, starting before the ball was even tipped when a record-breaking 3,863 grade school students from Cache Valley and beyond filed in to watch the Aggies take on Stanislaus State. The rest of the records came during Utah State’s 96-41 rout of the Warriors.

It was against a Division II opponent, but Utah State’s near-flawless execution was still impressive. Without their star player, Aaliyah Gayles, who was sidelined with soreness, the Aggies put on a clinic, showcasing the very best of their system in the 55-point victory, which was the fifth-largest in program history. The Aggies tied their program record with 14 triples, touching a record more than a decade old when they did it in a pair of games in 2013 against Idaho and New Mexico State.

Utah State also set a program record with 36 forced turnovers – a preposterous figure in just 40 minutes of work. Of those 36 turnovers, the Aggies swiped 20 steals, one every two minutes, and the most by the team since recording 21 against Utah Valley in 2014. The Aggies cashed in on their opponent’s 36 giveaways and outscored Stanislaus State 44-7 in points off turnovers, tallying more than Stanislaus State’s 41 total points. Utah State’s 21-assist performance was good enough to be the program's best since 2022.

Jamisyn Heaton came off the bench and led the Aggies with 15 points, her season high, along with five rebounds, three assists and six steals, also a team high. Marina Asensio added 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, two rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. Elise Livingston found a way to 10 points, two rebounds and a career-high five assists plus a steal. Karyn Sanford also added 10 points, doing it on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 from deep, and three boards.

Joining Heaton in a terrific bench performance, Bella Cosme had six points, two rebounds and a team and career-high six assists, plus three steals. Andjela Marojevic added nine points and six rebounds and Sophie Sene had eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Paloma Muñoz Herreros picked up a career-high 12 points.

Oregon 70, Utah State 34

Following their record-breaking win, the Aggies suffered a 70-34 loss at Oregon. Gayles led the team with 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Sene recorded team-highs in both rebounds and steals with eight and three, and added two points and an assist. Rachel Wilson had six points and four rebounds. Cosme grabbed six rebounds and Rosello Lopez had six points.

The Aggies kept Oregon star Mia Jacobs out of double-double territory, but not by much. She added 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and six steals. Katie Fiso and Sarah Rambus led the Ducks with 13 apiece.

The Aggies lost to Oregon heading into their long break, but that’s not too tough a loss to sit with for an extended period of time. They had both plenty of reason to be proud and lots of room for improvement – a nice place to be when taking an extended break. In their three losses and three wins, the Aggies had built some proof-of-concept momentum and had plenty of weaknesses exposed.

Loyola Marymount 63, Utah State 58

The Aggies had nearly two weeks to work on both of those things before heading to California for a two-game West Coast Conference road trip.

First up was a battle-tested 3-3 LMU team. All three losses, which came during a 1-3 start, were decided by four points. Their victory in that stretch was a seven-point win over Denver. After that, they notched back-to-back wins, both by double-digit margins. First, they romped Idaho State 71-52 at the Bank of Hawaii Classic, then went on the road and beat Fullerton 73-62. Leading the way in both wins was Jess Lawson, who had really found a stride in her recent games.

Utah State and LMU moved together in lockstep for 40 minutes, with the Lions pulling away slightly in the final possessions. There were 13 lead changes and eight ties, including once at the half, once at the end of the third, and as late as 2:43 with the game knotted at 53.

Rebounding spelled disaster for the Aggies, as they were outrebounded 36-24. The Aggies, with only five offensive boards, didn’t earn a single second-chance score and posted a 13-0 deficit in the category. Utah State left plenty of chances on the table on both ends of the floor, but in a game decided by five points, it’s difficult to look past that statistic as the primary contributor.

The Aggies also lost the turnover battle, suffering 21 giveaways and forcing 15. They also allowed 17 LMU assists, giving the Lions a positive assist-to-turnover ratio while their own 11 dimes left them in the red. A defensive win for the Aggies was three blocks to zero, and they were only outrebounded 20-19 on the defensive glass.

Asensio and Gayles led the team across the board. After 36 minutes, Asensio was one point away from tying the game high, but notched a team high of 14 points, with two rebounds, three assists and a steal. In 35 minutes, Gayles had 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. 

Heaton came off the bench and led the second unit with eight points and four rebounds, and led the team with a game-high five steals. She also added a block, but fouled out of the game. Livingston had nine points and a rebound, and Sene had two points, four rebounds and two assists. LMU’s Lawson had 13 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

San Diego 70, Utah State 66

Up next, the Aggies found themselves in another dogfight. San Diego beat Utah State off the starting block and established a 6-0 lead. The Aggies responded with a 6-0 run of their own to pull up next to the Toreros, but stalled out there. The Toreros lapped the Aggies and compiled 12 unanswered points while the Aggies scrambled to get the engine back up and running. The scoring run, worth twice as many points as San Diego’s opening sequence, put Utah State in a 12-point hole with 34 minutes to climb out of it.

Utah State cut the deficit in half by the end of the first and trailed 25-19. In the second, Utah State was outscored by four, and halftime arrived with a score of 45-35. Utah State started to make more progress in the second half and after a 6-3 run from Gayles, had a nine-point game heading into the final frame. The game nearly got out of hand when San Diego took a 63-51 lead with 2:47 left, but Asensio hit a big three, Gayles added two free throws, and Sene hit a bucket to give the Aggies a shot late.

Heaton and Asensio both made clutch threes with under a minute to play, but Utah State couldn’t get enough done down the stretch to overcome the 12-point disadvantage they started themselves with.

Gayles became the first Aggie to reach the 20-point mark this season when she led the team with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. She also had two steals and a block. Asensio finished with 16 points on a 6-of-10 shooting night, going 4 of 8 from deep with a team-high four steals, and added a rebound and two assists. 

Heaton had five points, four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Sene added nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, two rebounds, an assist and a block. The Aggies had the turnover edge and forced 25 turnovers and had 18, but were handled thoroughly on the glass, losing the rebounding battle 42-21.