LOGAN, Utah --- Utah State women's basketball (0-0) opens the 2021-22 campaign hosting Fort Lewis College (0-0) in its sole exhibition match for the season on Monday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m., in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Radio coverage for Saturday's game will be provided by 92.3 KBLU with Ajay Salveson on the call. Live stats and play-by-play information will be available through Sidearm, while updates will also be provided through the team's social media outlets. Links to each option will be available online prior to the game.
AGGIES IN EXHIBITION
Monday's game marks the only exhibition game for Utah State this season. All-time, Utah State is 14-2 in exhibition action. The Aggies have not lost an exhibition game since the 2005-06 season, when they fell to the Utah Pride, 66-65, and Northwest Sports, 76-65. Utah State defeated Arizona Christian, 90-56, in the Aggies' last exhibition match on Nov. 2, 2019. Monday's game will also be USU's first exhibition game under second-year head coach Kayla Ard.
SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
Utah State and Fort Lewis will meet for the first time on Saturday in each team's first matchup of the 2021-22 season. The game is also an exhibition for the Skyhawks. The Skyhawks finished 6-9 during the 2020-21 season. This year, Fort Lewis is led by returning senior Sydney Candelaria, who averaged 8.3 points and 1.6 assists per game last season. Junior Alyssa Adams is the Skyhawks' other returning starter, having averaged 5.8 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. Incoming transfer Claudia Vidal from Northwestern State aims to bolster the frontcourt. Vidal averaged 1.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per contest in her freshman season at Northwestern State.
In 2020-21, the Skyhawks averaged 65.3 points per game, shooting 41.3 percent from the field, 31.4 percent on 3-pointers and 62.8 percent at the free throw line. Sophomore forward Jordan Vasquez led the Skyhawks with 19.1 ppg and 9.2 rebounds per game before transferring this offseason. Defensively, opponents averaged 70.4 points per game against Fort Lewis, shooting 40.7 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent on 3-pointers and 70.5 percent at the free throw line.
AGGIE RETURNERS
Utah State returns eight letterwinners from the last year's squad. Headlining the returners include senior Emmie Harris, who averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in 22 contests. Junior Faith Brantley also returns having averaged 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game a season ago. Sophomore guard Meagan Mendazona also returns her 6.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Junior Shyla Latone is USU's leading returning scorer at 9.7 points per game across 24 contests.
AGGIE RETURNERS - PART II
Other returners for Utah State include sophomore Halle Nelson (4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg), junior Kamalu Kamakawiwo'ole (4.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.2 apg), sophomore Kinley Falslev (3.4 ppg) and senior Taylor Franson (2.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg). In all, USU returns 65 percent of last season's scoring, 55 percent of last season's rebounds, and 80 percent of last season's assists. Over 68 percent of all minutes played during the 2020-21 season return again for the Aggies this year.
TRANSFER-MATION COMPLETE
Utah State added five new faces to the 2021-22 roster via transfer. Sophomore Olivia Wikstrom joins the Aggies after playing her freshman year at Northern Colorado. Junior Adryana Quezada comes to Logan after two years at UTSA. Senior E'Lease Stafford joins USU after three years at East Tennessee State. USU also brings in two transfers from Murray State in seniors Manna Mensah and Laci Hawthorne.
OLD SCHOOL
While the Aggies welcome five new transfers to the team in 2021-22, only one freshman graces this season's roster, Amit Lustgarten, who redshirted last year while appearing in five games for the Aggies.
WELCOME TO THE PARTY
The Aggies made several changes to the coaching staff for the 2021-22 season. Jauwan Scaife remains as assistant coach while also taking on the responsibility of recruiting coordinator. After spending last season as director of basketball operations and special assistant to the head coach, Taylor Ignoto officially joins the staff as an assistant coach. Marc Wilson also joins as an assistant coach, bringing 21 years of Division-I coaching experience with him. Falon Baker comes to USU as the director of basketball operations after serving as assistant coach at Columbia last season. Claire Gritt makes her coaching debut as graduate manager after concluding her playing career at Denver, which included three seasons under current USU head coach Kayla Ard.
HOME GROWN
Utah State has four players from the state of Utah in senior forward Taylor Franson (American Fork, Utah), sophomores Halle Nelson (American Fork, Utah) and Kinley Falslev (Benson, Utah), and redshirt freshman Amit Lustgarten (Salt Lake City, Utah).
PACIFIC PIPELINE
Utah State's 2021-22 roster presents a plethora of Pacific flair, with six players joining USU from Pacific-coast states (Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii). Junior Faith Brantley (Tacoma) and sophomore Olivia Wikstrom (Bainbridge Island) call Washington home. Junior Shyla Latone (San Diego) and senior Kaylin Randhawa (Turlock) come from California. Sophomore Meagan Mendazona (Monmouth) represents Oregon while junior Kamalu Kamakawiwo'ole hails from Hawaii.
STANDING TALL
With an average height of just under 5-10, the 2021-22 roster is the tallest Aggie roster since 2019, when USU's roster stood at an average height of over 5-11. Five Aggies this season stand 6-0 or taller.
CLOSING IN ON HISTORY
Senior guard Emmie Harris enters the 2021-22 campaign having suited up 111 times for the Aggies, placing her just outside the top 10 in USU history. Harris will have the chance to pass numerous Aggies this season given good health. Former USU standouts Hailey Bassett, Rachel Brewster and Jennifer Schlott hold the all-time record with 126 games played in an Aggie uniform.
ARD WORK PAYS OFF
Last season, new head coach Kayla Ard became only the third Utah State women's basketball head coach to win her debut appearance with an 81-74 victory over Montana State on Nov. 25, 2020. Ard was the first to accomplish the feat since Cindy Perkins in 1978-79. Fern Gardner (1974-75) is the only other Aggie coach to win in their debut.
A LOOK BACK
Utah State finished the 2020-21 season averaging 63.0 points per game, shooting 36.0 percent (559-of-1,552) from the field, 27.7 percent (149-of-537) from behind the 3-point line and 68.1 percent (245-of-360) at the free throw line. The Aggies also averaged 40.2 rebounds and 12.1 assists per game.
Defensively, the Aggies allowed 78.6 points per game, with opponents shooting 41.9 percent (687-of-1,641) from the floor, 33.5 percent (199-of-594) from behind the arc and 70.8 percent (313-of-442) at the free throw line. In total, USU recorded 139 steals and 65 blocks during the season.
LEADERS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Utah State finished in the top five of the Mountain West in several statistical categories for all games during the 2020-21 campaign. USU was third in defensive rebounds per game, fifth in total rebounds per game, third in total field goal attempts, fifth in 3-point field goal attempts, fifth in free throw attempts, fourth in made free throws, second in both blocks, averaging 4.0 per game, and scoring defense, allowing 59.8 points per game. The Aggies were third in defensive field goal percentage as opponents shot 39.3 percent from the field against Utah State. USU was fourth in both assists (15.5 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1). The Aggies were also fifth in scoring margin (+1.9) and in turnover margin (+0.8).
Several Aggies were responsible for some of the best performances in the conference last season. Guard Shyla Latone put up the second-most points in a game last season with 33 versus New Mexico, where she also tied for the best 3-point performance with nine. Forward Taylor Franson tied for the 11th-most rebounds in a contest with 13 against New Mexico. Guard Meagan Mendazona tied for the ninth-most blocks in one game with four versus Montana, also registering the 20th-most steals in the same contest with four.
- USU -
