LOGAN, Utah - Utah State women's basketball junior guard Shyla Latone has been named the America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, March 6. The award is voted on by a state-wide media panel.
 
It is the first time this year and in her career that Latone has been named USU's student-athlete of the week.
 
With their sponsorship of the Student-Athlete of the Week, America First Credit Union donates funds directly to support student-athlete scholarships.

The native of San Diego, California, helped Utah State to a pair of wins against Fresno State last week as it posted a 96-90 overtime home win on Wednesday and an 80-75 comeback victory in the opening round of the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championships on Sunday. 

In the second win against the Bulldogs, Latone tied her season-high with 26 points, including 23 in the fourth quarter as the Aggies trailed by 14 points with 6:31 to play. In the fourth quarter, Latone was 6-of-6 from the field, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 at the free throw line. She also had eight rebounds and four assists in the game. 

In the first meeting of the week with FSU, Latone scored 14 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. 

For the week, Latone averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while shooting 43.3 percent (13-of-30) from the field, 40.0 percent (8-of-20) from behind the arc and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) at the free throw line.

No. 9 Utah State (11-18) will next take on top-seeded UNLV (23-6 MW) on Monday, March 7, at 1 p.m. (MT).

Fans can follow USU women's basketball on Twitter, @USUWBasketball, on Instagram, @USUWBasketball, as well as on Facebook, at /USUWBB. Aggie fans can also follow Utah State Athletics on Twitter, @USUAthletics, on Instagram, @USUAthletics and on Facebook at /USUAthletics.

Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included:

MEN'S BASKETBALL – Senior forward Justin Bean (Moore, Oklahoma) recorded his 19th double-double of the season and the 45th of his career as he had 18 points and 11 rebounds in Utah State's 75-52 Mountain West win at San José State last weekend. Bean was 7-of-15 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 1-for-2 at the free throw line in a team-best 38 minutes.

GYMNASTICS – Freshman Brie Clark (Daphne, Alabama) was one of two Utah State gymnasts to stand atop the podium as the Aggies finished third overall (195.775) in a tri meet against Washington (196.825) and Stanford (196.425) this past weekend in Seattle, Washington. Clark captured her eighth floor title, which is tied for second in a single season, with a 9.900. The title marked Clark's ninth overall of the season, which ranks sixth in USU freshman class history. Clark also placed 16th on vault (9.750) and tied for 11th on beam (9.825).

SOFTBALL – Senior shortstop/first baseman Lexi Orozco (San Marcos, California) posted a .667 batting average (8-of-12) as Utah State went 2-3 at the San Diego Classic this past weekend with wins against Boston (6-5 (8)) and Yale (11-0 (5)) and losses to Stony Brook (5-0), Long Beach State (10-4) and UC San Diego (5-4). In all, Orozco registered eight hits, including three homers and four doubles, as well as a slugging percentage of 1.750. She also drew six walks and scored four runs at the classic, while posting a team-high 10 RBIs, and led the team defensively with 20 putouts and three assists over the weekend. Orozco began the tournament by going 1-for-2 at the plate with a double against Stony Brook. She then went 2-for-2 at the plate with a home run and three RBIs, to go along with two walks, against LBSU. She was also 2-for-2 batting against BU, with two doubles as she scored once and was walked twice.  Against UC San Diego, she went 1-for-3 at the plate with a double and three runs batted in. And against Yale, she was 2-for-3 with two home runs, four RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

WOMEN'S TENNIS – Senior Annaliese County (Highland, Utah) won both her singles and doubles matches during Utah State's 5-2 home loss to BYU last weekend. County and senior Gabrielle Dekkers secured the doubles point with a 6-2 win at the second position. County then tallied USU's only victory in singles play with a three-sets win at the No. 5 spot (4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5)). County is now 6-0 during the spring season in singles play.

2021-22 America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week Winners
Aug. 30 – Ashley Cardozo, Soccer
Sept. 6 – Deven Thompkins, Football
Sept. 13 – Sammie Murdock, Soccer
Sept. 20 – Tenzi Knowles, Soccer
Sept. 27 – Bodin Zarkovic, Men's Tennis
Oct. 4 – Caleb Garnica, Men's Cross Country
Oct. 11 – Kennedi Boyd, Volleyball
Oct. 18 – Savon Scarver, Football
Oct. 25 – Sara Taylor, Soccer
Nov. 1 – Katie Haviland, Women's Cross Country
Nov. 8 – Deven Thompkins, Football
Nov. 15 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Nov. 22 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Nov. 29 – Logan Bonner, Football
Dec. 6 – Logan Bonner, Football
Dec. 13 – Adryana Quezada, Women's Basketball
Dec. 20 – Nick Heninger, Football
Dec. 27 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Jan. 3 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Jan. 10 – Rebecca Wells, Gymnastics
Jan. 17 – Brie Clark, Gymnastics
Jan. 24 – Adryana Quezada, Women's Basketball
Jan. 31 – Steven Ashworth, Men's Basketball
Feb. 7 – Brandon Horvath, Men's Basketball
Feb. 14 – Devin Pancake, Men's Track & Field
Feb. 21 – Brie Clark, Gymnastics
Feb. 28 – Manna Mensah, Women's Basketball
March 7 – Shyla Latone, Women's Basketball
 
– USU –