Utah State (3-10, 0-2 MW) continues conference play this week with a pair of home games, starting against Colorado State (8-5, 1-1 MW) on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 6 p.m. (MT) before closing out the week versus Boise State (6-8, 1-0 MW) on Saturday, Jan. 7, at 2 p.m. (MT).

HOW TO FOLLOW

Radio coverage will be provided by 92.3 KBLU with Ajay Salvesen calling play-by-play. 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 for live streaming will be available online prior to the game.

AGGIES VERSUS RAMS

This will be the 38th all-time meeting between Utah State and Colorado State with the Rams holding the series edge, 24-13. CSU has won six straight contests, including the last two matchups within the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. USU's last win in the series came in a 62-59 win in the first round of the 2019 MW tournament. The Aggies also defeated the Rams both in Logan and in Fort Collins during the 2019 season.

AGGIES VERSUS BRONCOS

Utah State will meet Boise State for 42nd time with the Broncos leading the all-time series, 29-12. The Aggies have won three of the previous seven contests dating back to the 2019 season, including the most recent matchup: a 63-55 home victory in February of 2022. USU is 7-13 all-time in the Spectrum versus the Broncos, including a 3-7 mark since joining the MW.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

Head coach Ryun Williams is in his 11th season leading the Rams, compiling a record of 199-121 to this point. The Rams went 21-12 last season and earned an invited to the WNIT, losing at Portland in the opening round, 72-63. Williams again has CSU poised for a solid year in the Mountain West with a 1-1 start to conference play and an 8-5 record overall. Colorado State earned nonconference wins over Denver, Western Michigan and BYU and have started conference actions with wins over Fresno State and UNLV.

The Rams average 78.9 points per game while only allowing 66.9 points to their opponents. CSU has shot 46.4 percent from the floor, 41.0 percent from 3-point territory and 80.3 percent from the free throw line. Opponents have managed 37.7 percent from the field and 32.8 percent on 3-point attempts versus CSU. The Rams have been outrebounded by 5.6 boards per contest this season, corralling 33.9 rebounds per game. Colorado State averages 16.6 assists per game to only 9.0 turnovers, also forcing their opponents into 14.2 turnovers per game. McKenna Hofschild leads the Rams with 21.6 points and 7.8 assists per game, both top marks in the MW this season. Destiny Thurman and Cailyn Crocker also average double-figures with 14.0 and 10.9 points per game, respectively. Cali Clark leads the Rams with 6.0 boards per game.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS

Head coach Gordy Presnell is in his 18th season at the helm of Boise State, with a career record of 323-219. The Broncos went 8-21 in 2021-22 with a 4-13 record in MW play and return eight letterwinners to this year's squad, including four starters. Boise State has started the year at 5-8 and began MW play with a 73-62 win at home against San Jose State on Saturday.

Boise State averages 70.2 points per game and allowed 64.1 points per game to their opponents. The Broncos shoot 40.8 percent from the floor, 35.0 percent from 3-point range and 72.0 percent from the FT line. Opponents have shot 36.7 percent from the floor against the Broncos and have shot 34.0 percent from 3-point territory. BSU averages 42.4 rebounds per contest, outrebounding opponents by 7.0 boards per game. The Broncos record 15.3 assists to 16.8 turnovers per game and have forced 14.7 turnvers per game from their opponents. Elodie Lalotte leads Boise State with 11.2 points per game with Abby Muse ranking second at 10.0 points per contest. Muse leads the team and ranks third in the MW with 9.0 rebounds per game. Mary Kay Naro paces the team with 3.5 assists per contest.

ICYMI

The Aggies began Mountain West action with an 0-2 week against Air Force and San Diego State. Against the Falcons, Utah State led 50-46 late in the third quarter before a 14-3 AF run doomed USU to a 77-63 loss. Graduate guard Maria Carvalho led USU with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting, also tying for the team-lead alongside graduate forward Ashya Klopfenstein with two steals apiece. Graduate forward Prima Chellis added 12 points, four rebounds and a block. Graduate forward Abby Wahl narrowly missed double figures in scoring with nine points, also tying for a team-high six rebounds along with junior guard Olivia Wikstrom. Utah State outrebounded Air Force, 37-32, on the night and also held a 30-14 advantage in points in the paint. The Aggies lost in their second matchup of the week to San Diego State, 89-55. Graduate guard Mayson Kimball led USU with team-highs of 10 points and seven rebounds. Klopfenstein narrowly missed reaching double figures, ending with nine points plus four rebounds and a team-best three steals. Junior guard Tamiah Robinson led the team with five assists while freshman guard Natalie Fraley added eight points and three assists.

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Both Meghan Boyd and Sydney Mech began their collegiate careers at Denver before transferring to Colorado State, both playing under current Utah State head coach Kayla Ard who served as an associate head coach at Denver for three seasons from 2017 through 2020. Mech spent her freshman campaign at Denver in 2018-19 while Boyd began her career at Denver in 2019-20, including the final 11 games under the season with Ard serving as interim head coach.

RANGEFINDERS

• Utah State is off to one of its best shooting seasons from behind the 3-point line in program history. The Aggies are currently averaging 7.2 made threes per games, ranking third in the Mountain West, shooting 33.7 percent (94-of-279) on 3-point attempts, the fourth-best mark in the conference. It also stands as the third-best team percentage for a season in USU history behind only the 2011-12 squad's mark of 38.4 percent and the 2009-10 team's mark of 33.9 percent. USU has also made 10 3-point field goals in a game three times this season, reaching the mark against Arkansas State, Weber State and Utah Valley. This is the first season in which the Aggies have registered at least three games with double-digit three-pointers since the 2013-14 season.

• Utah State went 8-16 on 3-point attempts versus Southeastern Louisiana, the first time the team has shot 50 percent or better from behind the arc since shooting 13-24 (54.2 percent) in a 76-66 win versus Wyoming on January 22, 2022. 

SPREADING IT AROUND

Utah State has had six different players lead the team in scoring so far this season. Sophomore guard Cristina Oliva, graduate guards Maria Carvalho and Mayson Kimball, graduate forward Prima Chellis, and junior guards Tamiah Robinson and Olivia Wikstrom have each led the Aggies in points this season with Kimball leading the way with five games under her belt as USU's leading scorer. Additionally, the Aggies have had 31 instances of a players scoring 10 or more points this season with six different players so far accomplishing the feat. Carvalho, Kimball and Wikstrom are tied for the team-lead with seven double-digit scoring efforts apiece.

DOUBLING UP

Both Tamiah Robinson and and Olivia Wikstrom recorded a double-double in USU's game versus Arkansas State, the first time two Aggies have registered double-doubles in the same game since Hailey Bassett (18/12) and Shannon Dufficy (14/12) accomplished the feat against Colorado State on January 19, 2019. Robinson finished with 10 points and 10 assists while Wikstrom recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds.

FULL-TIME WORKER

Graduate guard Maria Carvalho played all 40 minutes in Utah State's last game versus Southeastern Louisiana, the first Aggie to not leave the floor in a game this season. Last year, USU had five instances where a player played all 40 minutes of a game. Carvalho currently ranks second in the conference in minutes played at 35.8 minutes per contest.

FULL SPEED AHEAD

Utah State is currently tied for third among Mountain West teams for most possessions per game. The Aggies average 73.5 offensive possessions per game, tied for the 100th-fastest pace in the nation. USU's speed of play is only bested among MW teams by New Mexico (74.4 possessions per game).

SECOND CHANCES

Utah State currently sits among the conference's best offensive rebounding teams. The Aggies rank fourth in the conference with 11.7 offensive rebounds per game. Graduate forward Abby Wahl is also tied for 11th in the conference with 1.9 offensive rebounds per game while graduate guard Maria Carvalho ranks 16th at 1.6 offensive rebounds per contest.

CAREER BESTS

In Utah State's loss at Air Force, three Aggies recorded career-best marks in the effort. Isabella Tañedo recorded career-highs in both free throws attempted (4) and made (1). Kinley Falslev-Wickizer set a new career-high with eight 3-point attempts and also tied her career-high with one steal in the game. Natalie Fraley set career-high totals of two assists and 25 minutes played, also tying her career-high with two made field goals. Against the Aztecs, Fraley also set a new career-high of three assists. tied previous career-highs with one made FT and one steal while Falslev-Wickizer also tied her career-high with two rebounds. Tamiah Robinson tied her career-high of five assists for the fourth time while Ashya Klopfenstein tied her career-high mark of one made 3-pointer and three 3-point attempts.

COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING

Utah State ranks among the upper half of the Mountain West in several statistics, including 3-point field goals per game (7.2, 3rd), 3-point percentage (33.7 percent, 4th), offensive rebounds per game (11.7, 4th), free throws attempted per game (16.7, 4th) and free throws made per game (11.9, 5th). Through the first week of conference play, the Aggies also rank fourth in defensive rebounds per game (26.5), fourth in rebounding margin (+2.5), fifth in free throw percentage (.742) and are tied for fifth in steals per game (8.0).

Individually, junior Tamiah Robinson ranks fourth in the MW with 3.4 assister per game and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1). Robinson also T-23rd in minutes per game (27.8), T-21st in steals (1.3), T-15th in defensive rebounds (3.5), T-22nd in offensive rebounds (0.8) and T-22nd in total rebounding (4.4). Graduate guard Maria Carvalho is T-17th in points per game at 10.5, T-16th in 3-point field goals per game (1.3), 14th in rebounding (5.0), T-16th in the offensive rebounds (1.6), T-17th in defensive rebounds (3.4), ninth in assists (2.8) and T-21st with 1.3 steals per game. Graduate guard Mayson Kimball ranks 22nd with 10.1 points per game and 11th with 1.6 made 3-pointers per game. In conference games, Kimball is also T-18th in rebounding with 5.0 boards per game and is T-15th in defensive rebounds (4.5). Junior guard Olivia Wikstrom is T-19th with 1.2 made threes per game and is also T-19th with 1.4 steals per game. Graduate forward Abby Wahl is T-19th with 4.5 rebounds per game and is T-14th with 0.6 blocks per contest. In conference-only action, freshman Natalie Fraley ranks T-13th with 1.5 made three-pointers per game and T-22nd with 2.5 assists per game. Senior forward Ashya Klopfenstein is tied for fourth with 2.5 steals per game in conference play.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

Utah State defeated Colorado State, 62-59, in the first round of the 2019 Mountain West tournament, capping off a 3-0 sweep of the Rams by the Aggies in the 2018-19 season. The Aggies led 30-22 at halftime before CSU outscored USU, 16-7, in the third quarter to enter the final frame with the lead. Utah State opened the fourth quater on an 11-0 run, holding Colorado State scoreless over four minutes to build a double-digit lead with less than five minutes remaining. A furious Rams comeback cut USU's lead to a single possession in the final minutes but clutch shooting from the free throw line clinched the Aggie victory as Utah State shot a perfect 8-for-8 on FTs in the final minute. A balanched offensive attack keyed the victory for Utah State as six different players scored at least eight points, led by Olivia West with 13 points. Shannon Dufficy notched a double-double in the win with 11 points and a team-high 15 rebounds while Steph Gorman also reached double-figures with 10 points.

Utah State defeated Boise State four times within the calendar year of 2011, sweeping the Broncos in their final season in the WAC during the 2010-11 season before also earning two non-conference victories over BSU during the 2011-12 season. The four-game streak was capped off with a 64-52 win in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 22, 2011. Utah State led wire-to-wire in the contest, led by a pair of 17-point performances from Maddy Plunkett and Devyn Christensen. Plunkett narrowly missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds in the contest while Ashlee Brown also reached double figures in scoring with 12 points.

PUTTING IN THE ARD WORK

Utah State head coach Kayla Ard put in a record of 8-10 in nonconference play across her first two seasons at the helm of the Aggies, the best record by an Aggie coach in nonconference play in their first two seasons since Cindy Perkins in 1978-80. This season, Ard became the first coach in USU history to win her first three season openers. 

WELL TRAVELED

Utah State has players from nine different states on its roster, plus one international player in graduate senior Maria Carvalho. Additionally, the Aggies have no more than two players from any given state with Utah State possessing two players each from Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington.

WHAT'S RETURNING?

USU returns two letterwinners from last year's squad in juniors Kinley Falslev-Wickizer and Olivia Wikstrom. Falslev-Wickizer returns after averaging 1.8 points per game and shooting 14-43 (.326) on 3-pointers last season. Wikstrom averaged 4.5 points per game in addition to 2.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.9 steals per game.

TRANSFER-MATION COMPLETE

The Aggies welcome nine transfers in advance of the 2022-23 season. Utah State brings in four graduate transfers in Prima Chellis (SIU Edwardsville), Maria Carvalho (Utah Valley), Mayson Kimball (Merrimack College) and Abby Wahl (Eastern Illinois). A further two seniors join USU this season in Olivia Mason (Niagara) and Ashya Klopfenstein (Robert Morris). Tamiah Robinson (Labette Community College), Cristina Oliva (Sierra College) and Lillian Harris (CCBC Essex) also join Utah State after beginning their collegiate careers elsewhere.

USU also has three freshmen joining the roster for 2022-23 in Isabella Tañedo (Laurel, Maryland), Tiairra Hill-Brown (Las Vegas,Nevada) and Natalie Fraley (Kelso, Washington).

 - USU -