Aggie Tip-Off
Utah State women's basketball (3-8, 0-0 MW) opens the conference portion of its 2023-24 campaign this week with a Mountain West matchup in Las Vegas, Nevada, as it takes on reigning MW champion UNLV (10-1, 0-0 MW) on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 2 p.m. (MT), inside of the Cox Pavilion.
How to Follow
Radio coverage for all games will be provided on 107.7 FM, with Ajay Salvesen on the call. Live stats and streaming information will be available on utahstateaggies.com, while updates will also be provided through the team's social media outlets.
Scouting the Lady Rebels
• UNLV is off to a 10-1 start to the 2023-24 campaign. After starting with nine-straight wins, the Lady Rebels suffered their lone misstep of the year in a 84-54 loss at Seton Hall.
• The team returned four starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad which went undefeated in conference play.
• Senior center Desi-Rae Young leads the team in both scoring and rebounding this year with 17.8 points and 8.8 boards per game. Junior guard Kiara Jackson averages a team-best 5.1 assists per contest.
Aggies in Conference Openers
Saturday's contest will mark the first league game of the year for the Aggies. All-time in conference openers, Utah State is 13-18, though the team has lost four-straight and is 2-8 in league lidlifters since joining the Mountain West in 2013-14.
Last Time Out
• Utah State suffered a 51-49 loss in its non-conference finale against Western Colorado on Dec. 18 at the Spectrum.
• In a game which came down to the final buzzer, the Aggies overcame a double-digit deficit to take the lead late, but a Western Colorado 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds on the clock was the decider.
• Junior guard Cheyenne Stubbs led Utah State's scoring efforts with 16 points, while also going for season highs of seven rebounds and five assists in the contest. Junior guard Macy Smith also reached double-figures, finishing with a season-high 10 points while also chipping in five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
National Spotlight
Saturday's game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, the first time in program history the Aggies have played on national television. Three other regular season MW games will be televised this year, including Fresno State at San Diego State (Jan. 7, CBSSN), San José State at San Diego State (Jan. 20, FS1) and UNLV at Nevada (Feb. 24, FS1).
Series History
• Utah State and UNLV have met up 34 times in a series dating back to 1975.
• UNLV leads the all-time series 30-4 and have won each of the past 12 meetings. Utah State's last win in the series came in 2017 in Logan.
• The Aggies have never won in Las Vegas, trailing 0-20.
• The most recent outing between the sides was on Feb. 23, 2023, an 86-32 win for UNLV in Las Vegas. That was the lone meeting between the sides last season.
Chey's On Fire
• Cheyenne Stubbs is Utah State's top scorer this year and has emerged as one of the league's top offensive threats.
• The 5-foot-5 junior enters the week averaging a team-best 14.6 points per contest, fifth-most in the Mountain West. She also leads the team in assists (2.3) and steals (1.9) per game, while bringing down 4.0 rebounds per contest.
• Stubbs has scored in double-figures in nine of 11 games this year. She scored a season-high 23 points versus Warner Pacific, and went for 21 at BYU.
Skye's the Limit
• Junior guard Skye Miller has proven to be a versatile player for Utah State, and one of the team's most consistent offensive threats. She has scored in double-figures in eight of 11 games this season, including a career-high 17 points against Warner Pacific. She has also recorded five-plus rebounds six times and three-plus assists five times.
• Miller also averages a team-high 5.0 rebounds while ranking second on the squad with 2.2 assists per contest.
Skye's the Limit - Pt. II
Skye Miller is one of just three players in the Mountain West this season averaging at least 10 points, 4.5 rebounds and two assists per contest, along with San Diego State's Abby Prohaska and New Mexico's Aniyah Augmon.
A Consistent Leader
In nine of 11 games this season, Cheyenne Stubbs has led the Aggies in the scoring column. In fact, she was the first USU player to lead the team's scoring efforts in at least eight-straight games since Funda Nakkasoglu did so in 2014-15.
Spreading the Wealth
All 15 rostered players for Utah State have made appearances in games this season, while eight different players have appeared in three different starting lineups. Additionally, nine players average at least 10 minutes per game, while 14 of the 15 average at least five.
Mountain Best
The Mountain West Conference is off to one of its best starts to a season in recent history. Entering conference play, seven of the 11 teams in the league are .500 or better. 10 teams have five or more wins, while five teams have nine or more wins.
In the Paint
• Utah State has out-scored eight of its 11 opponents this year in the paint, including in each of the team's three wins.
• USU is scoring an average of 29.1 points while limiting its opponents to 25.8 points in the paint per game.
• The Aggies scored a season-high 44 points in the paint in the season opener at CSUN.
Defensive Focus
• After ranking last in the Mountain West and allowing opponents 76.8 points per game in 2022-23, the Aggies have tightened up defensively and are holding teams to just 65.3 points per outing this year.
• On the perimeter, USU ranks sixth in the MW while limiting its opponents to just 30.1 percent (81-of-269) shooting from 3-point range, up from 35.4 percent a year ago.
• Utah State is also forcing 15.9 turnovers per game, and has caused an average of 20.3 turnovers in its three wins this year.
De la Guyane française à Logan
Utah State senior forward Allyzee Verdan joined the Aggies all the way from her home country of French Guiana, a small South American country bordering Brazil to the north. She is one of just two French Guiana natives in Division I women's basketball, along with Duquesne's Raymi Couëta.
Lights Out Shooting
In USU's win over Weber State on Nov. 17, the Aggies had one of the most efficient shooting performances in program history. USU shot 58.1 percent (25-of-43) from the floor, the sixth-best shooting percentage ever by a Utah State team, and the best in nearly a decade.
New Year, New Faces
• Utah State welcomed in 12 newcomers this year, tied for the most in NCAA Division I. The 12 new faces include nine transfers and three freshmen. Only UT Arlington and Tarleton State have as many newcomers on their rosters, each with 12.
It Runs in the Family
This year's team has a pair of players with family ties to Utah State. Junior guard/forward Samiana Suguturaga is the daughter of former Aggie football player who played tight end at USU from 2000-01. Additionally, freshman forward Gracie Johnson's older brother, Isaac, is currently a redshirt sophomore on the Utah State men's basketball team.
Reunited and it Feels so Good
There is a reunion of former teammates happening this year in Logan, as junior guards Skye Miller and Livia Knapp are on the same team once again. The duo played club ball together in Portland, Oregon, before going their separate ways and each having a strong start to their collegiate career at the junior college level.
Well-Traveled
Utah State has players from 10 different states on its roster, plus two international players in senior forward Allyzee Verdan (French Guiana) and freshman forward Lauren Crocker (Calgary, Canada). Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon are the only states with multiple players, two each.
Both Ends of the Spectrum
This season's Aggie roster features a wide range in the height column. Utah State has the tallest player in the Mountain West, as Gracie Johnson stands at 6-foot-6, while at just 5-foot-4, Isabella Tañedo is the second-shortest player in the league.
Up Next
Utah State returns to Logan next week for its first home conference games, hosting Wyoming on Wednesday, Jan. 3, then taking on San José State on Saturday, Jan. 6.
