AGGIE TIP-OFF
Utah State 4-17 1-9 MW) continue Mountain West play this week at Wyoming (15-8, 8-4 MW) on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. (MT). The Aggies are off on a bye for the second half of the week.
 
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 COWGIRLS
Thursday will be 39th all-time between Utah State and Wyoming with the Cowgirls leading the series, 28-10. The Cowgirls won the first matchup between the two sides this season, 64-52, in Logan on Jan. 23. USU's last win in the series came via a 76-66 victory on Jan. 22, 2022, in the Spectrum. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series. The two sides have also met frequently in the postseason, as Wyoming has eliminated USU from the MW tournament in three of the past four seasons.
 
SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
Head coach Heather Ezell is in her eighth year at Wyoming and her first year as the head coach of the Cowgirls, the eighth head coach overall in the program's history. Heather spent the previous seven seasons on the Cowgirls bench, including the past three seasons as the associate head coach. The Cowgirls are currently tied for second place in the Mountain West Conference at 8-4 in the MW, with their most recent contest resulting in a 66-63 loss at Colorado State on Saturday, February 4. The last time these two teams met, Wyoming won in Logan, Utah 64-52 on January 26. Graduate guard Quinn Weidemann and sophomore center Allyson Fertig each finished with 15 points, while freshman guard Malene Pedersen scored 10 points. In fact, Allyson Fertig and Malene Pedersen swept the Mountain West Player of the Week honors January
30. Fertig, who was named the MW's Player of the Week for the first time of her career, averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in the Cowgirls' two wins at Utah State and Boise State. Fertig shot 57-percent from the floor and also added four blocks and two steals, defensively. Pedersen, meanwhile, averaged 13.5 points per game on 10-of-21 shooting from the field and went 5-for-8 from 3-point range. It was the third time Pedersen took home Freshman of the Week honors in 2022-23.
 
CHARITY STARTS AT HOME
The Aggies went 27-for-31 and 20-for-23 from the free throw line in back-to-back games against Nevada and Fresno State, respectively, topping 20 made free throws in consecutive contests for the second time since 2015. The Aggies also achieved the feat in back-to-back games against Fresno State in 2022. In USU's past three games against the Bulldogs, the Aggies are averaging 21.0 made free throws on 24.3 attempts per game. Utah State's mark of 74.0 percent from the FT line so far this season ranks sixth in the Mountain West and currently ranks as the fifth-best FT shooting percentage for a season in Aggie history. USU also ranks fifth in FT percentage during conference play, shooting 77.5 percent from the line during MW play.
 
ICYMI
Utah State posted a 0-2 Mountain West record last week as the Aggies fell to the Colorado State Rams on Thursday afternoon 86-64, followed by a 68-63 loss to the Nevada Wolfpack on Saturday afternoon. Against the Rams in Fort Collins, Colorado, junior guard Tamiah Robinson led the Aggies with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting, also adding six rebounds and a team-high four assists. Carvalho recorded her second career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore guard Cristina Oliva also reached double figures with 11 points. USU shot 22-for-67 (32.8 percent) from the field and 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) from 3-point territory and 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the free throw line. CSU shot 27-for-61 (44.3 percent) from the field, 13-for-25 (52.0 percent) from the arc, and 19-for-21 (90.5 percent) at the free throw line.
Against the Wolfpack, the Aggies nearly rallied from a 29-point deficit, but fell just short inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Three Aggies finished in double figures as Tamiah Robinson poured in 16 points, Maria Carvalho added 14, and Mayson Kimball scored 12 points. Nevada shot 38.0 percent (19-for-50) from the field, 22.2 percent (4-for-18) on 3-point attempts and 78.8 percent (26-for-33) at the free throw line. The Aggies shot 28.1 percent (16-for-57) from the floor, 20.7 percent (6-for-29) from 3-point territory and 71.4 percent (25-for-35) from the stripe.
 
GONE IN 60... POINTS
Utah State is undefeated this season when holding its opponent under 60 points. The Aggies are 3-0 in such contests with wins over the College of Idaho (75-58), Utah Valley (65-55) and Fresno State (68-58). USU is also 3-2 when holding its opponent below 36.0 percent shooting from the field, with wins against Fresno State, UVU and Weber State. 
 
ARE WE SURE WE HATE MONDAYS?
After their 68-58 win at Fresno State, the Aggies are now 2-0 when playing on Mondays this season. Additionally, Utah State is 4-4 when shooting better from 3-point territory than their opponent, 3-3 when recording fewer turnovers and are an undefeated 2-0 when scoring 70 points or more.
 
RANGEFINDERS
• 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. 
 
• Graduate guard Mayson Kimball became the first Aggie in program history to go 5-for-5 from behind the 3-point line in a single game, achieving the feat against Southeastern Louisiana. Freshman guard Natalie Fraley then matched the accomplishment versus San Jose State. Prior to Kimball and Fraley, only five Aggies had managed to go 4-for-4 from 3-point range in a single game in Utah State history.
 
SECOND CHANCES
Utah State currently sits among the conference's best rebounding teams. The Aggies currently rank third  in the MW both in conference play and for the entire season with 36.9 and 36.2 rebounds per game, respectively. Utah State is also fourth in the conference with 11.6 offensive rebounds per game. Five different Aggies rank in the top-25 of the conference for rebounds during conference action.
 
SPREADING IT AROUND
Utah State has had eight different players lead the team in scoring so far this season. Freshman guard Natalie Fraley, sophomore guard Cristina Oliva, graduate guards Maria Carvalho and Mayson Kimball, graduate forward Ashya Klopfenstein, and junior guards Tamiah Robinson and Olivia Wikstrom have each led the Aggies in points this season with Robinson leading the way with six games under her belt as USU's leading scorer. Additionally, the Aggies have had 52 instances of a players scoring 10 or more points this season with eight different players so far accomplishing the feat. Carvalho and Robinson are tied for the team-lead with 12 double-digit scoring efforts apiece.

FULL SPEED AHEAD
Utah State is currently second among Mountain West teams for most possessions per game. The Aggies average 72.8 offensive possessions per game, tied for the 88th-fastest pace in the nation. USU's speed of play is only bested among MW teams by New Mexico (73.2 possessions per game).
 
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. Graduate forward Prima Chellis recorded Utah State's third and fourth double-doubles of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Fresno State and 10 points with 10 rebounds against Air Force.
 
FULL-TIME WORKER
Graduate guard Maria Carvalho played all 40 minutes 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 is second in the conference in minutes played at 32.6 minutes per contest.
 
CAREER BESTS
Last time the Aggies and Cowgirls met, freshman Natalie Fraley tied her career-best marks of five attempted 3-pointers and one steal and one block. Graduate senior Ashya Klopfenstein also tied her career-highs of two made threes, three attempted 3-pointers and two blocks. Freshman Isabella Tañedo recorded her first career block against Wyoming before also setting new career-highs of two 3-point attempts and one assists against New Mexico. Tañedo also tied career-highs of five points, two made field goals, one made 3-pointer, one steal and 16 minutes played against the Lobos. Junior Tamiah Robinson tied her career-highs of seven 3-point attempts and four made free throws. Sophomore Cristina Oliva tied her career-high with one steal while sophomore Lillian Harris recorded her first career block in the contest.
 
COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING
Utah State ranks among the upper half of the Mountain West in several statistics, including 3-point field goals per game (6.8, 3rd), free throws attempted per game (17.8, 4th), free throws made per game (13.1, 3rd), offensive rebounds per game (11.6, 4th), steals per game (8.8, 4th) and blocks per game (2.7, 5th). In conference play, the Aggies also rank fourth in free throw percentage at 77.5 percent.
 
Individually, junior Tamiah Robinson ranks in the top 25 in the Mountain West in assists per game (3.0, T-9th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0, T-9th), rebounds per game (4.4, 21st), offensive rebounds per game (1.0, 22nd), defensive rebounds per game (3.5, 17th), steals per game (1.2, T-24th), blocks per game (0.7, 10th) and minutes per game (28.8, 23rd). Additionally, Robinson also ranks fifth in MW play for blocks per game with 1.1 rejections per contest. Graduate guard Maria Carvalho is currently T-17th in scoring (10.6 points per game), T-15th with 1.2 3-point field goals per game, 12th with 5.2 rebounds per game, 13th with 1.6 offensive rebounds per game, T-14th with 3.6 defensive rebounds per game, 13th with 2.5 assists per game, T-17th with 1.5 steals per game and second with 32.6 minutes per game. Graduate guard Mayson Kimball ranks T-15th with 1.2 made threes per game, T-22nd with 4.3 rebounds per game, T-20th with 1.1 offensive boards per game and T-18th with 3.3 defensive rebounds per game. Junior guard Olivia Wikstrom is T-19th with 1.1 made 3-pointers per game and T-22nd with 1.3 steals per game. Senior forward Ashya Klopfenstein ranks among the conference's best in rebounds per game (4.8, T-15th), offensive rebounds per game (1.5, T-17th), defensive rebounds per game (3.3, T-18th) and blocks per game (0.5, T-17th). Klopfenstein is also T-16th with 1.3 steals per game during conference play. Freshman guard Natalie Fraley ranks T-15th with 1.1 made 3s per game and T-16th with 0.5 blocks per game during MW play.
 
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 three graduate transfers in, 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).
 
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