AGGIE TIP-OFF
Utah State (4-25, 1-17 MW) enters the Mountain West tournament as the No. 11-seed and will face sixth-seeded Boise State (16-15, 11-7 MW) on Sunday, March 5, at 8 p.m. (MT). Should the Aggies advance, they will face No. 3 Colorado State (19-10, 12-6 MW) on Monday, March 6, at 8:30 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 BRONCOS
Utah State and Boise State meet for the 43rd time in program history with BSU leading the series, 31-12. This is the first meetings between the two sides in the Mountain West tournament. The Broncos defeated the Aggies, 61-47, in the teams' only postseason matchup in the first round of the 2008 WAC tournament. BSU won each of the regular season meetings this season. 
 
AGGIES VERSUS RAMS
This will be the 40th all-time meeting between Utah State and Colorado State. The Rams lead the series, 26-13. The two teams have met twice in the MW tournament before in the 2014 quarterfinals and 2019 first round. CSU won in 2014 as the top overall seed, 72-67, while USU extracted revenge in 2019, 62-59. The two sides also met twice in the AIAW regionals in 1975 (61-45) and 1982 (74-89).
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Head coach Gordy Presnell is in his 18th season at the helm of Boise State, with a career record of 336-233. 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 finished the regular season at 16-15 with an 11-7 mark in MW action. BSU had won three-straight and seven of their past eight games before falling to Colorado State in the regular season finale, 66-51. The Broncos are seeking their first postseason berth since 2020 when Boise State won the MW tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament, both for the fourth consecutive year.
 
Boise State averages 66.4 points per game and has allowed 62.9 points per game to their opponents. The Broncos shoot 41.0 percent from the floor, 34.2 percent from 3-point range and 67.1 percent from the FT line. Opponents have shot 36.9 percent from the floor against the Broncos and have shot 30.0 percent from 3-point territory. BSU averages 40.9 rebounds per contest, outrebounding opponents by 7.2 boards per game. The Broncos record 14.3 assists to 16.9 turnovers per game and have forced 13.1 turnvers per game from their opponents. Elodie Lalotte leads Boise State with 10.2 points per game with Abby Muse ranking second at 9.2 points per contest. Muse leads the team and ranks third in the MW with 8.6 rebounds per game. Mary Kay Naro paces the team with 3.3 assists per contest.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS
Head coach Ryun Williams is in his 11th season leading the Rams, compiling a record of 205-124 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. This season, the Rams finished third in the Mountain West with a 12-6 conference record while going 19-10 overall. CSU finished the regular season winning six of their last eight games, only falling in road trips to San Diego State and Wyoming, the top two seeds of the MW tournament.
 
The Rams average 73.2 points per game while only allowing 63.7 points to their opponents. CSU has shot 45.1 percent from the floor, 37.6 percent from 3-point territory and 79.7 percent from the free throw line. Opponents have managed 37.7 percent from the field and 32.6 percent on 3-point attempts versus CSU. The Rams have been outrebounded by 5.3 boards per contest this season, corralling 33.5 rebounds per game. Colorado State averages 14.1 assists per game to only 8.8 turnovers, the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country. The Rams also force their opponents into 13.4 giveaways per game. McKenna Hofschild leads the Rams with 20.9 points and 7.2 assists per game, both top marks in the MW this season and ranking in the top-five and top-15 in the nation, respectively. Destiny Thurman and Cailyn Crocker also average double figures with 13.2 and 10.9 points per game, respectively. Cali Clark leads the Rams with 6.3 boards per game.
 
ICYMI
Utah State closed its regular season with a 78-65 loss to San Jose State on Senior Night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies were led by graduate senior Maria Carvalho and junior guard Tamiah Robinson who each scored 14 points. Junior guard Olivia Wikstrom finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Natalie Fraley also pulled down six boards in addition to eight points off the bench. USU shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the field, 33.3 percent (11-of-33) from three-point range, and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the free throw line. The Spartans shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from the arc and 81.8 percent (18-of-22) at the charity stripe.
 
UTAH STATE IN THE TOURNAMENT
Utah State is 6-9 all-time at the Mountain West tournament and 10-19 in program history in conference tournaments. The Aggies have entered the MW tournament only once before as the 11-seed in 2020 when the Aggies upset sixth-seeded San Diego State in overtime, 81-79, before falling to third-seeded Wyoming in the quarterrfinals, 64-59. USU 2-3 in the MW tournament as the lower-seeded team with wins in 2020 and 2022, when the Aggies defeated Fresno State as a nine-seed, 80-76.
 
CHARITY STARTS AT HOME
By going 27-for-31 and 20-for-23 from the free throw line in back-to-back games against Nevada and Fresno State, respectively, Utah State topped 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 73.7 percent from the FT line so far ranks sixth in the Mountain West and currently ranks as the fourth-best FT shooting percentage for a season in Aggie history. USU also ranks seventh in FT percentage during conference play, shooting 75.7 percent from the line during MW play.
 
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. USU'S most recent double-double came courtesy of a 14-point, 11-rebound outing from graduate senior Maria Carvalho against Colorado State.
 
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 eight games under her belt as USU's leading scorer. Additionally, the Aggies have had 59 instances of a players scoring 10 or more points this season with eight different players so far accomplishing the feat. Carvalho currently leads the team with 16 double-digit scoring games, while Robinson has 14 double-digit scoring games
 
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.
 
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.
 
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. 
 
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 tied for seventh in the conference in minutes played at 32.5 minutes per contest.
 
COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING
Utah State ranks among the upper half of the Mountain West in several statistics, including 3-point field goals per game (6.6, 3rd), free throws made per game (12.7, 3rd), free throws attempted per game (17.2, 4th), turnovers forced per game (15.5, 4th), offensive rebounds per game (10-.6, 5th) and steals per game (8.2, 5th).
 
Individually, graduate guard Maria Carvalho is currently T-15th in scoring (10.9 points per game), T-16th with 1.2 3-point field goals per game, 12th with 5.3 rebounds per game, T-12th with 1.6 offensive rebounds per game, 16th with 3.7 defensive rebounds per game, T-17th with 2.3 assists per game, T-17th with 1.4 steals per game and tied for seventh with 32.5 minutes per game. Junior Tamiah Robinson ranks in the top 25 in the Mountain West in assists per game (2.8, T-10th), rebounds per game (4.3, T-22nd), offensive rebounds per game (0.9, T-21st), defensive rebounds per game (3.4, T-18th), steals per game (1.4, T-17th), blocks per game (0.6, T-12th) and minutes per game (29.8, 21st). Additionally, Robinson also ranks T-7th in MW play for blocks per game with 0.8 rejections per contest. Graduate guard Mayson Kimball and junior guard Olivia Wikstrom are tied for 21st with 1.0 made threes per game. Wikstrom is also T-24th with 1.2 steals per game. Senior forward Ashya Klopfenstein is tied for 19th in rebounds per game (4.4), 20th in offensive rebounds per game (1.2), 22nd in defensive rebounds per game (3.1), T-17th in blocks (0.5) and ranks third in the MW in free throw percentage at 82.5 percent on the season. Freshman guard Natalie Fraley is tied for 24th during MW play with 0.4 blocks per game.
 
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 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 -