LOGAN, Utah – Utah State women's basketball prepares for the 2024-25 season with an exhibition against Westminster on Friday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Admission is free.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats for the game will be available on utahstateaggies.com, while updates will also be provided through the team's social media outlets.
 
AGGIES VS EVERYONE
Utah State owns a 4-0 record all-time against the Griffins, with all four matchups coming since 2014 and in the Spectrum, including an 83-78 win in the last meeting in 2021. The Aggies are 6-1 all-time against schools from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, not including previous exhibitions, with additional wins against Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa.
 
SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS
Westminster finished the 2023-24 season with a 3-25 record, including a 1-21 mark in RMAC play. From last year's squad, the Griffins return their leading scorer in Teulia Nawahine (11.5 ppg), leading rebounder (Maunayia Harrigfeld, 8.5 rpg), leading assister (Lime Okada, 2.5 apg) and their top three-point shooter (Marli Reed, .422). Westminster averaged 54.3 points per game but allowed 67.9 points per contest to opponents. The Griffins shot 37.9 percent from the field and 30.1 percent from 3-point range, plus a 71.7 percent mark from the free throw line. Westminster grabbed the exact same number of rebounds as its opponents in 2023-24, and averaged 11.3 assists to 18.0 turnovers per game. The Griffins also added 6.0 steals and 2.6 blocks per contest. Head coach Asami Morita is in her second year at Westminster and was previously an assistant coach for two seasons at Nevada prior to joining the Griffins. 
 
INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS
Last season, then-junior guard Cheyenne Stubbs put up one of the top-scoring seasons in program history.  Stubbs finished the season with 482 points, passing Devyn Christensen (2011-12) and Ashlee Brown (2011-12) to move into eighth all-time at USU. 
 
                Rk          Player                                 Year                     Points
                6.            Funda Nakkasoglu                     2014-15                             504
                7.            April Hatch                      1983-84                             487
                8.            Cheyenne Stubbs                     2023-24                             482
                9.            Ashlee Brown                 2011-12                             468
                10.         Devyn Christensen                     2011-12                             467
 
Stubbs' average of 16.1 points per game narrowly missed the all-time top-10 at USU. However, Stubbs did break into the top-10 in several other categories for a single season, including 3-pointers made (fifth, 59) and attempted (fourth, 174). Stubbs led the Aggies in scoring in 22 games on the year, the most times as USU's leading scorer in a single season since Funda Nakkasoglu had 25 team-leading outings in 2015-16. 
 
EN FUEGO
Stubbs recorded a pair of 30-point games in 2023-24, becoming just the 19th player in program history to ever top the 30-point plateau, and only the 12th to do so in multiple games. Stubbs posted a career-high 32 points in Utah State's win at Nevada on Jan. 31, going 10-of-24 shooting (.417) from the floor, 2-of-8 shooting (.250) from 3-point range and 10-of-14 shooting (.714) from the charity stripe. Against UNLV, Stubbs also finished with 30 points on 7-15 shooting (.467), including a 5-9 performance from deep (.556), and went (11-14) from the free throw line. She is just the 10th Aggie with multiple 30-point games in the same season. In total, Utah State has seen 48 games in which an Aggie has hit 30 points or more. Stubbs' 32 points against Nevada are tied for the 20th-most in a game in Aggie history. 
 
STARTER JACKETS
Utah State returns two full-time starters from last year in senior guards Cheyenne Stubbs and Ivory Finley. The Aggies also return a further two players with starting experience. Senior guard/forward Samiana Suguturaga started the final 13 games of the 2023-24 season, while senior forward Allyzee Verdan made nine total starts on the year, including each of the last seven games.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Utah State freshman forward Gracie Johnson is one of just four players in program history to have three games with five or more blocks in a season. Additionally, she became just the second freshman to ever do so, joining all-time program block leader Deja Mason. With eight blocks against Boise State, Johnson tied the all-time program record for blocks in a single game. Johnson finished the season with 36 blocks and now needs only 29 more to break into the top-10 all-time at Utah State.
 
WELL-TRAVELED
Utah State has players from eight different states on its roster, plus three international players in senior forward Allyzee Verdan (French Guiana), junior forward/center Sophie Sene (France) and freshman guard Denae Skelton (Canada). Utah (four) and Idaho (three) are the only states from which multiple Aggies hail. This is the first time Utah has been the most populous state on USU's roster since the 2021-22 season.
 
TOP SCORERS
Utah State returns its top scorer from 25 of 31 games last season, including the team's exhibition. Stubbs led the Aggies with 22 games as the leading scorer last season, while each of senior forrward Allyzee Verdan, senior guard/forward Samiana Suguturaga and senior guard Ivory Finley each recorded one game as USU's leading scorer.
 
TRUE BLUE AGGIES
This year's team has a pair of players with family ties to Utah State. Senior guard/forward Samiana Suguturaga is the daughter of former Aggie football player Jay Suguturaga, who played tight end at USU from 2000-01. Additionally, sophomore forward Gracie Johnson's older brother, Isaac, is currently a junior on the Utah State men's basketball team. Johnson's father, Darren, played for the USU men's team in 1990-91, while her grandfather, Ronald, also played at Utah State. 
 
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Several players have family ties to athletes who have played at the collegiate level, with several also playing professionally. Freshman guard/foward Taliyah Logwood has a pair of cousins in Brian Johnson and Raelon Singleton who each played football at Utah, with Brian Johnson also now serving as an assistant head coach and passing game coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the NFL. Freshman guard Elise Livingston's sister, Erin, played volleyball for four years at BYU and signed with the Las Vegas Thrill of the Pro Volleyball Federation.  Freshman guard Ava Smith's father, Matthew, played football and won an NAIA Division II national title at Central Washington University. Freshman guard Denae Skelton's brother, Kaeden, played basketball for the University of British Columbia in Okanagan. Freshman guard Carlie Latta's sister, Aubrie Vale, played basketball at Westminster in 2019. Both senior guard/forward Samiana Suguturaga and sophomore forward Gracie Johnson have aforementioned ties to Utah State, while Johnson also has an older brother, Spencer, who played basketball at BYU.
 
KEEP AN EYE ON THIS
Senior guard Cheyenne Stubbs needs only 20 more appearances to qualify for Utah State's all-time career socring average list (50 games minimum). Stubbs' current scoring average of 16.1 points per game in an Aggie uniform would rank fourth all-time in program history.
 
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. 
 
NEW TEAM, WHO'S THIS?
The Aggies welcome 10 newcomers to the 2024-25 squad. Utah State brings in three transfers in juniors Sophie Sene (Rhode Island), Mia Tarver (Salt Lake CC) and Jamisyn Heaton (College of Southern Idaho). USU brings in a total of seven freshmen, including Ava Smith (Camas, Washington), Denae Skelton (West Kelowna, B.C., Canada), Riley Ward (Preston, Idaho), Carlie Latta (Paul, Idaho), Karlie Banks (Laclede, Idaho), Elise Livingston (Millville, Utah) and Taliyah Logwood (Richmond, California).
 
SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2024-25 schedule are available now. Fans can make a deposit to save their seat here or by calling the USU Ticket Office at (435) 797-0305.
 
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.
 
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