LOGAN, Utah – Utah State women's basketball kicks off the 2024-25 season with a pair of home games at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies will first host Kansas City on Monday, Nov. 4, before facing CSUN on Friday, Nov. 8. Both games are scheduled for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Both matches will be available to stream via the Mountain West Network. Radio coverage for all games will be provided on 107.7 FM, with Ajay Salvesen on the call. 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 and Kansas City have met only one time previously as the Aggies defeated the Roos in Kansas City last season, 62-60.
 
USU and CSUN will face off for the seventh time on Friday. The Aggies hold a 4-2 lead in the all-time series, including a 3-1 mark from 2004-05 when the two sides were members of the Big West. The Matadors won the most recent meeting, 79-64, in Northridge, California, on Nov. 6, 2023.
 
SCOUTING THE ROOS
The Roos are in their third season under head coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett, who has amassed a record of 21-43. Kansas City went 12-20 last season, including a 3-13 mark in Summit League play, and fell in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Roos return a pair of starters in Alayna Contreras and Zaire Harrell, and return eight letterwinners overall. Contreras is the leading returning scorer at 10.2 points per game and the leading 3-point shooter after shooting 33.6 percent from behind the arc last season. Timas Ugass is the leading returning rebounder (4.7 per game) while Lisa Thomas is the leading returner for assists (2.6). As a team last year, the Roos scored 64.5 points per game but allowed 66.0 points to their opposition.
 
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
The Matadors are in their first season under new head coach Angie Ned, who comes to CSUN after 10 seasons on the staff at Cal Baptist. The team went 3-27 in 2023-24, and 1-19 in Big West play. CSUN returns only two players from last season's roster, both letterwinners in Alondra Lizama and Erica Adams. Adams serves as the team's leading returning scorer (8.8 ppg), rebounder (3.7 rpg), assister (2.3 apg) and 3-point marksman (20.0 percent). The Matadors scored 55.2 points per game while allowing 69.6 points last season. CSUN brings in a total of seven transfers to the roster this season, plus four freshmen.
 
EXHIBIT A
In the team's first public showing of the 2024-25 campaign, Utah State defeated Westminster, 94-70, in an exhibition on Oct. 25. Five players reach double figures in scoring, led by senior guard Cheyenne Stubbs with 21 points. Junior guard Mia Tarver and freshman guard Denae Skelton each finished with 14 points, while freshman Elise Livingston ended with 13 points. Junior guard Jamisyn Heaton chipped in with 12 points as the final Aggie in double figures. Heaton also led the Aggies with seven rebounds, while sophomore Gracie Johnson anchored the defense, finishing with five blocks plus two steals. Utah State shot 44 attempts from 3-point territory, which would have been a program record. The Aggies also forced 34 Griffin turnovers, which would also have been a program record according to available information.
 
INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS
Last season, 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. 
 
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.
 
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. 
 
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.
 
AROUND THE (NATION) IN (34) DAYS
Following Utah State's game against Cal State Bakersfield in the Spectrum on Nov. 14, the Aggies will hit the road for their next eight games. In total, USU will have 34 days before their next home game against UC Riverside on Dec. 18. This gap is the sixth-longest in the nation this season, ranking behind Columbia (47 days), UC Irvine (46), Texas A&M-Commerce (45), Stephen F. Austin (40) and William & Mary (35). By total road and neutral games played between home games, Utah State's eight games is tied for the longest streak in the nation alongside Stephen F. Austin.
 
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. 
 
NEW TEAM, WHO DIS?
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).
 
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 FRANÇaAISE 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.
 
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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