LOGAN, Utah – Utah State women's basketball takes on Colorado (4-1, 0-0 Big 12) on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. at the CU Events Center.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Tuesday's game versus at Colorado will be broadcast on ESPN+. Radio coverage for all games will be provided on 107.7 FM, with Ajay Salvesen on the call. Links to live stats for all games will be available on utahstateaggies.com, while updates will also be provided through the team's social media outlets.
AGGIES VS EVERYONE
Colorado leads the all-time series against Utah State, 12-5. The two sides met12 times in the 1970s and early '80s as members of the Intermountain Athletic Conference. USU won the first five games in the series before the Buffaloes have won the past 12 meetings, including a 73-56 win in the last matchup in Boulder in 2005. Colorado won the most recent meeting, 78-68, on Nov. 25, 2018 in Reno, Nevada.
SCOUTING THE BUFFALOES
Head coach JR Payne is in her ninth season at Colorado and has guided the Buffaloes to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three years. This season, Colorado is 4-1 with wins over Southern, Nevada, Northern Colorado and Wyoming. Colorado is averaging 64.8 points per game and allowing 54.0 points to its opponents. The Buffaloes are shooting 41.1 percent from the floor and 25.5 percent from 3, while opponents are shooting 36.4 percent overall and 26.9 percent from behind the arc. Colorado has outrebounded opponents by 9.6 rebounds per game and has averaged 16.2 assists per contest. The team has averaged 15.4 turnovers per contest while forcing 19.2 turnovers per game from opponents.
ICYMI
The Aggies went 1-1 last week, defeating Cal State Bakersfield at home, 67-51, before falling on the road to Northern Colorado, 85-57.
Jamisyn Heaton led USU against the Roadrunners with 19 points, five rebounds, five blocks and four steals.
Carlie Latta led the effort against the Bears with 15 points.
STOLEN GOODS
Mia Tarver came away with a career-high seven steals against CSUN, a feat only accomplished 28 times previously by a total of 19 players in school history. Only four players have recorded at least seven steals in on game since the program's reinstatement in 2003 (Elise Nelson twice, Alice Coddington twice, Jenna Johnson, Danyelle Snelgro).
Tarver's seven steals are tied for the 14th-most all-time for a single game at Utah State.
I AM SPEED
The Aggies currently rank as the fastest team in the Mountain West, averaging 81.9 possessions per 40 minutes. New Mexico ranks second in the MW with 77.3 possessions per 40 minutes, while Niagara currently leads the nation with 91.3 possessions per 40 minutes.
LET IT FLY
Utah State is currently fifth in the nation with 33.8 attempts from 3-point range per game this season, also ranking first in the Mountain West. The Aggies also rank in a tie for 60th nationally with 8,2 made 3-pointers per game. USU's 3-point rate (the number of 3-point attempts relative to a team's total field goal attempts) of 44.0 percent also ranks first in the MW. Colorado State ranks second in the MW with 40.6 percent and Marist ranks first nationally with a 3-point rate of 48.5 percent.
AROUND THE (NATION) IN (34) DAYS
Following Utah State's game against Cal State Bakersfield in the Spectrum on Nov. 14, the Aggies 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.
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.
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, with 43 career blocks, needs only 24 more to break into the top-10 all-time at Utah State.
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.
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.
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). This is the most international players on USU's roster since fielding four such players in 2019-20. 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.
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).
KEEP AN EYE ON THIS
Senior guard
Cheyenne Stubbs needs only 18 more appearances to qualify for Utah State's all-time career socring average list (50 games minimum).
Stubbs' current scoring average of 16.4 points per game in an Aggie uniform would rank fourth all-time in program history.
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.
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.
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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