LOGAN, Utah – Utah State women's basketball dropped its season opener to Kansas City, 80-77, on Monday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. 
 
After senior guard Cheyenne Stubbs opened the game with a spinning drive for a layup, the Roos took an early lead with an early 6-0 run and maintained its advantage en route to an 18-12 lead at the end of the opening frame. The Aggies clawed within three points after a Stubbs 3 and a layup from freshman guard Elise Livingston, but were unable to fully erase Kansas City's edge. After the Roos' lead grew as large as nine, Utah State closed the quarter on a 10-4 run to enter halftime trailing only by three at 44-41.
 
Coming out of halftime, USU emphasized its 3-point shooting as the Aggies tallied seven second-half 3-pointers after going 3-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half. Both Stubbs and freshman guard Denae Skelton hit a pair of triples in the third quarter as Utah State came within a single point of the Roos on multiple occasions. The Aggies finally took the lead, the first since the opening minutes, at the start of the fourth quarter off a fastbreak layup from junior guard Jamisyn Heaton. Skelton and junior guard Mia Tarver then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give USU a seven-point lead with seven minutes remaining. 
 
After a 7-0 run from Kansas City tied the game at 69 apiece, the Aggies offense again heated up. Heaton scored another layup to restore USU's lead before Stubbs hit a layup of her own and buried another 3-pointer to again put the Aggies up by seven. The Roos erased the deficit with another 7-0 run to tie the game at 76 with less than a minute remaining. With 32 seconds remaining, Stubbs hit a free throw to give USU a one-point lead before Kansas City scored on a layup with 21 seconds remaining, later adding a pair of FTs for insurance. The Aggies' last-ditch efforts to tie the game came up short, giving the visitors the 80-77 win.

Stubbs led the effort for USU, totaling 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a 5-8 mark from 3-point territory. Junior guards Mia Tarver and Jamisyn Heaton also scored in double figures, finishing with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Heaton also led the Aggies with seven boards.
 
Utah State shot 30-for-64 (46.9 percent) from the field for the full game, including a 10-30 (33.3 percent) mark from behind the arc. Kansas City shot 31-of-61 (50.8 percent) from the floor and 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) from 3, plus a 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) performance from the FT line. The Aggies won the turnover battle, forcing 23 turnovers from the Roos and scoring 29 points of those turnovers while allowing only 20 points to Kansas City off of 19 turnovers.
 
Alayna Contreras led the Roos with a game-high 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting, while Tamia Ugass recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will continue their three-game homestand to begin the season by hosting CSUN on Friday, Nov. 8, at 6 pm, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. 
 
TICKETS
Single-game and season tickets for the 2024-25 schedule are available 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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