BACK IN ACTION
Utah State opens Mountain West play next week, first hosting Air Force at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 6 p.m., before heading to the road to take on Colorado State on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 1 p.m.

FOLLOW ALONG
All games during conference play will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats also available through UtahStateAggies.com.

ICYMI
Utah State scored a massive home win last week, defeating Idaho, 80-73. Senior center Sophie Sene scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a career-high five made 3-pointers, while junior guard Aaliyah Gayles led the Aggies with 18 points. Gayles and Sene also led USU in rebounding with nine and eight boards, respectively. Senior guard/forward Jamisyn Heaton added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, also adding five rebounds while senior guard Marina Asensio finished with 11 points plus a team-high four assists. Heaton and Asensio also tied for the team lead with three steals apiece.

AGGIES VS EVERYONE
The series between Utah State and Air Force is tied, 14-14, though the Falcons have won the past nine meetings. USU had won 14 of 19 games against AF prior to the current streak. The Aggies last defeated Air Force in a 61-55 home victory in 2021. Utah State is 8-6 all-time against the Falcons in Logan. The two sides met in the opening round of last year's MW Tournament, resulting in a 66-59 victory for Air Force. 

The Aggies are 13-29 all-time against Colorado State and the Rams hae won 11-straight in the series. Utah State last defeated CSU in 2019 when the Aggies swept the season series and scored a 62-59 win in the first round of the MW Tournament. USU won the first seven meetings in the series back in the 1970s and early 80s. CSU has won 19 of 23 matchups since Utah State joined the MW in 2013.

A TALL TASK ACCOMPLISHED
Senior center Sophie Sene scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a career-high five made 3-pointers, becoming the fifth player 6-foot-3 or taller in the Mountain West to ever hit five threes  in a game and the first since Boise State's Mallory McGwire did so twice during the 2020-21 season.

I'LL TAKE THAT
Utah State is currently forcing 19.9 turnovers per game, a mark which would break the program record of 19.5 turnovers forced per game, set in 2010-11. The Aggies rank second in the MW in turnovers forced per game, trailing only Fresno State's mark of 22.1 takeaways per game.

COUNT TO 20
Junior guard Aaliyah Gayles scored a career-high 20 points in USU's last outing against San Diego, marking the first 20-point game this season by an Aggie. Utah State had 15 such games last season, the most by the team in a single season since 2021-22.

A WEALTH OF WEAPONS
Utah State currently has seven players averaging at least 5.0 points per game this season in Gayles (14.3), senior guard Marina Asensio (10.0), Sene (8.3), senior Jamisyn Heaton (6.4), sophomore Elise Livingston (6.0), senior Karyn Sanford (5.7) and senior Rachel Wilson (5.1). Those seven players are tied for the third-most such players in program history, trailing only the 2014-15 and 2021-22 seasons with eight such players. USU has had seven players average 5.0 points per game over the full season only seven times previously, last doing so in 2021-22.

HEROICS GALORE
The Aggies recorded two-straight wins over Cal State Bakersfield and Omaha, both featuring late heroics to earn the victory. Junior guard Aaliyah Gayles hit back-to-back threes to help Utah State erase a five-point deficit with less than two minutes remaining to defeat Cal State Bakersfield, 68-65. This was the first time the Aggies have come back from five or more points down in the final two minutes since erasing a six-point deficit in the final two minutes to defeat Fresno State, 80-75, on March 6, 2022.

Against Omaha at home, USU was tied with the Mavericks at 69-69 before closing out the game on an 8-0 run, kickstarted by back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Elise Livingston.

AN ALL-TIME OUTING
In USU's 96-41 win over Stanislaus State, the Aggies set a program record with 36 forced turnovers and became the first Mountain West team ever with nine players each hitting a 3-pointer in a game. The Aggies tied their program record with 14 made 3-pointers, standing alongside a pair of games in 2013 against Idaho and New Mexico State. The 55-point margin of victory is also USU's fifth-largest in program history. The Aggies recorded 20 steals as a team, the most by the team since recording 21 against Utah Valley in 2014. Utah State outscored Stanislaus State, 44-7, in points off turnovers. USU's 21 assists are also the most by the Aggies since recording 24 helpers against Fresno State in 2022. The Aggies' 96 points were also tied for the most points in a game since scoring 106 against Northern New Mexico in 2018.

STEP ON UP, KNOCK 'EM DOWN
Sene went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the team's 68-65 win at Cal State Bakersfield, becoming just the eighth different player to go perfect from the charity stripe on at least 10 attempts in program history (14 total instances). Sene also added seven rebounds to lead the team. Sene currently ranks eighth in free throw percentage with at least 10 attempts in the Mountain West with a 86.7 free throw percentage.

HELPER HELPER
Utah State is currently averaging 12.1 assists per game, the most by the program since averaging 14.2 helpers during the 2021-22 season, and has recorded double-digit assists in six games so far this season.

Four separate Aggies have recorded five assists in a game this season as Asensio, Livingston, Sanford and freshman Bella Cosme have all achieve the feat this season. USU recorded only eight such games all of last season.

RECORD BREAKERS
Utah State made 256 3-pointers last season, breaking the program record of 247 3-pointers made by the team in 2012-13. Utah State also surpassed the program record for 3-point attempts with 889 attempts from behind the arc, shattering the 2012-13 team's mark of 752 3-point attempts. 

This year, the team ranks third in the Mountain West with 7.3 made 3-pointers per game and has improved from 10th last season to fourth this year with a 31.7 percent mark on 3-point attempts. 

REINFORCEMENTS ON THE WAY
Utah State's 2025-26 roster is highlighted by the additions of Aaliyah Gayles and Marina Asensio, with the backcourt duo bringing a wealth of experience and pedigree to Logan. Gayles was ranked the No. 8 recruit in the nation and a Mcdonald's All-American coming out of high school in 2022, and spent the last three seasons at USC. Asensio played last season at Western Michigan and her first two seasons at South Florida. She has twice played in the NCAA Tournament and earned all-MAC honorable mention last season.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD, BUT THIS IS
Marina Asensio played this summer for the Spanish U21 National Team at the FIBA 3x3 U21 Nations League in Bratislava, Slovakia. Asensio led the tournament in scoring while leading Spain to a gold medal. Paloma Muñoz Herreros also competed for Spain this summer at the U18 3x3 European Youth Olympic Festival.

PEER PRESSURE
The Aggies won back-to-back conference games last season against San Jose State and Nevada, their first time doing so since winning three-straight versus conference opponents in 2022. Utah State also swept San Jose State this season, USU's first sweep of a conference foe since defeating Air Force twice during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. 

LET IT FLY
Utah State ranked first in the MW and 30th nationally with 8.3 made 3-pointers per game. The Aggies also ranked first in the MW and seventh in the nation with 28.7 attempts from 3-point range per game this season. USU's three-point rate (the number of 3-point attempts relative to a team's total field goal attempts) of 40.6 percent ranked first in the MW and 10th in the nation. 
 
The Aggies had 11 players averaging at least one 3-point attempt per game, tying for the third-most such players in the country and the most such players for a single season in program history. Utah State also set a program record with five players averaging at least one 3-pointer per game. 

I AM SPEED
The Aggies finished the 2024-25 season as the fastest team in the Mountain West, averaging 75.1 possessions per 40 minutes. New Mexico ranked second in the MW with 73.1 possessions per 40 minutes.

USU currently ranks third in the MW with 73.7 possessions per game this season.

WITH THE ASSIST
Utah State registered 23 games with double-digit assists last season, the most since 2021-22 and far surpassing the previous year's mark of 12 such games. The Aggies averaged 11.5 assists per game, nearly three more assists per game than 2023-24, the second-biggest improvement among teams in the Mountain West. USU's 23 games of 10 or more assists ranks eighth all-time in program for a single season, and is the most since team recorded 24 such games in 2021-22.

FINISHED STRONG
Over the last five games of the 2024-25 regular season, the Utah State offense averaged 75.2 points per game, the highest offensive output in the Mountain West during a team's final five games of the regular season.

ON THE UPSWING
Utah State ranked at the top of the Mountain West last year and near the top of the nation in several year-over-year improvements from the 2023-24 season. USU averaged 11.8 more 3-point field goal attempts per game last season compared to 2023-24, the largest year-over-year jump in the nation. The Aggies also averaged 9.9 more field goal attempts per game (second-largest jump in the nation), 3.4 more made 3-pointers per game (third in nation) and had a 13.3 percent increase in 3-point rate over last season (second in nation). USU also averaged 2.1 more steals per game, 6.4 more points per game, 4.5 more possessions per game, 4.2 more forced turnovers per game, and 3.9 more made field goals per game, all of which are the largest year-over-year jumps among Mountain West teams this season.

AGGIE TRADITION
Sophomore forward Macie Brown is the daughter of Aggie Hall of Famer Tony Brown, a member of USU's All-Century basketball team in 2005. "Downtown" Tony Brown earned honorable mention All-America honors from Basketball News following his senior season and was named to the all-Big West first team as a junior. That season, Brown made one of the most memorable shots in school history in the finals seconds of regulation against No. 25 Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to tie the game. USU went on to defeat the Buckeyes in overtime to notch its first NCAA Tournament win in 31 years. 

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH TEAM ADDITIONS
With four players hailing from Spain out of its 14-player roster, Utah State has the highest percentage of players from Spain of anyone in the nation this season.

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF
The Aggies welcome in 11 newcomers for the 2025-26 season. In addition to Gayles and Asensio, Utah State brings in three more transfers in senior Rachel Wilson (Wheeling), senior Karyn Sanford (Tarleton State) and sophomore Macie Brown (College of Southern Idaho). Saskia Krüger and Andjela Marojevic join USU as sophomores after spending their freshman seasons in Europe. The Aggies also bring in four true freshmen in Aitana Rosello Lopez, Paloma Muñoz Herreros, Mirembe Twehamye Montanana and Bella Cosme. Seniors Sophie Sene and Jamisyn Heaton plus sophomore Elise Livingston return from last year's squad for USU.

INTERNATIONAL FLARE
This season, Utah State is majority international as the Aggies field eight players from overseas out of 14 players on the roster. USU boasts four players from Spain, the most in the nation, in Asensio, Rosello Lopez, Muñoz Herreros and Twehamye Montanana. Also represented on this year's roster is Zambia (Krüger), Serbia (Marojevic), Norway (Sanford) and France (Sene). This is the first time in program history that over 50 percent of Utah State's roster is from outside the United States. The Aggies last fielded even 50 percent international players in 2018-19 (seven out of 14).

STANDING TALL
Utah State's roster boasts six players standing 6-foot or taller in Sophie Sene (6-3), Rachel Wilson (6-2), Saskia Krüger (6-1), Paloma Muñoz Herreros, (6-1), Karyn Sanford (6-0) and Macie Brown (6-0). The Aggies fielded only three such players on last year's roster.

STARTER JACKETS
Utah State returns three players with extensive starting experience in Jamisyn Heaton, Elise Livingston and Sophie Sene. Heaton led the Aggies last season with 27 starts while Livingston followed close behind with 26 starts to her name. After missing several games early in the season due to injury, Sene returned to the lineup to make 17 starts last season.

UP NEXT
Utah State returns to MW action following the holiday break to host San Jose State on New Year's Eve at 1 p.m. (MT), before heading to the road to take on Nevada on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 2 p.m. (MT). 

Tickets
Season tickets, mini-plans and single-game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here or by visiting the USU Ticket Office.

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.
 
- USU -