BACK IN ACTION
Utah State continues Mountain West action following the holiday break, hosting 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).

FOLLOW ALONG

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

OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT 

With a win over Air Force, Utah State won its conference opener for the first time since defeating Nevada to begin Mountain West play in 2018-19. The Aggies had lost six-straight MW openers prior to this season. USU also snapped a nine-game losing skid to the Falcons with the victory. 

NOTHING BUT NET

The Aggies currently sit at 221st in the NET rankings, the highest ranking for the program since peaking at 219th on Jan. 10, 2021. Utah State jumped 20 spots in the NET after defeating Idaho, 80-73, the largest single-day jump in NET ever for the Aggies. Prior to this season, USU had not been ranked higher than 250th in the NET rankings since 2021-22.

ICYMI

Utah State opened the Mountain West season at 1-1 after scoring a 65-53 home win over Air Force before falling at Colorado State, 55-46. Junior guard Aaliyah Gayles led the way against the Falcons with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double, also tying senior guard Marina Asensio for the team lead with four assists apiece. Senior center Sophie Sene also added 10 points and six rebounds. Asensio and Sene also led the Aggies against the Rams with Asensio scoring 10 points alongside three assists and Sene adding nine points and six boards.

 

AGGIES VS EVERYONE

Utah State holds a 22-17 lead in the all-time series against San Jose State and has won each of the past three meetings, including a sweep of the season series last year. The Aggies are 13-5 all-time at home against the Spartans. USU began the series by winning 15 of the first 21 matchups before the Spartans then reeled off 11 wins in the next 15 meetings prior to Utah State’s current three-game winning streak.

The Aggies lead the all-time series against Nevada, 22-20, and has won two of the past three, including a 93-75 victory in Logan last season. USU is 13-6 all-time at home against the Wolf Pack, including winning seven of the past nine. Three games since 2018 have gone to overtime with Utah State picking up a pair of double-overtime wins in 2019 and 2022, two of only six multiple-overtime games in program history.

CONVERTING THE FREEBIES

USU currently leads the Mountain West during league play with an 81.3 percentage mark from the free throw line, ahead of second-place Wyoming’s 79.2 percent showing on FTs. The Aggies have gone 26-of-32 from the charity stripe so far to begin MW action.

DEFENSIVE PROWESS

Utah State’s defense has powered the team during the beginning of conference play. The Aggies currently lead the Mountain West both in overall and 3-point field goal percentage allowed during MW play, holding opponents to 29.7 percent shooting from the field and 15.9 percent from behind the arc. San Diego State ranks second in the league in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 31.4 percent mark from the floor, while UNLV ranks second in the MW in 3-point defense, holding opponents to a 27.7 percentage mark from 3-point range. The Aggies also locked down the boards, leading the league during conference play with 32.50 defensive rebounds per game.

During the week of Dec. 15-21 when the Aggies began conference play, Utah State ranked 28th in the nation in defensive field goal percentage and 17th in defensive 3-point field goal percentage.

STUFFING THE STAT SHEET 

Gayles led the charge in USU’s 65-53 win over Air Force, scoring 19 points alongside 10 rebounds and four assists, becoming the first Aggie to hit those marks since Shannon Dufficy did so against San Jose State in 2019. Gayles finished 4-of-8 from the field, connecting on both of her 3-point attempts, and went 9-of-10 from the free throw line while recording her first career double-double. 32 teams in the country have yet to record a double-double this season.

A TALL TASK ACCOMPLISHED

Sene scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting against Idaho, 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 18.1 turnovers per game, the sixth-most in program history and the most by the team since forcing a program record 19.5 turnovers per game in 2010-11. The Aggies rank fourth in the MW this season in turnovers forced per game.

COUNT TO 20

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.

HEROICS GALORE

The Aggies recorded two-straight wins over Cal State Bakersfield and Omaha, both featuring late heroics to earn the victory. 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 11th in the Mountain West in free throw percentage with at least one attempt per game with a mark of 84.2 percent.

HELPER HELPER

Utah State is currently averaging 11.9 assists per game, the most by the program since averaging 14.2 helpers during the 2021-22 season. USU has recorded double-digit assists in eight games so far this season and is 5-3 in those games.

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 7.4 made 3-pointers per game and has improved from 10th last season to fifth this year with a 31.8 percentage 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 3×3 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 3×3 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. 

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. This season, USU ranks fifth in the MW with 72.6 possessions per 40 minutes of play. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

UP NEXT

Utah State faces another week split between home and away, first taking on UNLV in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 7:30 p.m. (MT), before returning home to host San Diego State on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 1 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.

 

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