20210303_Women’sBB

Aggie Women’s Hoops preview

LOGAN — After a rebuilding season in 2021, Utah State Women’s Basketball is looking for another season of improvement, following an increase of seven wins from 2020 to 2021. Despite only two players returning from the 2021 roster, the Aggies focused on the transfer portal and overhauled the roster.

USU brought in 12 new players to the program this season, including Sierra College transfer Cristina Oliva. At Sierra College, Oliva was named first-team all-Big 8 Conference, and helped her team achieve a 28-3 record. Oliva led the Wolverines with 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Her prowess at taking away the ball should help the Aggies as they try to rebrand as a defensive team.

“I know coming from last year, we weren’t a great defensive team, but we are really good defensively this year,” Oliva said. “We are really fast in transition and will get teams tired.”

Last season, the Aggies went 11-19 and made it to the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals in Las Vegas. Despite going 5-13 in conference play, it was a noticeable increase from 2020. Head coach Kayla Ard thinks the key to improving their record again is defense.

“Since I got here, defensively we have been kind of bad. After going through the Mountain West for two years, it was eye-opening for me that we had to guard to win games. Defense has been a big focus for us this summer,” Ard said. “I think we are going to be strong defensively.”

Olivia Wikstrom, one of the two returners from last year, showed off in the Aggie Madness event on Oct. 26. Wikstrom hit four 3-pointers in the scrimmage, and said it’s something she’s been focusing on.

“I’ve been in the gym working on my threes a lot,” Wikstrom said. “We have a lot of good shooters.”

In years past, the Aggies may have been a team to mess around with. This year, the team has a new mindset.

“We are a fiery team. We may not be the tallest, but we are feisty and tough,” Wikstrom said. “We are athletic.”

Another returner for the Aggies is junior guard Kinley Falslev-Wickizer. Falslev-Wickizer appeared in 26 games for the Aggies, averaging nearly two points a contest. She is also the cousin of USU Men’s Basketball freshman Mason Falslev.

“They know what I want in the locker room and in the system. When we go to run a drill or put in a new play, those two — Falslev-Wickizer and Wikstrom — immediately run out there and help us,” Ard said. “Just with culture. Those two know the culture we want, and they know the expectations.”

Another player who looked impressive in the scrimmage was junior guard Tamiah Robinson. She showed off with flashy moves in the paint, and her driving ability to get to the basket.

Robinson spent her last two seasons in NJCAA Division II at Labette Community College, where she averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 assists per game, and was in the top 10 in D-II in 3-point percentage, assists and steals.

An interesting statistic about the Aggies this season is that only one player is from the state of Utah: Falslev-Wickizer.

“We are definitely working on recruiting in Utah, but we have to win more to get those recruits,” Ard said. “We want to start in the state of Utah, but it will get better as we stack more wins together. We are getting closer to Utah, but we have to give it time and develop it more.”

Ard also mentioned that playing in-state teams will help get more notice from local recruits.

A big piece that Utah State lost last year was Adryana Quezada, who transferred to San Diego State. Quezada averaged a team-high 15.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for the Aggies. Quezada scored in double figures 19 times last season and had a stretch of nine consecutive conference games with double-figure scoring.

Since USU is almost an entirely new team, they lost their top seven scorers from last season.

Utah State is looking to keep its improvement going as they start a new season under coach Ard. The team defeated Fort Lewis College 74-45 in an exhibition on Oct. 28.

The Aggies had four players in double figures, with Tamiah Robinson dropping 19 points in 28 minutes. Six-foot-one-inch forward Abby Wahl had 15 boards and 10 points for a double-double, and Cristina Oliva, on a minutes restriction, had 11 points.

USU will take on the College of Idaho on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, and will host Ard’s alma mater, Southeastern Louisiana, on Friday, Nov. 11 at 3 p.m.

 

Featured image by Joseph F Myers from the Feb. 2 game against San Diego State.