Offseason brings mass exodus for USU women’s basketball

The Utah State men’s basketball program is currently experiencing a renaissance, hearkening back to the mid-major dynasty of the early 2000s. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the university’s women’s basketball team.

After a semi-successful 2018-19 campaign that saw the women’s side finish 17-16 (just the second time in the last six seasons the team finished with a winning record), head coach Jerry Finkbeiner has seen a near exodus from his team’s locker room.

Two players — Rachel Brewster and Deja Mason — graduated with the former signing with a semi-pro Australian team. Four others — Roxani Bountouka, Olivia West, Shannon Dufficy and Eliza West — entered the transfer portal and two, Dufficy and Eliza, have already found new homes.

Eliza West drives to the basket in transition against Air Force on Saturday February 16, 2019. West set the USU all-time assist record in her junior year but will transfer to NAIA Southeastern University.

Both Bountouka and Olivia West were unable live up to preseason expectations. Bountouka, a freshman from Greece, did not play a single minute on the court due to an offseason injury. West, on the other hand, under-performed greatly as she went from being Utah State’s leading scorer in 2017-18 to the fourth leading scorer (no major recruits or transfers joined the Aggies between the two season, West just simply scored less). She also started just 13 games, her lowest total since her freshman season.

Dufficy was a very pleasant surprise for last year’s squad. She finally overcame inconsistency troubles and became the Aggies’ leader in minutes, points, rebounds and steals. Along with that she set program records for double-doubles in a single season, the mark for most consecutive double-doubles and became just the second Aggie in the Mountain West era to be selected to First-Team All-Conference. Instead of returning to likely become the all-time leader in rebounds, Dufficy will play for Missouri next year.

Couldn’t be more excited to announce I’m going to MIZZOU 🐯🐯 thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped out the past couple of months. It’s been a long process but definitely worth it. Can’t wait to start this new journey 😈 See ya soon Missouri!!! https://t.co/BrvOb1a4UQ

— Shannon Dufficy (@shannon_dufficy) June 19, 2019

Former USU forward/center Shannon Dufficy looks to score against Air Force on Saturday February 16, 2019. Dufficy was the Aggies’ leading scorer last year but will transfer to Missouri.

Though Dufficy had yet to become the career leader in her top statistical category, Eliza West, had already reached that summit. The Australian native set the career record for assists with 457 in just three seasons. But like Dufficy, the potential to reach higher peaks will be lost as West will conclude her college basketball career at NAIA school Southeastern University. Utah State played a NAIA team, New Mexico College, this past season, destroying the side by a school-record 71 points.

The Aggies will enter 2019-20 having lost the top scorer, rebounder, steals, assists and block leader. Mason, the all-time leader in blocks at USU, is the only one in that group of four players that was forced to leave. The outgoing players made up 65 percent of minutes played this past season, 63.2 percent of points, 71.6 percent of rebounds and 74.3 percent of assists.

Added to the excessive loss of players, Utah State also lost assistant coach Paris Johnson after just one year spent with the team in that role. Johnson accepted an assistant role with the Hawaii women’s basketball team.

Utah State will go from a team with six underclassmen — four of which played sparingly — in 2018-19 to a squad with nine this upcoming season.

[polldaddy poll=10345806]