Women’s basketball road recap: Coach Brooks preaches pace and efficiency
Amidst a 14-game losing streak, injuries and rotation adjustments, the Aggies return from their two-game road trip facing significant challenges.
The team opened their road trip on Jan. 11 with a game against the Nevada Wolf Pack, a team ranked in the lower half of the Mountain West standings. Utah State trailed for most of the game but managed to narrow the deficit to three points late in the fourth quarter. However, costly turnovers and second-chance points from offensive rebounds sealed their fate as Nevada secured a 78-69 victory.
Guard Mia Tarver had her best offensive performance of the season against the Wolf Pack, dropping 19 points on 6-12 shooting off the bench.
As a team, the Aggies delivered one of their stronger shooting performances of the season, finishing 44% from the field. However, Nevada dominated at the free-throw line, converting 18 of 22 attempts compared to the Aggies’ 9 of 14.
The second game took place at the Save Mart Center against the Fresno State Bulldogs, a middle-of-the-pack team in the Mountain West. After a tightly contested first quarter, the Bulldogs took control and dominated the rest of the way, securing a 74-54 win.
Fresno State torched the Aggies both inside and out, hitting 9 of 20 three-pointers while scoring 34 points in the paint. Early in the game, Utah State’s zone defense effectively forced the Bulldogs into bad passes and poor shot selections. However, as the game progressed, Fresno State adjusted to the Aggies’ fast-paced style, moving the ball efficiently, making the extra pass and capitalizing on open corner threes.
“We need to play a little bit faster,” head coach Wesley Brooks said following the team’s practice on Friday. “We’ve slowed down since conference play, so now we’re fifth in pace of play. We want to always be first.”
A key factor in the Aggies slowing down has been the lack of rebounding from their bigs. Brooks has been rotating between Karlie Banks, Gracie Johnson and Sophie Sene in search of a center who can reliably handle the bulk of minutes at the position. Each of those three have struggled to secure rebounds and contribute on offense.
“I told them, ‘You guys are battling,’” Brooks said. “If you’re playing and not grabbing rebounds as a big, it’s a problem. If you’re playing, and you can’t make a simple layup, it’s a problem.”
Figuring out the big rotation could hopefully help with the team’s defensive woes. In their first five games against conference opponents, the Aggies have allowed teams to shoot 47% from the field and 40% from three — both figures that spell trouble.
If they can improve on missed rotations in the zone and secure more rebounds, Utah State could see greater success down the road. Their perimeter offense in conference play has been much improved. In the last five games, the team has shot 39% from the field and 31% from three.
From day one, Brooks aimed for his team to lead the conference in three-point shooting, but the Aggies have recently found success driving to the paint and hitting mid-range shots.
“We want to get to the rim, we want to make threes, but for what we have on our team, we also have to kind of play to what they can do,” Brooks said. “We have kids that can hit the elbow jumpers and hit those two-point shots.”
Another bright spot has been the recent play of freshman guard Carlie Latta. Latta has earned the trust in becoming one of Brooks’ most reliable playmakers, and her stats in conference play have been incredibly efficient.
In the last five games, Latta’s ranked second on the team with 13.4 points per game, and her shooting splits of 53/44/100 are the best on the team during that stretch.
“She’s been phenomenal,” Brooks said. “She naturally has a good IQ of the game, can play a little point, can move off the ball, can score. We have to continue to just develop her and help her get better defensively.”
Latta, soft-spoken yet intensely confident, feels as though she is starting to find her role on the team.
“I’ve been getting in the gym and working on my shot,” Latta said. “One of my roles is to be more aggressive and to be more of a facilitator and shoot the ball more, so I’ve tried to take on that role. My teammates have been great at finding me and getting me shots.”
Another scorer who has shown recent improvement on the Aggies’ offense is guard Cheyenne Stubbs, as would be expected from a 1,000-point career scorer. Stubbs is averaging 18.0 points per game in conference play, shooting 42% from the field and 35% from three.
Brooks has been pleased with Stubbs’ recent performances, but he wants her to become a more consistent scorer moving forward.
“Cheyenne can dominate the ball, so what we want to do with her is just get her more efficient,” Brooks said. “When she’s not efficient, we’re not good.”
Utah State will have a chance to bounce back from their losses when they play San Diego State at the Spectrum on Jan. 18. Tarver will be out with a lower-leg injury but is expected to return within the next few days.