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TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE
Utah Tech closes its WAC-opening weekend trip to Texas with a Saturday afternoon match-up at Tarleton State.

This weekend marked the fourth time the Trailblazers had traveled to "The Lone Star State" to play a basketball game this season. Utah Tech is currently 0-5 vs. Texas schools as we have reached halfway point of the campaign, which includes an 0-4 clip on the road, this after the Blazers dropped an 81-60 decision at UT Arlington this past Thursday afternoon. 

In addition to this weekend's two-game visit, Utah Tech will make its final trip to Texas next month for a WAC road date at Abilene Christian (2/6). 

In all the Trailblazers will play 10 of their 29 regular season games against teams from Texas during the 2024-25 campaign. 

Utah Tech fell to 9-8 all-time in conference openers after last Thursday's loss at UT Arlington, which includes a 2-2 overall mark in WAC openers. The Trailblazers are now 7-10 all-time in road conference openers, and dropped to 4-6 when beginning conference play on the visiting team's bench.

A Trailblazer win on Saturday will clinch a road WAC split for Utah Tech and will snap a season-long six-game losing streak. The last time the Blazers tasted victory was at home vs. Westcliff on Nov. 30.

OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (4-10/0-1 WAC) wraps up its WAC-opening Texas trip with a Saturday afternoon tilt at Tarleton State (10-7/1-1 WAC). Tip-off inside Wisdom Gym (3,000) in Stephenville is set for 1 p.m. (MT).  

FINALLY ELIGIBLE FOR POSTSEASON PLAY: Not only is the 2024-25 season Utah Tech's fifth Division I season overall, it is also the FIRST season that the Trailblazers are eligible for NCAA postseason play. 
        The NCAA Division I Board of Directors officially approved Utah Tech's move to active Division I status this past June 28. With that confirmation, Trailblazer Athletics is now officially eligible to participate in all NCAA postseason championships in its 15 intercollegiate programs.

UTAH TECH VS. TARLETON STATE: Utah Tech is 3-1 all-time in its brief series vs. Tarleton State, which includes a split of a pair of games last season.
            The Trailblazers had won three-straight to open the series with the Texans, including a 57-49 road win at Wisdom Gym in the first-ever meeting between the two teams during the 2021-22 campaign (12/30/21).
            Utah Tech also posted a pair of lopsided home wins over Tarleton State in each of the past two seasons (70-44 - 1/26/23; 75-48 - 1/27/24). However the Texans were able to break the streak with a 76-60 home triumph late last season in Stephenville (2/29/24).  

LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech fell victim to a pair of costly scoring droughts in dropping an 81-60 road decision at UT Arlington this past Thursday afternoon.
            The Trailblazers bolted out to a quick 12-4 lead just five minutes into play. However after a UTA timeout, the Lady Mavs rattled off 17-unanswered points en route to a 21-14 advantage after one quarter complete.
            UT Arlington opened the second period with a 17-6 run, and managed to maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way to send Utah Tech to its sixth-straight loss. 

HEAD COACH JD GUSTIN: JD Gustin is in his ninth season as Utah Tech head women's basketball coach. 
            Last season, Coach Gustin guided the Trailblazers to an 18-14 overall record, including a 12-8 mark in Western Athletic Conference play, which was good for fourth place in the conference standings and a first round bye into the 2024 WAC Tournament.
            Along with the 18 wins last season, his 2023-24 Trailblazers broke school records in made 3-pointers (327; #1 WAC/#6 NCAA), points (2,343), single game points (116), field goals made/attempted (853/1942), 3-pointers attempted (945), free throw percentage (.736) and fewest turnovers (420).
            Gustin has seen marked improvements in each season on the Trailblazer sideline, culminating with an 19-12 overall record in 2022-23, a nine-win turnaround from the previous season. The 2022-23 campaign also featured a 10-8 mark and a fifth-place finish in Western Athletic Conference play. 
            Utah Tech's 19 wins that season were the most in the program's newly minted NCAA Division-I era, and is the highest win total during Coach Gustin's tenure on the Trailblazer bench.

GUSTIN FOR 100: Gustin collected his 100th win as Trailblazer head coach with an 81-78 home win over in-state rival Weber State this past Nov. 16. Gustin has now notched at least 100 coaching victories in each of his two head coaching stops (102-116 at Utah Tech; 2016-current / 146-83 at Westminster College; 2004-11).

21-FOR-22: Thanks to its road victory at McNeese State (11/23 in Lake Charles, La.), Utah Tech has now won at least one basketball game in 21 different states during the program's NCAA era.
            In all, the Trailblazers have played games in 22 different states overall. The only state Utah Tech has visited and not won a game is Kansas, where the Blazers were handed a 91-82 loss at Big 12 member Kansas State (11/20/22) early in the 2022-23 season.

DEFENSE (CLAP CLAP) DEFENSE: Utah Tech held Westcliff to opponent season lows in points (40 – t-ninth in Utah Tech's NCAA era) and field goal percentage (.263; 15-of-57) in its 63-40 win on Nov. 30. In addition, the Trailblazers forced a season-high 25 turnovers, which resulted in a season-best 17 steals.
            Meanwhile, the Warriors' six-point third quarter and 18-point second half were also Utah Tech opponent season lows.
            Utah Tech's defense also held Westcliff without a double-digit scorer – which marked the first time the Trailblazers had achieved that feat in their newly minted NCAA Division I era.
            The last time Utah Tech held an opponent without a double-digit scorer was during the 2018-19 season, and nearly six years ago to the day, in a home win vs. Western Oregon by nearly the same identical score of last Saturday's result (W, 59-40; 11/16/18).

HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Utah Tech has played to a 144-79 (.646) overall record in 223 games inside the Burns Arena, which included an 11-5 mark last season.          
            Under Coach Gustin, the Trailblazers are 65-46 (.585) on their home floor and have won eight or more home games in six of their last seven seasons overall. In fact, Utah Tech's 11 home wins last season tied for the most during Gustin's tenure (11-4 in 2018-19) on the Trailblazer bench.

AWAY FROM THE BURNS: Utah Tech owns a 90-133 (.403) record in 223 road games since the 2006-07 season. Under Coach Gustin, the Blazers are 33-64 (.340) away from home, which includes a 1-6 mark this year, and a 7-8 road record last season. In addition, Utah Tech is 22-19 (.538) on neutral courts, 4-5 under Coach Gustin.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SEVENTH THE WAC: Utah Tech was picked to finish seventh in the 2024-25 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball preseason coaches poll, which was released this past October 16.
            Grand Canyon received four of a possible nine first place votes and 59 total points to be tabbed as the WAC preseason favorite, while defending conference regular season and tournament champion California Baptist collected four first place nods to finish second in the poll with 58 points.
            UT Arlington (1 FPV/53 pts) was picked to finish third, followed by Abilene Christian (37 pts) in fourth, Southern Utah (33 pts) in fifth, Tarleton State (28 pts) in sixth, Utah Tech (24 pts) in seventh, Utah Valley (17 pts) in eighth, and Seattle U (15 pts) was picked to finish ninth.  

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Utah Tech has hit at least one 3-pointer in 276-straight games, including 16 treys in the Weber State win (11/16), and a season-high 17 perimeter jumpers (17-of-47) in the 2024-25 season-opening victory vs. Northern New Mexico (11/4). 
            The Trailblazers shot a season-best 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from beyond the arc in the Weber State win. 
            Utah Tech also managed to drain 10 more 3-pointers vs. Pittsburgh (12/21), and those 10 treys continued a stretch that has seen the Trailblazers reach double figures in made 3-pointers 25 times in their last 46 games dating back to last season, highlighted by a season-best 21 3-pointers in its home win over Oregon (12/19/23). 
            In fact, the Trailblazers have knocked down at least 10 treys 109 times during its NCAA era overall.
            Last season Utah Tech led the WAC and finished the year ranked sixth-nationally with a school record 327 made 3-pointers, and broke a school records in both 3-point field goal attempts (945) and 3FG percentage (.346). 
            The 21 made treys last year vs. Oregon were the second-most in a single game in program history. In addition, the Trailblazers combined to shoot school record-breaking 67.7 percent (21-of-31) from the perimeter vs. the Ducks, besting the previous record that stood for nearly 12 full seasons (.611, 11-of-18 at BYU-Hawaii; 2/4/2012). 
            In the 2021-22 season, the Trailblazers nailed a school-record 22 3-pointers in its 107-57 blowout win over LIFE Pacific (11/9/21).
            That record was one of two 3FG school records to fall that night as the Blazers also broke a team record for 3FG attempted (51). 
            In all, Utah Tech has hit at least one 3-pointer in 484 of its 487 games during its NCAA era, which began in the 2006-07 season.
            Two of the three instances when the Blazers did not hit a 3-pointer happened during the 2013-14 season (vs. Hawai'i-Hilo, 2/13/14; at California Baptist, 1/18/14), and the other came in the program's first NCAA season in 2006-07 (vs. UHH, 1/7/07). 
            Meanwhile, Utah Tech has surrendered at least one made opponent 3-pointer in 486 of 487 games during its NCAA era.

RELEASE - ROTATION - SPLASH: Utah Tech heads into Saturday's game at Tarleton State ranked t-27th-NATIONALLY in made 3-pointers with 136. Meanwhile, the Trailblazers are 12th in the country in 3FGM per game (9.7 3FGM/g), seventh overall in 3-point attempts (447), and SECOND behind only Tennessee in 3FGA per game (31.8 3FGA/g).

HARTLEY'S ON FIRE: Junior guard Chardonnay Hartley paced the Trailblazers with 17 points in Thursday's loss at UT Arlington. That effort continued a stretch that has seen her score at least 10 points in nine of her first 14 starts as a Trailblazer, highlighted by a career-high 28 points in the Weber State home win this past Nov. 16.
            In fact, the junior point guard's start had her join some pretty elite company as she became just the fifth player in the program's NCAA era to score at least 20 points in three of the first four games to begin a season. 
            Hartley just missed making it four of her first five games overall after she poured in a co-game high 17 points with a season-high four 3-pointers at HCU (11/21), which she followed with 17 more points at McNeese State (11/23) on her way to WAC Player of the Week honors (11/25).
            Former Utah Tech post player Haley Holmstead was the first to achieve the feat, opening the 2013-14 season with three straight 20-plus point efforts, including a 30-point night at Cal State LA (11/23/13). 
            The three other instances have come in the program's new NCAA D-I era, most recently last season when Maddie Warren tallied 20 points against both Jacksonville State (11/9/23) and UNLV (11/14/23), followed by a 21-point day at Texas A&M-Commerce (11/20/23). 
            Meanwhile, twin sister Macie Warren turned the trick one year earlier in the 2022-23 season thanks to consecutive 25-point games vs. Benedictine Mesa (11/10/22) and Utah State (11/15/22), before pouring in 21 points at Kansas City (11/18/22).
            Also that same year, former Blazer guard Breaunna Gillen scored 20 or more points in four of her first five games, starting with a 21-point effort in the opener at Washington (11/7/22). Gillen followed that with 26 points vs. USU, 25 points at Kansas City, and 23 points at Kansas State (11/20/22). 

IBARRA OFF TO STRONG START: Junior guard Aaliyah Ibarra announced her presence with authority by providing a major spark off the Trailblazer bench in the early going. The junior began the year scoring at least 14 points in six of her first nine games in reserve duty to open the season.
            That strong start led to the junior starting in each of the last four games, during which included a 14-point effort in her first start of the year vs. UTEP (12/14), and a 12-point day at UT Arlington last Thursday. 
            Ibarra went off in her home debut vs. Stonehill (11/13), against which she poured in a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting with five 3-pointers in 24 reserve minutes.
            In fact, the junior has led Utah Tech in scoring in five of her last seven outings, highlighted by a career-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting with five more treys in the road win at McNeese State (11/23), which helped her earn WAC Newcomer of the Week honors (11/25). 
            Ibarra, who entered this week 12th in the WAC in scoring (11.6 ppg), registered 18 of her 36 points in the second quarter at MSU, during which she was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor with four 3-pointers. She has since followed that up with 15 points in the Colorado loss (11/27), a game-high 17 points in the home win over Westcliff (11/30), and a team-high 14 points at Boise State (12/6). 

8 FOR 30: Ibarra's 36-point day at McNeese tied for the fifth-most points scored by a Trailblazer in a single game in the program's NCAA era, and were the second-most points scored by a Trailblazer in a game during the team's current Division I era (38, Breaunna Gillen vs. UT Arlington; 2/24/24).
            Ibarra also became the eighth different Trailblazer to score at least 30 points in one game in the program's four-year era. In addition, her career day marked the 13th-time a Trailblazer had scored at least 30 points in a game overall.
            Holmstead scored 30 or more points a school record six times during the 2013-14 season, during which she wound up setting the school's single season scoring record with 646 points. Holmstead's dominant season was highlighted by a school record 42-point effort in a road win at Fresno Pacific (86-84; 12/7/13). 

ISAACSON #1 IN THREES ... EYES MORE CAREER MILESTONES: Redshirt senior forward Emily Isaacson reached two more milestones on her climb up the career charts on Thursday at UT Arlington.
            Isaacson became Utah Tech's all-time leader in made 3-pointers with her 208th trifecta late in the second quarter. That bucket moved her past former Trailblazer guard Kaylah Miller (2011-15), who knocked down 207 treys during her stellar four-year career.  
            Isaacson (504 reb), who is already Utah Tech's career leader in 3FG% (.392, 208-of-531), also became the fifth player in program history with at least 500 career rebounds with the third of her four first-quarter caroms.
            The senior heads into Saturday's game at Tarleton State needing only 34 more points to become the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
            When Isaacson reaches that milestone, she'll join Gillen (1,608 pts/607 rbs), Brown (1,212 pts/726 rbs) and former Trailblazer post player Taylor Mann (2013-16; 1,062 pts/841 rbs) as the only players in program history with 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.  
            In addition, Isaacson is fourth in career blocks (56), t-fifth in steals (109), sixth in FG made (335), eighth in career games played (87) and t-third in career starts (79). 

TRAILBLAZER PLAYER NOTES
* - Hartley has not only scored the basketball, she has also been a facilitator ... the junior heads into Saturday's game at Tarleton State as the WAC leader and t-13th nationally in total assists (89) and seventh in the NCAA D-I ranks in assists/game (6.4 apg).
* - Hartley has dished out six or more assists eight times through her first 14 games this season, including seven dimes at UT Arlington on Thursday, and three double-digit assist games in November. 
* - Hartley opened the year with 10 assists in the Northern New Mexico win (11/4), then dished out a career-high 12 helpers vs. Weber State (11/16) ... Hartley's 12 assists tied for the second-most in a single game in program history, and were one helper shy of tying the school record of 13 set by Gillen twice during the 2022-23 season.
* - Hartley then closed the month by posting her third double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 dimes vs. Colorado (11/27). 
* - Hartley currently stands as one of only three Trailblazers to post multiple 10-plus assist games in a career, and she is just the second player in the program's NCAA era to do it at least three times.
* - Gillen (2019-24) reached double figures in assists a school record nine times in her career overall, while former guard Leslie Tademy (2014-16) achieved the feat twice in her two years at Utah Tech. 
* - In addition, Hartley is 15th in all of Division I in free throw attempts (106) and is t-58th nationally in free throws made (62). 
* - After missing virtually the entire 2023-24 campaign due to a season-ending knee injury, Isaacson has picked up right where she left off, averaging 11.6 points through her first 14 games ... Isaacson has scored in double figures in eight of her 14 starts to begin the year, which started with 14 points on 5-of-9 from the floor with three 3-pointers in the NNMC win (11/4). 
* - Isaacson followed that up with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with a pair of treys, four rebounds, three dimes and a game-high five steals at New Mexico State (11/7).
* - Isaacson then enjoyed arguably her finest game in a Trailblazer uniform in the win over Weber State (11/16), against which she poured in 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 6-of-7 from the perimeter, along with six boards, three assists and four steals, highlighted by the game-saving steal on the Wildcats' final possession.
* - Isaacson kept that hot shooting touch going in the Westcliff win (11/30) with 13 points on 5-of-6 from the floor with three treys, and tallied 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting at UT Arlington last Thursday.
* - Redshirt junior guard Brie Crittendon has caught fire of late, having scored in double figures in four of her last eight starts, including a Utah Tech career high 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting with three 3-pointers vs. Pittsburgh (12/21) ... Crittendon also led the Blazers with five rebounds and three steals in a season-high 38 minutes of action. 
* - Crittendon just missed her first collegiate double-double in Thursday's loss at UT Arlington, against which she tied a career high with nine rebounds and tallied eight points with a pair of 3-pointers.
* - Freshman guard Ellie Taylor got the starting nod in her collegiate debut, and she proceeded to fill the stat sheet with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots in the Northern New Mexico win (11/4).
* - Taylor went off for 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and seven boards vs. Stonehill (11/13), then followed that up with a career-high 17 points, including 4-of-4 from the perimeter, four caroms, three steals and two blocks in the Weber State win (11/16).
* - Taylor has scored in double figures five times overall this season, including 14 points with four 3-pointers in 26 minutes off the bench vs. Pitt (12/21). 
* - After missing the NM State game due to illness, redshirt freshman Kastyn Young posted her second straight 17-point outing vs. Stonehill (11/13) ... Young went 6-of-15 from the floor with three 3-pointers and a steal in 23 reserve minutes.
* - In all, the Trailblazer bench accounted for 45 of the team's 86 points vs. Stonehill on Nov. 13 ... the 45 bench points scored were a program Division I era high, and were the most bench points scored since the 2021-22 season, when the Blazer reserves tallied 40 points in a home win over Simpson (12/11/21).
* - Utah Tech has scored 40-plus bench points in 25 of its 487 NCAA-era games since the program transitioned from junior college to four-year competition in 2006-07 ... 23 of those occasions came during the Division II era, including five 50-plus point games, highlighted by a school record 59 points from Utah Tech reserves in a 93-54 road win at Chaminade (2/4/09) during the 2008-09 season.
* - The Trailblazer bench just missed making it 26 games in the Westcliff win (11/30) as six reserves combined for 36 points.
* - Sophomore forward Lauren Crocker was stellar in her Blazer debut vs. NNMC (11/4) with 10 points, eight boards and two blocks ... Crocker drained a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers, both of which came during Utah Tech's big run.
* - Sophomore forward Nicole Willardson poured in a season-high 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers and led Utah Tech with eight rebounds at Rice (12/4) ... her 10 points were two shy of her career high of 12 set in last year's win vs. Oregon (12/19/23).
* - Willardson also tied her career high with three blocked shot at Rice, which matched the number of shots she swatted away vs. Westcliff (11/30). 
* - Willardson led the Trailblazers' rebounding effort with a career-high nine caroms and hit on 2-of-7 from the floor for four points vs. NNMC (11/4) ... Willardson also picked off a career-high four steals and had two points, three boards and a block in a season-high 27 minutes in the Weber State win (11/16).
* - Freshman guard Mylee Graham continues to be a solid contributor off the bench in her debut season, especially in the rebounding department as she is sixth on the team among active players in rebounds (49; 3.5rpg) ... Graham pulled down a season-high nine boards and scored four points at NM State (11/7) ... that effort followed a seven-rebound effort along with two points, two assists and one steal in 16-plus reserve minutes in her collegiate debut vs. NNMC (11/4). 
* - Graham hit for a career-high six points on 3-of-5 shooting with three more boards in a season-high 23 minutes vs. Colorado (11/27).
* - After being held scoreless in the opener vs. NNMC, sophomore guard Calyn Dallas bounced back with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, along with two boards and two steals at NM State (11/7) ... Dallas knocked down a pair of threes on her way to eight points, along with four boards and two steals vs. Westcliff, and tallied four points at UT Arlington on Thursday. 
* - After missing the first 13 games of the year, freshman forward Paige Cofer made her long-awaited collegiate debut on Thursday at UT Arlington ... Cofer was penciled into the starting line-up and flirted with a double-double, finishing with seven points and a co-game high nine rebounds. 

ABOUT THE TARLETON STATE "TEXANS": Tarleton State comes into Saturday's game on a bit of a roll, having won five of its last six games, including a 64-53 home win over Southern Utah on Thursday night.  
            The Texans go as Arieona Rosborough goes, as the 5-8 senior guard is Tarleton's lone player averaging double figures at 13.2 ppg on 44.4 percent shooting. 
            Rosborough has scored in double figures in 12 of her 17 starts to this point of the season with five 20-point outings, including 28 points at UT Arlington last Saturday, and 20 points in Thursday's victory over SUU. 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will play four of its next five WAC games at home, starting with a Thursday night date vs. Seattle U in the Burns Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (MT).