The 2024-25 season has come to a close for the Utah Tech University men’s and women’s basketball teams, and the season marks the end of the probationary period the school entered when they transferred from Division II to Division I.
Despite the tough year, there were a few standout moments and players that are worth mentioning on the women’s team. The team clocked a road win at McNeese State University back in November, in which junior guard Aaliyah Ibarra led with an astounding 35 points on 60% shooting.
For overall stats, freshman guard Ellie Taylor started in 25 of the 31 games and snagged a spot on the WAC all-freshman team, averaging 10 points on 41% shooting.
Emily Isaacson, a master’s sports management major from Brigham City, led in scoring with 12 points per contest. Chardonnay Hartley, a junior business management major from New York City, averaged 6.4 assists, which is the sixth-best in the entire country.
The Trailblazers finished 6-25 overall and 1-15 in conference play, and the season ended with a loss to Grand Canyon University in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament March 12.
“It sounds like a moral victory, which it kind of is… [but] it’s that we took good care of each other,” Isaacson said when asked about the focus despite the losses. “I think that’s something the team can kind of build off of for next year and turn that into good.”
Hartley agreed, saying the record doesn’t show the relationships and overall good that was built behind the scenes.
“A lot of teams separate and will go with different routes and turn on each other, and I think that it made us closer,” she said.
Regardless, the Trailblazers earned their final win of the season against Seattle University March 11 and moved to the second round of the WAC tournament.
“The goal was to get to Vegas,” Hartley said. “Like, we had our bags packed and everybody was laughing and we were ready to go.”
Isaacson, who was the lone senior on the team, said the win was a great way to end the season on a positive note.
On the other side of the aisle, the men’s basketball team finished similarly, with a 7-26 overall record and going 2-14 in conference play. Guards Noa Gonsalves and Beon Riley led all scorers and averaged 13 points per game across the season, with Gonsalves leading the way in minutes with 34. Samuel “Tobi” Ariyibi led the forwards, starting 25 games and averaging eight points and five rebounds.
Similarly to the women’s team, the men clocked a big win against Southern Utah University in the first round of the WAC Tournament March 11. Third time’s the charm, as this was the Trailblazer’s third matchup against their rivals this season and they were finally able to come out on top. Senior guard Hakim Byrd led the Trailblazers with 19 points and three steals.
“It was huge,” head coach Jon Judkins said. “Before the WAC tournament… we said, ‘OK, it’s a whole new season.’ And so we got on the [white] board and we wrote a big fat zero and said ‘hey, everybody’s at zero and zero. It’s a whole new season. Let’s start over and let’s go make something happen.’ They played really well.”
Judkins said how despite the adversity and long losing streaks, the team continued to work hard and stay motivated.
“They were a really mature team,” he said. “They were really, really, really good at [motivating themselves]. They wanted to get better.”
The season came to a close with a loss in the WAC Tournament to Utah Valley University March 12. Just like with the women’s team, Judkins is hoping that the win will help propel the team forward to help them get ready for the next season.
