Kayla Ard at USU vs Nevada women’s basketball, 02/26/22 In the Mountain West basketball preseason polls released this week for the men’s teams and last week for the women, Utah State was not viewed in a favorable light. The women’s basketball team was picked to finish dead last among the 11 teams while the men were slated to finish eighth. It’s the worst combined preseason prediction for USU since joining the conference in 2013. Kayla Ard, head coach of the women’s team that’s now been picked to finish 11th three straight years, was bold in her response to her team’s placement in the poll, as was transfer guard Cristina Oliva. “We all knew we were going to be picked 11th,” Ard said. “And we love it. We’re excited about it. The team is excited about it. That staff’s excited about it. That’s exactly where we wanted to be picked.” “I couldn’t be more happy that we’re placed 11th. We’re a brand new team so anything that’s happened in previous years we don’t really care about because we haven’t been here,” Oliva said. “I’m just ready to prove people wrong. I know that a lot of people have talked down on