USU women’s basketball newcomer breakdown: SLCC transfer Mia Tarver | Sports
Wes Brooks has big plans for a turnaround of the Utah State women’s basketball program. Much of that involves having a fast-paced offense while also being a team that guards all 94 feet of the basketball court. It takes a certain kind of player to pull off such a high-intensity style. The very first of Brooks’ transfer commits is just such a player. Mia Tarver, a 5-foot-7 guard out of Salt Lake Community College, isn’t exactly a queen of the stat sheet, with per-game averages of 9.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists alongside slightly roughly average shooting percentages (39.9 percent overall and 30.7 from three). And yet, she possesses the qualities necessary to be an integral part of Utah State’s reimagined style. At the top of Tarver’s list of positive impact attributes stands her defensive capabilities. SLCC ranked 26th in defensive efficiency among NJCAA D1 teams and Tarver played a key part in that stellar team defense. She put in work as a point-of-attack defender, picking up the opponent’s top ball handler and sometimes top scorer, and showed overall great defense. Over and over again there were great examples of her harassing opposing ball handlers and stonewalling driving guards.
