The Utah State women's basketball team lost to the Boise State Broncos in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament on Sunday to the tune of an 85-49 score. It did not just signal the end of the Aggies' 2023-24 season but also the conclusion of the head coaching career with the program of Kayla Ard, who revealed to reporters that she got fired just before the postgame press conference.
Ard was asked by a reporter about her rebuilding plans for the 2024-25 college basketball season and he responded with a grand revelation about her being just handed her walking papers by athletic director Diana Sabau.
“I'm not going to be rebuilding. I just coached my last game at Utah State. I spoke with Diana, and they're going in a different direction, and I respect her decision and I hope they get a really good coach in,” Ard said.
This is crazy! After the Utah State women lost tonight, coach Kayla Ard was asked how they rebuild next season – and she says she just got fired. Never seen anything like this.
"I'm assuming that's going to be the last question?"
(Video courtesy of The Mountain West) pic.twitter.com/j9yjcMAbjD
— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) March 11, 2024
The loss to the Broncos turned out to be the final straw for Ard, with the Aggies shooting just 22.4 percent from the field while letting Boise State hit 44.9 percent of its attempts from the floor. The Aggies were simply in the same class as Boise State.
Ard was hired by Utah State women's basketball to be its head coach in 2020. She ends her coaching career with the Aggies with an overall record of 24-90 through 114 games.
“We appreciate everything Kayla and her staff have contributed to Utah State,” said Sabau in a statement (via the school's website). “However, it is in the best interest of the program to make a change.”
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