By situation, I just mean that, in my opinion, she just is not a D1 player. Every team has a couple of players that are really needed for the program as a whole for it to run smoothly and have players for practices. Blanck fills that role. I feel bad for her sometimes that she doesn’t play, but she seems to enjoy being on the team and playing the role she plays.
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In thinking about the two losses over the weekend, I wondered if the team would appreciate the difficulty level they faced and somehow make the rest if the games seem easier in comparison. You know, like a batting donut makes the bat feel lighter or you go from expert level to basic level on a video game.
If anything nothing much changed except the Utes shot a bit better from the field against Weber than they did against Uconn. However, when you are a team that is based on threes or inside baskets, you can’t be 7-27 from three-land against a team like Weber.
This team is struggling right now. Weber played even with them in the 2nd half 28-28 in points. If they don’t show improved shooting soon, it might be a long season.
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The team does not look good. 3-pt shooting doesn’t matter when you can’t make them because of pressing. Not enough inside presence to counter, either. It’s a guard-heavy team, but ball-handling and passing are suspect at best.
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Realizing that Montana is not a team that can measure up to a XII team (though they did lose a one point game to BYU in Missoula) it was a nice win.
Good to see Reese Ross back in the lineup. In the last three games (UW, SU, UConn) she was being beat up pretty good. She had a wrap on her left knee, which is the knee she injured in the last play of the SU game, where she limped off the court in pain (and a lot of frustration over how she was manhandled physically). Nice to see her get some good minutes that hopefully bring up her confidence again.
Evans and Otto pretty much had their way down low, and between them scored 21 points in 33 minutes (the other 7 went to Crispe).
Otherwise, tip of the hat to White for leading the team with 16 points and being willing to shoot.
Next, on to Ft Collins on Thursday, then home for Boise St and Northwestern next week.
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I read this article this morning and it sounds so familiar I had a bit of a nightmare flashback. But, also gladdened in that it shows we are not alone in the world of being overwhelmed by this UConn team.
UConn women’s basketball dominates Xavier in Big East opener behind 18 made 3-pointers
Once the UConn women’s basketball team began hitting from 3-point range against Xavier on Sunday, the only thing the Musketeers could do to slow them down was hope for a miss.
The No. 1 Huskies routed Xavier 104-39 on the road (emphasis mine) in their Big East opener behind a 50% shooting performance beyond the arc. The team sank a season-high 18 3-pointers with three different players making at least four and six players finishing with double-digit points… (remaining part of article removed for the promotion of our mental health).
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The game against Colorado State tonight is both on the Mountain West Network online, and, if you have RYZsports on your cable system, it will be on there as well.
Not sure the cable system in Utah carry RYZ, but you may wish to see if you want to watch the game.
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Nice to see our freshmen lead us to a nice win on the road while the veterans played well aslo. Avery is going to be so good.
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It was her 3 straight triples early in the 4th quarter and a nice drive for two that finally allowed the Utes to pull away and win. For a lot of the game, I was a bit frustrated. The entry passes are so poor and we had streaks of not hitting anything. Colorado State is a team Utah should blow out if they think they should be in the tourney.
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Watched some of the game last night against a Boise St. team that came in 8-1. They really hadn’t played anyone of note and their other loss was at CU. The game was tied at 19 after 1 quarter and the Utes went on to win 91-58. The Utes had 25 assists on 37 made shots. Evans, who transferred from Michigan a year ago but who sat out with an injury is a nice player. She would have made the Utah team from last year a much better team.
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Yeah, that 1st Quarter when Boise was making everything and the Utes found a way to stay with them, mainly by shooting pretty well themselves.
That was a team that looked a lot like the Ute team of two years ago. The shots were falling, confidence overflowing, etc.
Also, other than the 1st quarter and a little flurry to start the 3rd quarter, Utah played very good defense. The best defense and rebounding game this year.
Wilke is still in her giant shooting slump and then she got absolutely butchered by a Boise player, and left holding her right shoulder. She tried one possession in the 2nd half and left for the locker room never to return. I hope it is nothing serious. What a brutal no-call.
Nice to see Sneed with all the confidence, she is found her way and really played excellent in all phases.
Not sure whether Ross is ever going to get the benefit of the doubt from the refs, and had to sit a lot of the first half, but she came out in the second and played extremely well. Great to see after all the abuse she has taken this year.
Not sure why we hadn’t seen Mafua much, but she played a lot, hit some shots and played good defense. Hopefully we see more of her.
All in all a great game. Now, do it against Northwestern and have two great games in a row and keep building that confidence.
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Nice win vs Northwestern. Although NU isn’t very good and has lost to all of its P4 games, thought Utah played nicely, especially after Q1.
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Lani White 12-12 from 3 in the last 2 games. The mens team could use some backcourt help…Im only 3/4 kidding.
As of right now (before todays win gets factored in tonight) we are 45 in the NET Rankings, 7th in the big 12. Opportunities galore and I think we finish 2-4 games over .500 in conference play and we should be in a good spot for a 5th straight tourney bid.
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That was a nice win, and holding down a good “big” in the process. The offense is improving as they are getting many more open shots than before. The defense is better which leads to the improved rebounding. All around, the team is just better.
I just read a rundown of the top women’s teams this year and in the article a comment about LSU’s weak non-conference schedule. The Tennessee coach, who had a weak non-con last year, said that she didn’t really know her team going into conference play.
I said earlier on here that maybe those three in a row games against Washington, Syracuse, and UCONN, make it seem the rest of the schedule is on easier mode. It sure seems like Petersen has a good feel for the team.
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The Utes got another win the other night against a surprisingly game UCRiverside squad. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters were disaster for the Utes. Many, many terrible and bad turnovers, some forced others just sloppy. UCR pressured the ball all over the court, and is a much better team than the record seems to indicate. The BigXII teams sure have received enough looks at the Utes to know that you defensively press full or half court and high when set up.
Elaine Elliott made a great point in her commentary saying that the Utes “presented” the ball too much which allowed an aggressive defense like UCR to use quick hands to disrupt the play. At the half time interview with Coach, he flat out apologized for those watching and in the house for the play of the team and was very upset.
They came out in the 3rd quarter and ran away with the game (which allowed the desultory play to return in the 4th and not lose them the game).
Great game by Ross. The second in a row where she was very very good. She works so hard, and she really deserves the good results.
White didn’t play as well, but still had her moments. If she can some consistency, she would easily be the best scorer on the team.
Wilke really slumped this game, but does some other good things, like rebounding as a guard that helps the team. After the game I saw her holding her right shoulder. I have to believe that injury she sustained two games ago is still bothering her. It is not like her to have almost no impact in the scoring.
I am starting to like the Evans/Otto combination, and even Crispe has been used at the same time as either Evans/Otto which is a new look for the Utes. Crispe still has issues with her game, but she is playing well right now.
Finally, I don’t know when Walker will get back, there seems to be no news on this. That said, Sneed has really stepped up.
Out of conference is now done, with the next game in Tucson against Arizona. They will likely come out and press high or full court and if Utah isn’t ready to handle the ball any better, it may be very bad.
Go Utes.
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The conference season started yesterday with TCU beating KSU by 20 in Ft Worth and BYU beating UCF by 21 in Orlando.
Here is a screen shot of the conference so far prior to those games finishing.
Arizona, the Utes next opponent tomorrow at 2pm (EST) on ESPN+ is playing above their supposed ranking, along with Arizona State, Texas Tech, and BYU. However, now that conference is starting some of these teams will start to fall. BYU in particular has played a fairly easy non-con even with missing Gibb for a lot of games (replace the Utes tough three games with the type of team BYU played and Utah would be up there in record right now).
Will be interesting to see who can come in behind Iowa State and TCU (who seem to be the 1st place and 2nd place finishers). FYI, Oklahoma St looks pretty good (saw them play the other day and Casserole Jr tranferred there and is playing much better than she did last year at BYU).
We weren’t feasting on a preseason schedule of cupcakes this year. Hopefully what our team has learned will give them an edge. It would be nice to see the get on a roll.
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down early 19-15 Utah women have gone on a big run and lead the AZ Wildcats 39-23 at half
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White has 20 points at half (at one point she had more points than the entire AZ team) and the Utes outscored UA in the 2nd quarter 24-4. Wilke fell on her shoulder and it looked like she may be out for the game, but she came back, got a nice rebound and hit a nice long 3-ball.
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Utes escape with a win 63-62, whew
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Whew, indeed. In the second half I counted a total of 10 blown wide open layups between White, Evans, and Ross mostly. With a 10 point lead and 4 minutes to go, that win has to be easier.
Not sure what was drawn up, but, there at the end, only up one, the ball comes into Sneed, who has struggled at the line all year. Maybe a show of support, but if White and Wilke are on the court, it is malpractice not to find at least one of the teams best FT shooters.
In the end, White with 26, and Ross with a double-double giving her two in a row of those.
Wilke had to go out in the second half two separate times because of that shoulder injury. We need her offense, but, now that they are in conference, the team needs her, otherwise, she has to rest a game or so.
Otto and Hjelmstad had invisible games. Need them to help off the bench much more. Other than a 3 by Foster, not much off the bench today.
But, a big road win, and now to gear up for undefeated ASU followed by TCU both at home. It doesn’t get any easier.
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