Yesterday marked the first game for the Utes playing their traditional game in the afternoon with thousands of screaming elementary kids attending. Apparently there is a program where kids who are succeeding academically can go to the game.
The opponent was SUU and the Utes out and out wiped them off the floor. Didn’t take long for Kneepkens to establish herself once again, and Vieira looked very good dishing and running (as she does). The starting lineup was Vieira, McQueen, Johnson, Kneepkens and Toure. Toure is a 6’3" player from France that transfered in from Rhode Island. She apparently won 2nd team and 1st team AAC nods.
So, as I said, Kneepkens, Johnson, Vieira, and McQueen looked great (as would be expected given the competition). Toure needs a lot of work. She still is pretty raw (and a bit skinny) but it looks like there is some athleticism there.
The bench received a lot of time. Reese Ross was spectacular and very aggressive looking for her shot. Wilke was Wilke and not much changes there. We did get to see two of the three freshman play a lot, Kylie Ray #6 at PG as the backup to Vieira, and Brooke Walker as a backup G/F. Neither Australian played, which was too bad, because Chyra Evans was brought in from Michigan to help plug the hole in the middle, and it would have been good to see her.
Among returning bench players, Crispe played a lot of minutes but hasn’t improved (she is still a bit of a clumsy player) and Blanck and Sow only came off the bench in the very last minutes of the game.
All in all, it was great to see the team again, and we can only hope that Toure and Evans can make a difference in the middle.