Well, Utah lost to Baylor 61-70. Oopsies
I think we’ll lose several more conference games. Johnson is just too ineffective and when we get pressed, lots of turnovers.
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Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, especially in the first half. 5 of first 6 possessions was a turnover, and they had 9 at half time. I wouldn’t even say it was because of pressure except that one time Vieira got trapped. A lot of them were unforced: air mailed passes, passes at the feet, trying to pass the ball in a crowd in the lane, etc. Gianna did that pass in the paint a couple of times and it was frustrating because if she just shoots, she probably draws a foul. She needs to be more selfish for her shot instead of driving and then passing out.
Story of the game. Wilke got hot and had a nice game. Ross good at rebounding and she started and played most of the 4th quarter instead of Johnson. Johnson did not have a strong game. Maybe she is fighting an injury? Might explain the recent play?
In the end we just lost too many points in the 1st half on the turnovers. Final score bigger than the play would indicate, more like a 5 point win.
I am proud of the team fighting hard throughout that game in a tough atmosphere, and came close to an upset.
On to TCU.
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WBB getting smoked by TCU, 24-45 at half time. Can’t say I’m surprised.
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A valiant comeback attempt, but still lost 73 -81. Won both 3rd and 4th quarters, just not enough.
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Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
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Yes, indeed. You look at the team stats posted by @justaute and you see that other than turnovers, the game was close. Once again, right off the bat, 5 TOs in the first 7 possessions.
The refs really called the game very tight. Touch the driver at all, tweeeeet. That actually worked in the Ute’s favor, especially in the second half. If Kneepkens doesn’t miss 3(!) free throws, they shoot 100%.
The key to second half in my mind was the defense was much more active and, honestly, even though TCU was playing tough D themselves, the Utes just made the shots they were missing in the first half.
What can you say about Kneepkens that hasn’t already been said. What a baller. Wilke might have had her best game on offense, but she was responsible on D for Van Lith and Wilke gave as much as she took.
This team is so different without McQueen’s stability and backcourt D. Both the games against Baylor and TCU had more than a reasonable possibility of being wins with McQueen.
Frosh update: Walker was the only one that played. She was assigned Van Lith in the 2Q and committed three fouls and conceded several points to her. Not the best time to put a freshman on an all-american when you are already down 15 points.
Once again, just like in the Baylor game, the team fought back and never, ever gave up. I love this team because of that fight.
As always, when you are talking about the BigXII it doesn’t get any easier looking forward. Wednesday at home against Kansas and Saturday in Provo. Both are winnable games.
If they can just take care of the ball even just a little bit better, those two games can be wins.
Go Utes.
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I watched about half of the Arizona/Kansas game at Allen Fieldhouse and Kansas got beat by 15 points by a team that Utah beat by 21 in Tucson earlier in conference play.
Kansas is now 2-5 in conference and 12-6 overall. Hopefully, the Utes can win comfortably at home on Wednesday so that they are rested to go to Provo on Saturday.
BYU has to play Iowa St in Ames on Wednesday and then travel home. They are 1-5 in conference (and very likely 1-6 after the game in Ames) with their only win against Houston by 14 at home. Mrs. Casserole seems to not be working out real well down south. If fatigue plays a factor, Utah has the advantage.
As I noted above, both of these games should be wins. That said, the Utes still have to show up ready.
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I was curious about the BYU team so I looked them up. Here are some fun facts.
- Assistant Coach Keilani Unga is married to Harvey.
- Lee Cummard is an assistant coach
- Naia Tanuvasa is a freshman and Karene Reid is her brother-in-law.
- Yes, both the coach and their “star” point guard are Trent Whiting’s wife and daughter.
- Kemery Congdon was on the Utah squad for three years 2019 - 2021 but played only two because of injury early in her sophomore season. Transferred to Cal and played two years, before transferring again to BYU for this season.
- Their video coach, Alli Winters, was Utah football’s assistant video coach for eight years.
- Lauren Davenport was a teammate of Samantha Crispe at Boston U.
…but Where does Kevin Bacon fit in this. 
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He filled up his VW Bug at the same gas station that Tom Holmoe once used.
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Cool info. Didn’t realize Kemery had transferred to TDS. She hurt us when she was at Cal.
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Transferring from Cal to byu-p? How depressing is that?
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I wonder if Kemery is any relation to Jeff Congden?
Her last name was Martin when she was at the U, fwiw.
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I wondered that too, and in googling around I learned that several people on various sites that covered the news of her transfer asked the same question and nobody answered. So, who knows?
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At least WBB won, beating Kansas 79-61.
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And they are all related to Kevin Bacon.
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And what a game it was. Right off the bat, Kneepkens showed how much more comfortable she is shooting at the JMHC. She had 12 points right off the bat before the game was even a few minutes old. Utah opened a big lead and then basically played even with Kansas from that point, with Utah scoring only two more points than Kansas over the last three quarters. Nichols for Kansas had a great game with 26 points. We really, really, miss McQueen’s defense.
Frosh Update: Foster played a bit and her first touch, boom, she launches a three and swishes it, otherwise, not much. With McQueen’s injury it seems that Walker is going to get most of the minutes backing up Wilke, however, as at TCU, she came in and was put on Kansas’s best player, Nichols, who went off on her. I mean Nichols is the only player on Kansas you really have to worry about going off, and Walker guards her (similar to what happened against TCU). Otherwise, Ray played some garbage time.
Kneepkens almost got a triple double falling two assists short (which she should have had, considering two open shots missed), and scoring 30 pts. She was awesome in setting her career high with 6 three pointers.
Johnson played a great game. She also got close to a triple double with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. She was extremely productive.
Wilke also had a good game with 6 assists and 5 steals, but did struggle on defense against Nichols.
In all a satisfying win, but a bit concerning that after getting the big lead they let Kansas stay around instead of just hammering them.
Next up, BYU on Saturday in Provo on ESPNU at 2:30 PM. As I thought, BYU got thumped pretty hard in Ames. With it being on a regular ESPN channel, more people should be able to watch. I encourage all to check out the team, they are fun, tough, and they mostly win.
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Since I had a few brain cells I could spare to lose, I decided to check Cougarboard and see what they are saying about their WBB team. From the small sample size related to last night’s game, they are sooooo done with both Jr and Sr Whiting. They feel their recruiting is weak because the coach came from HS and didn’t have contacts, but also that she lets her daughter play way too many minutes even though she is not a good offensive player.
There were also comments about the NIL booster taking care of the MBB and ignoring the WBB.
Interesting.
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