Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky on March 19, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 72
Final Score
Women's Basketball
58
at Eastern Kentucky
72
The University of Utah Athletics
Women's Basketball Begins Practice Saturday
10/12/1999 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 12, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah opens its first practice of the 1999-2000 season Saturday, October 16. Utah returns four starters and 11 of the 12 letterwinners from last year's team that went 21-7 overall, tied for first place in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division with a 12-2 record and earned a bid to the WNIT. What's amazing is that, after the loss of five seniors from the 1997-98 team, last season was supposed to be a 'rebuilding' year. Instead, the Utes merely continued their winning ways under head coach Elaine Elliott. It was the fifth consecutive year in which the U. won 20 games, claimed a conference championship of some form and earned a postseason bid. Elliott embarks on her 17th season as Utah's head coach with a 323-140 career record. Utah will be one of the preseason favorites to win the inaugural Mountain West Conference championship.
Returning for the Utes is two-year letterwinner Lori Red. Red, a 5-11 junior from Provo, Utah, was named to the first-team all-WAC Pacific Division in 1998-99. She started in all 28 games, second on the team, averaging 9.9 points per game. Red was third on the team, averaging 4.6 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per game. Red scored in double figures in 15 out of 28 games last season. Back at guard for Utah is three-year letterwinner, Tiana Fuertes. Fuertes started in 27 games last season, averaging 5.9 points per game. Fuertes ranked 3rd in the final WAC standings in assists, averaging 4.9 assists per game. Kristina Anderson, a 6-1 forward is back for her third season with Utah. Anderson started in 27 games last season, where she was fourth in scoring averaging 7.1 points per game. Anderson was second on the team in rebounds, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game. Amy Ewert, a two-year letterwinner is back, spending time between the forward and guard positions. Ewert started in 10 games last season, seeing action in 27. She posted 2.4 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game last season.
Erin Gibbons is back for her second season with the Utes. Gibbons, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Salmon Arm, B.C, was named the WAC Pacific Division Freshman of the Year, as well as earning second team all-conference honors and a spot on the all-newcomer team. Gibbons ranked 15th in the WAC in scoring (11.7 ppg), third in three-pointers per game (2.3) and eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.374), starting 17 games. Gibbons scored in double figures in 17 games and led the Utes in scoring 11 times. Lauren Beckman, a 6-2 sophomore center/forward from Elko, Nev., joined Gibbons on the Pacific Division's all-newcomer team. She played in all 28 games off the bench, averaging 21.7 minutes. Beckman ranked 29th in the nation and led the WAC in blocked shots (1.8 bpg). She also ranked 17th in the league in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and was third on the team in scoring (9.6 ppg). Beckman led the Utes three times in scoring and 11 times in rebounding. Katherine McColl, a 6-0 sophomore was seventh on the team in scoring last season, averaging 5.4 points per game. McColl was fourth in rebounding, averaging 4.0 rebounds per game. She played in 27 games, starting in one. Junior Lindsay Sodja returns at the forward position. Sodja played in 27 games, starting in one and averaged 4.9 points per game for the Utes. Sodja grabbed 1.9 rebounds a game last season. Lindsay Herbert, a 5-11 sophomore saw action in 27 games, starting in two. Herbert averaged 1.5 points per game and 1.3 rebounds per game. Erin Hansen, a 6-3 forward is back for her second season with Utah. Hansen saw time in 14 games last season. Janna Whitman, a three-year letterwinner played in 14 games last season.
Utah will have three newcomers on this year's team. The Utes inked Carley Marshall, a 6-2 forward/center from Eugene, Ore., Whitney Sutak, a 6-0 guard from Mill Valley, Calif., and Sara Wobbe, a 5-9 point guard >from Elmira, Ore.
Marshall earned honorable mention All-America honors from USA Today last season. In 1997-98, she averaged 16.5 points and 12.7 rebounds for Williamette High School. She was a Blue Chip Illustrated All-American in 1997-98, as well as a second-team all-conference and an academic all-conference selection. Sutak, who can play the one through three positions, was a first-team all-conference selection in 1997-98 at Branson High School. She averaged 12.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds. Wobbe comes to the U. from Marist High School, the same program that produced Ute junior forward Kristina Andersen. Wobbe was a pre-season honorable mention All-American by Street & Smith heading into the 1998-99. She earned third-team all-state and first-team all-conference honors in 1997-98, averaging 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 5.2 steals per game.
'Probably like the rest of the country, we're ready to get started. We've tried to back off some and use a little less of the team's time in the first six weeks so that the season doesn't get too long. Hopefully that time away from basketball has gotten everyone that much more excited to get going on Saturday. Last year was a great surprise for us to be that successful after losing so many kids and gaining so many newcomers. We're going to try and build on that, we feel we've got a great nucleus and they had very successful freshman-sophomore-type years and with that in mind, this same group will be together another year after this one. We're going to try and keep things pretty consistent with what we did last year. We're not going to do a lot of new things with them, so we can focus our time on building them into the system we have. Hopefully we'll have another great year,' said Elliott.
The Utes' first practice will be on Saturday from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. For regular scheduled practice times, please contact Julie Lapomarda. All practices are closed. Utah plays the first of two exhibition games on Thurs., Nov. 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Huntsman Center. The Utes open their regular season at home against Washington State on Sat., Nov. 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Note to the Media:
Utah women's Basketball practices are closed to the media. To set up interviews for after practice with Elaine Elliott or Ute players, please contact Julie Lapomarda of the sports information office: (801) 581-3771 (office), or at (801) 531-8211 (home).
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