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 Gears Up for 1998-99 Season
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 2, 1998
Exhibition Game #1 Utah Utes vs. Tallinn (Estonia) Nov. 5 7:00 p.m. Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake CityUTAH PROBABLE LINE-UP: Pos.No. Name Ht. Yr. Hometown 1997-98 Statistics G 14 Erin Gibbons 5-9 Fr. Salmon Arm, B.C. --- G 22 Tiana Fuertes 5-3 Jr. Honolulu, Hawaii 1.4 ppg, 1.4 apg C 44 Kristi Rose 6-4 Jr. Palmdale, Calif. 7.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.0 bpg F 15 Lindsay Sodja 6-1 So. Taylorsville, Utah 5.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg F 24 Amy Ewert 6-0 So. Vancouver, B.C. 2.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg
OFF THE BENCH: Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. Hometown 1997-98 Statistics F 13 Katherine McColl 6-0 Fr. Hamilton, Ontario --- F 21 Kristina Andersen 6-1 So. Eugene, Ore. 2.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg F/G 25 Lindsay Herbert 5-11 Fr. Coeur dAlene, Idaho --- G 30 Janna Whitman 5-10 Jr. Magna, Utah 1.1 ppg. 0.3 rpg F 32 Lori Red 5-11 So. Provo, Utah 2.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg (96-97) F 40 Erin Hansen 6-3 Fr. Orem, Utah --- F/C 52 Lauren Beckman 6-2 Fr. Elko, Nev. ---
GAME DATA: Utah opens its 1998-99 season with an exhibition game against Tallinn (Estonia) on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000). It is the Utes only exhibition game this season.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH: The 1998-99 season marks the beginning of a new era for the Utah womens basketball program. Gone are five seniors who led the Utes to a 90-27 combined record the last four seasons, four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and three WAC regular-season overall or Mountain Division titles in as many seasons. Last year, Utah went 21-6 and tied for first place in the WAC Mountain Division with an 11-3 record. Ute head coach Elaine Elliott, who enters her 16th season at Utah with a 302-133 (.694) record, welcomes back one starter, six letterwinners and one redshirt from last year.
SCOUTING TALLINN: Tallinn (Estonia) will face Utah in its second game of an eight-game tour of the United States from Nov. 4-13. Tallinn opens its American tour on Wednesday at Brigham Young. After playing at Weber State (Nov. 7) and Montana State (Nov. 9), Tallinn will play four games out east, facing James Madison, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth and Penn State.
Tallinn was formed in 1997-98, with players currently ranging in age from 17-29. Tallinn has participated in the Under-19 Womens Basketball World Championship, recently finishing second to Team USA. Tallinn currently competes in the Baltic States Womens Basketball League. Its head coach is Allan Dorbek.
AFTER THIS: Utah opens its regular season Nov. 14 on the road against Bradley at 7:00 p.m. (CST) in Peoria, Ill. The Utes home opener with be Nov. 21 against Montana at 7:00 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
WHOS BACK: One starter and five other letterwinners return from last season. Kristi Rose, a 6-4 junior center, started 25 of 27 games in 1997-98 and averaged 7.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
Four sophomore forwards return, three of which averaged at least eight minutes a game last season. Lindsay Sodja (6-1), who started one game and played in 18, averaged 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 8.2 minutes. Kristina Andersen (6-1) averaged 2.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 8.2 minutes in 19 contests. Amy Ewert (6-0) played in all 27 games at small forward, averaging 2.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 16.9 minutes. Lori Red (5-11), who redshirted last year, averaged 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 31 games in 1996-97. Ewert and Red are expected to contend for the starting position at small forward. Ewert could also play at shooting guard.
Two junior guards also return. Tiana Fuertes (5-3) has been the back-up point guard for two seasons. In 1997-98, Fuertes played in 23 games, averaging 1.4 points, 1.4 assists and 7.0 minutes. Janna Whitman (5-10) appeared in eight games last season, averaging 1.1 points, 0.3 rebounds and 4.0 minutes per game.
WHOS GONE: Utah loses four starters and three other letterwinners from last season. The toughest to replace will be the backcourt duo of Alli Bills and Julie Krommenhoek. Bills, despite missing two-thirds of her sophomore season with a torn ACL, still managed to become the all-time assists leader in Utah and Western Athletic Conference history with 612 in 93 games. In 1997-98, Bills averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game. She ranked second in the NCAA in assists. Krommenhoek, who started every game of her 117-game career, is the all-time scoring leader and three-point shooter in school and league history. She accumulated 2,087 points and made 362 three-pointers during her career. Last season, Krommenhoek averaged 20.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game.
The Utes also must replace three other seniors. Angie Thill started all 25 of the games she played in at power forward in 97-98. She averaged 13.2 points and 7.5 rebounds. Laura Ross Allen, who started three games and appeared in all 27 contests, averaged 3.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Amy Alcorn started all 27 games at small forward, averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 assists per game.
Guard Rosie Shelley, a walk-on who was a part of the team for three seasons, had one year of eligibility remaining but also graduated. Shelley played in three games last year. Swing player ReShawnda Richardson, who would have been a junior, elected not to return to the U.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN: With just one starter and six of 13 letterwinners returning from the 1997-98 season, Utah loses the majority of its statistical production from last year, as well. The Utes return 26.4 percent of their points (494 of 1870), including their fourth- and fifth-best scorers in Kristi Rose (7.7 ppg) and Lindsay Sodja (5.8 ppg), respectively. Utah also brings back 40.3 percent of its rebounds (399 of 991). Rose, the top returnee in that category, ranked third last year (5.6 rpg). Two of the top five-but none of the top three-assist getters from last year return, which figures out to 18.9 percent (89 of 472). Tiana Fuertes was fourth on the team in assists in 97-98 (1.4 apg) and Amy Ewert was fifth (1.1 apg).
Utah also returns just 17.9 percent (42 of 234) of its steals from last season. Ewert, who tied for fourth on the team last year, is the top returnee with 14 steals. Sodja was sixth-best on the team with 13. Utah should continue to be an excellent shot blocking team with 78.9 percent of the blocks returning this season. Rose led the team with 54 and Ewert was second a year ago with 12. Just 14.7 percent (25 of 170) of Utahs three-point field goals from 97-98 are back, with none of the returnees making more than 10 last season. Utahs loss of experienced players is evident with 31.9 percent (1,725 of 5,400) of the minutes played returning this season.
ELAINE ELLIOTT SURPASSES 300-CAREER WIN PLATEAU: Ute head coach Elaine Elliott is the the winningest coach in Utah womens basketball history. Now in her 16th season as Utahs head coach after spending four years as an assistant coach at the U., Elliott recorded her 300th career victory on Feb. 14, 1998 with a 67-53 win over Colorado State. Elliott has a 302-133 (.694) career record and a 149-39 mark in conference games entering the 1998-99 season. Her number of career wins is the best of any coach in the Western Athletic Conference and her coaching tenure is the longest among the leagues coaches.
Elliott has had ten 20-win seasons and three 19-win campaigns, averaging 20 wins in 15 years at the U. Last season, she was honored as the WBCA District VII Coach of the Year and the WAC Mountain Division Co-Coach of the Year, leading Utah to its second-consecutive conference divisional title. Elliott was also named the WAC Mountain Division Coach of the Year in 1996-97, and recently led Utah to the WAC regular-season championship in 1996 and the WAC Tournament championship in 1995.
Elliott has coached teams to a total of four regular-season conference crowns (1986, 87, 89, 96), two divisional titles (1997, 98) and four league tournament championships (1989, 90, 91, 94). Eight of her teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament (1986, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96, 97, 98).
ROSE SENDS EM BACK: After just two seasons, 6-4 junior center Kristi Rose has already moved into fourth place in career blocked shots at Utah with 88. She needs just two more to tie Cindy Lindsay for third place (90), 30 more to tie Mikki Kane-Barton for second place (118) and 36 more to tie Sandy Kovach for first place (124). With Rose recording 54 rejections last season, the second-most in a season in school history, she is likely to become Utahs all-time blocked shots leader in 1998-99.
Rose ranks third in the Western Athletic Conference in career blocked shots, and needs 42 more to tie Michelle Suman, who played at San Diego State from 1991-95, for second place and 63 more to tie Debbie Dimond, who played at BYU from 1991-95, for first place.
SILVER ANNIVERSARY SEASON FOR WACS TOP PROGRAM: The 1998-99 season is the 25th for the University of Utah womens basketball program, which has an all-time record of 488-197 (.712) Utah is the winningest womens basketball program in Western Athletic Conference history and also has the best record against other league teams with an 87-25 (.777) mark. The Utes have also made the most NCAA Tournament appearances (9) among WAC programs and are tied for the most WAC regular-season titles (3) with San Diego State.
HOME SWEET HOME: Utah enters the 1998-99 season with a streak of 13-consecutive home wins, which ranks as the 13th-longest in the nation. The Utes won all 11 of their home games last season. The Utes last loss at the Jon M. Huntsman Center was on Feb. 8, 1997 to Colorado State, 79-68, in triple overtime. Going back even further, the Utes have won 41 of their last 42 home games since a loss to Western Athletic Conference rival San Diego State on Jan. 12, 1995.
AT THE GATE: Utah averaged 1,502 fans at 11 home games last season, ranking fourth in the WAC and 51st in the nation. The Utes drew over 1,000 fans on six occasions.
BRING ON THE COMPETITION: Utah has seven games against five teams that played in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, including three non-conference games. Out of the league, Utahs schedule is highlighted by games against Montana, Colorado State and SMU, all at home. Although Colorado State and SMU are members of the Western Athletic Conference, they are aligned in the Mountain Division this year, while Utah is in the Pacific Division; therefore, those two games do not count as league contests. Montana was the No. 14 seed in the West Region of the 1998 NCAA Tournament, while Colorado State was the No. 12 seed in the Midwest and SMU the No. 11 seed in the East.
During the conference season, Utah will be placed in the WACs Pacific Division with Brigham Young, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Jose State, San Diego State and UTEP. Hawaii was the No. 8 seed in the NCAA West Region and New Mexico was the No. 8 seed in the East.
UTES PICKED THIRD IN WAC PRESEASON POLL: Utah was picked to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division in 1998-99 according to the WAC women's basketball coaches' preseason poll.
Despite returning just one starter and six letterwinners, the Utes garnered 93 points and one first-place vote. The U. was picked behind Hawai'i, which collected 115 points and 10 of the 16 first-place votes. New Mexico received 103 points and the remaining five first-place votes.
The remainder of the Pacific Division was predicted as follows: Brigham Young (77), Fresno State (62), UTEP (48), San Diego State (40) and San Jose State (30).
In the Mountain Division, Colorado State garnered 15 first-place votes and 120 points. The Rams were also picked to win the overall 1999 WAC title. Hawai'i, New Mexico and Rice each received one vote in the overall WAC championship balloting.
UTES ON TELEVISION: Utah will make two appearances on regional cable television and two more appearances on local television this season. The Utes games with Hawaii on Jan. 17 at 12:00 p.m. (MST) from the Jon M. Huntsman Center and at Fresno State on Jan. 24 at 12:00 p.m. (PST) will be televised live by FOX Sports Net. The games will be shown on the cable networks Rocky Mountain, Southwest, West 2 and Bay Area affiliates.
KJZZ-TV in Salt Lake City will televise Utahs game with Brigham Young on Feb. 6 at 3:00 p.m. from the Huntsman Center. KBYU-TV will televise the Utah/BYU game on Feb. 9 at 3:00 p.m. in Provo, Utah, to the Salt Lake City market.
UTES ON RADIO: Utah women's basketball has a new radio home this season. In an effort to provide more coverage and a stronger signal, the games have been moved to AM-700 KWLW, a 50,000-watt station in Salt Lake City. KWLW will carry 16 regular-season games and all postseason contests live. Additional WAC games, which would be broadcast tape-delayed, could be added later. Each broadcast will begin 15 minutes prior to tip-off with a pre-game show and conclude with the Elaine Elliott post-game show.
KWLW is operated by Jacor Broadcasting of Salt Lake City, Inc., which also owns 570 K-News and KALL-910 in the Salt Lake market. Jacor is in the first year of a four-year contract as the exclusive radio home of University of Utah sports. Anchoring the broadcast team is 570 K-News/KALL-910 AM Sports Director Brad Stone. He will do play-by-play for the home games with former Ute Reggie Wright-Jewkes providing color commentary. University of Utah Assistant Sports Information Director Mike Lageschulte will handle play-by-play for the road games for the third consecutive season.
NEW CONFERENCE IN 1999-2000: The Utah womens basketball program will usher in the new millennium in a new conference. On May 26, 1998, eight schools (including Utah) announced their intentions to withdraw from the Western Athletic Conference to form a new conference. The new Mountain West Conference-half of whose schools were charter members of the WAC when it started back in 1962-will consist of Utah, Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State and Wyoming. It will seek immediate certification from the NCAA and will start operation as a conference in June of 1999. Craig Thompson has been named the commissioner, and will begin his duties in January.
The WAC had a history of expansion that spanned three decades. Until last spring, the only exception was in 1978, when Arizona and Arizona State departed the WAC for the Pacific 10. Before and after their departure, charter members Utah, Brigham Young, New Mexico and Wyoming were joined by expansion programs Colorado State (1967), UTEP (1967), San Diego State (1978), Hawaii (1979), Air Force (1980) and Fresno State (1992). From 1962-90, the WAC sponsored championships for mens sports only. In 1990-91, a merger with the womens-only High Country Athletic Conference (HCAC) formed a single conference under one administrative structure. The expansion explosion of 1996 brought the league from 10 to 16 teams with the addition of Rice, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, UNLV and San Jose State.
Utah Quick FactsGeneral Information Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Founded: 1850 Enrollment: 26,183 President: Dr. J. Bernard Machen Nickname: Utes Mascot: Swoop (Red-Tailed Hawk) Colors: Crimson and White National Affiliation: NCAA Division I Conference: Western Athletic (WAC) Division: Pacific Arena: Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) Athletics Director: Dr. Chris Hill Associate A.D./SWA: Amy Hackett Asst. A.D./Marketing: Marc Amicone Asst. A.D./Development: Peter Hart
Basketball Staff Head Coach: Elaine Elliott (Boise State 77) Record at Utah: 302-133 (.694)/15th Year Career Record: 302-133 (.694)/15th Year Conference Record: 149-41 (.784) Associate Head Coach: Joe Legerski (Wyoming 79) Assistant Coaches: Shelley Jarrard (Vanderbilt 93) Carter Shaw (Utah 95) Basketball Office Phone: (801) 581-7037
Basketball Facts Started Basketball: 1974-75 All-Time Record: 488-197 (.712)/25th Year All-Time WAC Record: 87-25 (.777)/9th Year 1997-98 Overall Record: 21-6 1997-98 Conference Record: 11-3/1st Div.-T Postseason Results: NCAA Tournament-First Round Starters Returning/Lost: 1/4 Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 6/7
SPORTS INFORMATION Assistant SID/Contact: Mike Lageschulte
Mailing Address: University of Utah Sports Information Office Jon M. Huntsman Center 1825 E. South Campus Dr. Front Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0900
The Elliott ERA
Year Overall Pct. WAC Pct. Finish 1983-84 19-12 .613 9-3 .750 2nd-T 1984-85 16-12 .571 8-4 .667 2nd-T 1985-86 21-8 .724 11-1 .917 1st 1986-87 20-7 .741 10-2 .833 1st-T 1987-88 19-9 .679 9-1 .900 2nd 1988-89 24-6 .800 9-1 .900 1st 1989-90 20-10 .667 6-4 .600 3rd 1990-91 20-10 .667 9-3 .750 2nd 1991-92 22-8 .733 10-4 .714 3rd 1992-93 19-10 .655 9-5 .643 2nd-T 1993-94 12-14 .462 9-5 .643 3rd 1994-95 23-7 .767 12-2 .857 2nd 1995-96 21-8 .724 12-2 .857 1st-T 1996-97 25-6 .806 15-1 .938 *1st 1997-98 21-6 .778 11-3 .785 *1st-T
Totals 302-133 .694 149-41 .784
*Denotes Division Finish
RADIO SCHEDULE
Nov. 21 Montana 7:00 p.m. Nov. 25 Albertson College 7:00 p.m. Nov. 28 Kansas State 3:00 p.m. Dec. 3 Colorado State 7:00 p.m. Dec. 5 St. Mary's (Calif.) 3:00 p.m. Dec. 12 at Idaho 8:00 p.m. Dec. 22 Idaho State 5:15 p.m. Jan. 5 SMU 7:00 p.m. Jan. 9 at Brigham Young 3:00 p.m. Jan. 17 Hawai'i 12:00 p.m. Jan. 24 at Fresno State 12:00 p.m. Jan. 30 UTEP 3:00 p.m. Feb. 6 Brigham Young 3:00 p.m. Feb. 11 at San Diego State 8:00 p.m. Feb. 13 at Hawai'i 11:00 p.m. Feb. 20 Fresno State 3:00 p.m. Mar. 1-6 WAC Tournament TBA
All times are mountain. Each game will be preceded by a 15-minute pre-game show
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