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 Opens Home Schedule
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
November 17, 1998
Game #2
Utah Utes (0-1) vs. Montana Lady Griz (1-0)
UTAH PROBABLE LINE-UP:
Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. Hometown Statistics G 14 Erin Gibbons 5-9 Fr. Salmon Arm, B.C. 10.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg G 22 Tiana Fuertes 5-3 Jr. Honolulu, Hawaii 1.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.0 apg F 15 Lindsay Sodja 6-1 So. Taylorsville, Utah 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg F 32 Lori Red 5-11 So. Provo, Utah 7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg C 44 Kristi Rose 6-4 Jr. Palmdale, Calif. 12.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg
OFF THE BENCH:
Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. Hometown Statistics
G 11 Karie Allen 5-7 Jr. Bountiful, Utah Has not played
F 13 Katherine McColl 6-0 Fr. Hamilton, Ontario Has not played
F 21 Kristina Andersen 6-1 So. Eugene, Ore. 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F 24 Amy Ewert 6-0 So. Vancouver, B.C. 6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
F/G 25 Lindsay Herbert 5-11 Fr. Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
G 30 Janna Whitman 5-10 Jr. Magna, Utah 0.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
F 40 Erin Hansen 6-3 Fr. Orem, Utah 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
GAME DATA: The Utah Utes (0-1) open their home schedule, hosting the Montana Lady Griz (1-0) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) in Salt Lake City.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH: The Utes opened their 1998-99 season with a 58-57 loss to Bradley last Saturday night in Peoria, Ill. This 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 is beginning her 16th season at Utah with a 302-134 (.693) record, welcomes back one starter, six letterwinners and one redshirt from last year.
ON THE AIR: The Utes make their debut on their new radio home Saturday. AM-700 KWLW in Salt Lake City will carry the Montana game live, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. Brad Stone (play-by-play) and Reggie Wright-Jewkes (analyst) will call the action.
COMING UP: Utah plays two games at home next week. The Utes host Albertson College on Wednesday (Nov. 25) at 7:00 p.m. and Kansas State on Saturday (Nov. 28) at 3:00 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. the second half. The Utes had a six-point advantage (54-48) with 2:22 remaining before Jenn Jolley hit a three-pointer and Stephanie White converted a three-point play after being fouled by Beckman to tie the game. The Braves led the rest of the way.
EXHIBITION GAME SUMMARY: Utah won its only exhibition game of 1998-99 season, romping Tallinn (Estonia), 75-57, last Thursday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Point guard Tiana Fuertes and redshirt sophomore forward Lori Red both had impressive performances. Fuertes, who played sparingly her first two years behind Utah all-time assists leader Alli Bills, scored a team-high 16 points on 5-of-9 field goal shooting. She also also dished out five assists and had two steals. Red, coming off of a redshirt season, hit for 10 pointsseven in the first halfincluding two 3-pointers. Junior center Kristi Rose also scored in double figures with 10 points, as well as contributing seven rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Lindsay Sodja pulled down a team-best nine boards. All 13 players that suited up for the game played, with 11 getting double digit minutes. Utah held Tallinn to 39 percent field goal shooting and Katrin Esko (25 points) was its only player to shoot 50 percent (9-for-17).
ELLIOTT ELABORATES: On the Montana game - Montana is always a high calibre, NCAA Tournament type of a team. Weve had a great series with them throughout the years. I expect this contest to be a difficult, early season test for our team.
On the Bradley game - Were struggling with young problems. We need to make free throws and take care of the ball. We have to hit shots, win possessions and solve our turnover problems. As the season progresses, I expect to see improvement in all of these areas.
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.
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.
WHO'S GONE: Utah lost 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 lost 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 fivebut none of the top threeassist 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.
UTE HEAD COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT... is 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 has a 302-134 (.693) career record and a 149-39 mark in conference games. The Dean of the Western Athletic Conference coaches, Elliott has the longest tenure at her current institution and the most career wins among the leagues coaches. Elliott recorded her 300th career victory on Feb. 14, 1998 with a 67-53 win over Colorado State. 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: Early in her third season, 6-4 junior center Kristi Rose has already moved into a tie for third place in career blocked shots at Utah with 90. With two blocked shots at Bradley on Nov. 14, she tied Cindy Lindsay for third place (90). She needs 28 more to tie Mikki Kane-Barton for second place (118) and 34 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 sixth in the Western Athletic Conference in career blocked shots, and needs 27 more to tie Jessica Thompson, who played at Wyoming from 1993-97, for fourth 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 488-198 (.711) 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.
PLAYER NOTES
KRISTINA ANDERSEN - 21
5 points (2-for-3 FG) and 3 rebounds in 12 minutes at Bradley (Nov. 14).
LAUREN BECKMAN - 52
In her first collegiate game, had a game-high 12 rebounds (9 offensive) and 10 points (5-for-10 FG) in 19 minutes off of the bench at Bradley (Nov. 14).
AMY EWERT - 24
6 points (3-for-4 FG) and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes at Bradley (Nov. 14).
TIANA FUERTES - 22
Started at point guard at Bradley (Nov. 14) ... had 1 point, 7 rebounds and 4 assists (9 turnovers) in 32 minutes against BU.
ERIN GIBBONS - 14
Started at off guard at Bradley (Nov. 14) in her first collegiate game ... had 10 points, going 3-of-9 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 33 minutes against BU.
ERIN HANSEN - 40
In her first collegiate game against Bradley (Nov. 14), missed her only field goal attempt and played 6 minutes.
LINDSAY HERBERT - 25
In her college debut against Bradley (Nov. 14), did not attempt a shot in 4 minutes.
KATHERINE McCOLL - 13
Did not play against Bradley (Nov. 14).
LORI RED - 32
Coming off of a redshirt year ... first start of her college career against Bradley (Nov. 14) ... had 7 points (3-for-13 FG, 1-for-4 3FG), 5 rebounds and 3 assists (4 turnovers) in 25 minutes against BU.
KRISTI ROSE - 44
Started at center in first game ... led Utes with 12 points (4-for-6 FG), 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 22 minutes at Bradley (Nov. 14).
LINDSAY SODJA - 15
Started at power forward in first game ... 5 points (1-for-3 3FG) and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes at Bradley (Nov. 14).
JANNA WHITMAN - 30
2 assists and missed her only shot (a 3-pointer) in 11 minutes at Bradley (Nov. 14).
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