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
No. 11 Utah vs. No. 6 Illinois
3/16/2000 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Associated Press
GAME: No. 11 Utah (23-7) vs. No. 6 Illinois (22-10), Midwest Regional, First round.
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m. EST.
SITE: Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa.
Tauja Catchings would probably like nothing better than to go farther in the NCAA tournament than her younger sister Tamika.
Tauja, a senior forward for Illinois, has played in the shadow of her talented sister Tamika, who leads the Tennessee Lady Vols.
On Tuesday, Tamika earned first-team All-America honors as the leading vote getter.
Sister Tauja has proven herself at Illinois, however. She is the first Illini player to reach career marks of 1,400 points, 800 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals.
The daughters of former Philadelphia 76ers center Harvey Catchings are both aiming to get to the Final Four in Philadelphia.
The Illini, who tied for third in the Big Ten Conference during the regular season, advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament before losing to Penn State.
Illinois set a school record for regular-season victories and have won six of the last eight games heading into the tournament as the sixth seed.
"Illinois has had some great seeds, and another good one this year," coach Theresa Grentz said.
The Illini average nearly 77 points, but it will be tough to match that figure against Utah. The Utes led the nation in scoring defense during the regular season, allow just 51.5 points per game.
"I know Utah is a terrific defensive club, so I think it's matter of which team will control tempo," Grentz said.
A trip to the Final Four would return Grentz to the city where she starred on Immaculata's championship teams in the 1970s. But the Illini would likely need to get by No. 3 seed Iowa State, No. 2 Penn State and top-seeded Louisiana Tech.
Utah won the inaugural Mountain West Conference tournament, but the league did not have an automatic berth.
The experienced Utes return four starters and 11 letterwinners, including guard Erin Gibbons, whose 48.7 3-point field goal percentage is third-best in the nation.
The winner will play No. 3 Iowa State or No. 14 St. Francis in the second round on Sunday.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Utah - F Kristina Andersen (9.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg), F Lori Red (7.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg), C Lauren Beckman (10.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), G Tiana Fuertes (4.6 ppg, 5.0 apg), G Amy Ewert (8.2 ppg, 2.8 apg). Illinois - F Tauja Catchings (15.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg), G Kylie Martin (7.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg), C Susan Blauser (14.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg), G Allison Curtin (17.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg), G Shavonna Hunter (8.0 ppg, 3.2 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Utah - At-large bid, Mountain West Conference. Illinois - At-large bid, Big Ten.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORDS: Utah - 1-9, 9 years. Illinois - 7-6, 6 years.
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