Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Western Colorado (EXHIBITION) on October 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Friday, November 2
SALT LAKE CITY
7:00 PM MT
University of Utah
73
vs
36
FOREIGN EXHIBITION
Women's Basketball Wins Exhibition Season Opener
11/2/2001 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Salt Lake City-The Utes opened their season with a 73-36 exhibition win over the Mirabel Banska Bystrica (Slovakia) team on Friday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Senior Lauren Beckman tallied 24 points to lead the Utes after shooting 9-of-13 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Beckman just missed a double-doubled after grabbing nine rebounds in her team high 31 minutes. Senior Katherine McColl nabbed a team high 11 rebounds and posted four points in 23 minutes.
Erin Gibbons and Lindsey Herbert, both seniors, played over 20 minutes each in the opener. Gibbons finished with 13 points and led the Utes with three three-pointers. Herbert hit 4-of-8 from the field for 10 points to go with five rebounds. Sophomore Carley Marshall, who redshirted the 2000-01 season, pulled down seven rebounds and added five points for the Utes. Eva Antalecova led Mirabel Banska Bystrica with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Utah came out firing when guard Erin Gibbons hit a three-pointer off a Kelsey Stireman assist just 18 seconds into the game. Utah built a 17-7 lead, but Mirabel began to gain ground on the Utes after Antelacova hit a three-pointer (17-10) with 12:45 left in the first half. Mirabel cut the lead to 17-15 when Antelacova stole the ball and scored on a fast break. Utah pushed its lead to 22-15 after Beckman made two free-throws and Stireman made a three-pointer.
The Utes led 36-21 at halftime. Mirabel began the second half with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 36-27, but Beckman took over as she scored 15 second half points, including Utah's first six of the half. "We weren't getting the ball into the post during the first half, and we needed to because they were playing a laid back zone," said Beckman. "We made the adjustments we needed to at halftime and those adjustments worked during the second half."
"We have a lot of things to evaluate, said head coach Elaine Elliott. "I'm excited to look over the film and break down what we need to do to be good. Our team has an interesting mix of players, leaving us with a lot of things to smooth out. We have four seniors who have played since the time they arrived at Utah, but aside of Stireman, we have no one else with experience."
Utah will host the NWBL in another exhibition game on Sat., Nov. 10, at 8:00 p.m. at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes open their regular-season schedule on the road at the Gopher Basketball Classic on Sat.-Sun. Nov. 17-18, in Minneapolis, Minn.
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