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
Utah Basketball Opens Season against Jackson State
11/13/2008 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Radio: KALL700 (Play-by-Play by Chris Tunis)
TV: None
Free audio, video and live stats available at www.UtahUtes.com
Utah News and Notes
· Utah returns three starters from last year's team that went 16-0 in the Mountain West Conference and reached the NCAA Tournament: Morgan Warburton, Kalee Whipple and Katie King. Other key players returning include Deanne Stevenson, Halie Sawyer and Cydney Knight. · Utah was selected to win the Mountain West Conference by the coaches and media, while Morgan Warburton was named the preseason Player of the Year. · The Utes are receiving votes in both preseason polls.
Scouting Jackson State
Jackson State is coming off a Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship, reaching the first round of the NCAA Tournament with an 18-14 record.
Erica Trahan is the Tigers top returning player, with 243 points, a .390 field goal percentage, 184 total rebounds, 37 assists, eight blocked shots and 36 steals. She was the SWAC Tournament MVP in 2008.
Jackson State is coached by Denise Taylor, who is in her 12th season. Taylor is no stranger to Salt Lake City. In 1997, she was the first coach of the Utah Starzz, Salt Lake's WNBA team, coaching for two seasons.
This is the first meeting between Utah and Jackson State.
Last Time Out
Morgan Warburton scored 21 points while Katie King recorded a double-double to lead Utah to a 94-64 win over Southern Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 8 in a preseason exhibition game.
King tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds for her double-double. Kalee Whipple had 14 points with nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Junior Halie Sawyer was also in double digit points with 14, including nine rebounds and four blocks. Warburton was 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
The contest marked the debut for freshmen point guards Hannah Stephens and Janita Badon, as well as center Mandy Munns.
Utah trailed only once early in the game and quickly pulled away midway through the first half. Its largest lead of the game was 37 points.
Utes Selected to Win the MWC, Warburton Preseason Player of the Year
Morgan Warburton was named Mountain West Conference Preseason Player of the Year as Utah was selected to finish first in the conference in the preseason poll, the MWC announced at its basketball media day. Kalee Whipple was also named to the preseason all-conference team.
Utah received 16 first-place votes in the poll for 206 points. San Diego State collected six first-place votes and finished second with 184 points, followed by TCU (161 points) and New Mexico (148 points). BYU rounds out the top five with 117 points.
Utes Receiving Votes
Utah is receiving votes in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Poll. Connecticut leads both polls.
Playing the Point
With the graduation of last year's point guard and current WNBA player Leilani Mitchell, the Utes will rely on freshmen Hannah Stephens and Janita Badon to step into that role. Both played in Utah's exhibition game. Stephens, who started the game, recorded 14 points with three assists and a steal, while Badon had five assists, four steals and four points.
"I thought our point guards played very well," head coach Elaine Elliott said after the game. "They defended well and had eight assists between them and only three turnovers."
Players Mentioned
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