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 Steps Into The Big Dance
3/18/2008 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 18, 2008
No. 18/17 University of Utah Utes
(27-4, 16-0 Mountain West)
vs.
Purdue University Boilermakers
(18-14, 11-7 Big Ten)
Game No. 31 ? Sunday, March 23 ? 7 p.m. (ET)
Mackey Arena ? West Lafayette, Ind.
Game Information
Series: First Meeting
Series Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
Last Meeting in NCAA: N/A
Television: ESPN2 (Dave O'Brien, Krista Blunk)
Radio: KALL 700 Sports, Chris Tunis (play by play)
UtahUtes.com: Free audio/live statistics
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The Tipoff
The No. 18/17-ranked, and the No. 8-seeded University of Utah women's basketball team (27-4 overall) makes its return to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 23, when the Utes play the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind. Tipoff in Mackey Arena is set for 7 p.m. The Utes are looking to avenge a 60-52 loss in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals. That loss snapped a 22-game winning streak, the longest in the nation at the time. The Utes struggled in shooting just 29 percent from the field against Colorado State. Leilani Mitchell led the Utes with 19 points in the loss. Purdue enters the tournament on a three-game winning streak, having won the Big Ten Conference Tournament back on March 9. Those three wins upped their overall tally to 18-14. The Boilermakers went 11-7 in loop action.
The game can be followed on KALL 700 Sports, with Chris Tunis calling the action. Live audio and statistics are also available at www.UtahUtes.com. The game will also be televised on ESPN2 with Dave O'Brien calling the play-by-play, analyst Krista Blunk and sideline reporter Kim Anthony.
Scouting No. 9 Purdue
Purdue enters the tournament with an 18-14 overall record, having gone 11-7 in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers have won three straight games in claiming the conference tournament trophy back on the March 9. They topped Indiana (64-54), Iowa (80-73) and Illinois (58-56) en route to claiming the tourney hardware. The buzzer-beater victory over the Fighting Illini gave Purdue its seventh tournament trophy. Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue had lost three of four, including a season-ending loss to Illinois, 63-55. A pair of players average double-figure scoring numbers for Purdue. Lakisha Freeman and Danielle Campbell both average a team-best 12.3 points. Campbell is the team's top rebounder (7.5 boards per game) and FahKara Malone is its top playmaker (3.7 assists). The Black and Gold are coached by Sharon Versyp. She is in her second year there, and she owns a 49-20 tally as its coach.
Scouting No. 1 Tennessee
The Tennessee Lady Vols are the No. 1 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional, and they bring a 30-2 overall mark into the tournament. The Lady Vols went 13-1 in Southeastern Conference play. It's lone loss was to then-No. 7 LSU back on Valentine's Day. However, since the setback, UT has rattled off eight straight wins. The last three victories came in the SEC Tournament, as it went on to win the tournament title with a win over No. 7/6 LSU, 61-55. The Lady Vols are led by a trio of double-digit scorers. Pacing the team is All-America candidate Candace Parker. She averages 21.3 points per game, and is also the team's leading rebounder (8.4 per game). Also chipping in for the Lady Vols are Shannon Bobbitt (10.1 points per game) and Alexis Hornbuckle (10.0). The team's top playmakers are Bobbitt and Hornbuckle, dishing out 3.5 assists per game each. Legendary coach Pat Summitt leads the team from the bench. She is 977-182 all-time as UT's coach.
Scouting No. 16 Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles enter the Big Dance with a 19-13 overall mark. They went 10-8 in the Summit League, and they earned their bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Summit League Tourney. In claiming the league's tournament title, ORU beat IPFW (82-67), Oakland (71-61), and IUPUI (66-53). Oral Roberts had lost back-to-back games heading into the Summit League tourney. It's last loss was to South Dakota State, 88-67. Four of the team's players average double-digit scoring figures. Topping the 13-point barrier are Mariana Camargo (13.3 points per game) and Jenny Hardin (13.0). ORU's top glass-cleaner is Janae Voelker with 8.3 caroms per game. Camargo's 5.0 assists per game leads the Golden Eagles. Jerry Finkbeiner is ORU's head coach, and he is in his 12th season as its mentor. He owns a 187-153 record at Oral Roberts.
A Brief Look at the Series
Utah is looking at a trio of new opponents when it heads to the NCAA Tournament first and second rounds in West Lafayette, Ind. Utah has not faced Purdue, Tennessee or Oral Roberts in its history.
However, Utah is familiar with Big Ten Conference. It has played seven of the 11 members, going 8-7 all-time against them. The Utes' most recent Big Ten opponent is Minnesota. The Utes played at Minnesota back on Dec. 8, topping the Golden Gophers, 66-54. Utah's Big Ten opponents and its record against them are: Illinois, 0-2; Iowa, 4-1; Michigan State, 1-1; Minnesota, 1-0; Northwestern, 1-1; Ohio State, 0-1; and Wisconsin, 1-1.
The Utes have played six of the 12 current Southeastern Conference members. Utah is 4-7 all-time against the SEC. The last time Utah played an SEC rival was back on Dec. 28, 2002. The Utes downed Mississippi State, 69-65, in a non-conference tournament in Missoula, Mont. Utah's SEC opponents and its record against them are: Arkansas, 1-0; Auburn, 0-1; Florida, 0-1; Mississippi, 1-3, Mississippi State, 1-0; and Vanderbilt, 1-2.
The Crimson and White have battled four of the 10 members in the Summit League. The Utes own a 13-1 all-time record against the conference. Utah familiarized itself with the Summit League this year when it topped South Dakota State back on Nov. 28, 67-59. Utah's Summit League opponents and its record against them are: IPFW, 1-0, UMKC, 1-0; South Dakota State, 1-0; Southern Utah, 10-1.
Who's Got Next Game?
Should Utah win its first-round NCAA game, the Utes would play the winner of the No. 1 Tennessee-No. 16 Oral Roberts game on Tuesday, March 25, in West Lafayette, Ind. Times for the Tuesday games have yet to be determined. The winner of the second-round games would advance to the Regional Semifinals in Oklahoma City on March 30-April 1.
Players Mentioned
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