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
Quotes from Lynne Roberts' Weekly Press Conference
1/12/2016 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2016
Utah Women's Basketball Press Conference
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
Jan. 12, 2016
Opening statement:
"Last weekend was good. We had two Pac-12 [Conference] home games against the Washington schools and did well to get two wins there. We're still figuring out what we're good at and what we need to do better. Then went and played at Stanford last Friday. They're the ninth-ranked team in the country, their RPI is third. They're very good. We played pretty well for a half and did a nice job then Stanford out-played us in the second. The game was closer than final score showed, but it was definitely a learning experience for us in realizing that in this conference, particularly on the road, you have to play 40 minutes and you have to put it all together. We regrouped and then played at Cal on Sunday, the 21st-ranked team in the country. They're very good. They've been in the NCAA Tournament quite a bit and then the Final Four a couple of years ago. We were up after the first quarter by two and then we were down 18 at halftime so it wasn't a really stellar second quarter for us. Cal made some great plays and big shots so we were on our back foot a little bit. We regrouped at halftime and just talked to the team about toughening up and fighting. The worse that can happen is that we can lose, but we don't want to lose with our tail between our legs and not competing. They did a tremendous job of fighting in the second half and just playing without fear. That's the word we just kept using, just be fearless. By the end of the third quarter, we wanted to make it a 10-point game. By the first media of the fourth quarter, let's make it a couple-possession game and take the game running away and that's actually how it played out. I'm very proud of our team. It was a good road win. We're 3-1 in this league and we feel like we still have a lot of work to do and a lot of improving to do."
On halftime adjustments at California:
"I just said if you don't want to compete, battle and fight then you're in the wrong locker room. We may win games, we may lose games, but we're always going to compete. That's who we are now. I could see the team was nodding their heads like 'Yeah, we can do that.' As a player and as a coach when you're down, you can't just go for the 19-point basket, there's no such thing. You just have to set little tangible goals along the way. Twenty minutes of basketball is a long time. I don't think I said anything [in particular to inspire the team], I just think we have players who are competitors. They really wanted to win and realized that they could still do this."
On the development of her team:
"What you're seeing with this team right now is that they're gaining a sincere confidence. It's not, 'I think we could be pretty good.' It's 'Hey, if we really stick to the game plan and really play together, as cliché as that sounds, while not trying to do too much on our own and really competing on defense and rebound, if we do those things for a full game, we can compete in this conference. At Stanford, we learned that we can compete with them, but if you don't play really well for 40 minutes, you're not going to beat them. That's a learning experience. We're just seeing our players realize that we can compete, be tough to beat and we can win on the road. That was big to win on the road, especially against a good program like [California]. What we're seeing is them really starting to believe in themselves."
On continued success rebounding:
"For me, that's a pillar of what it takes to win games. We have a saying up on the all in our practice gym by Pat Riley, "No rebounds. No rings." If you don't rebound, you're not going to win. You're certainly not going to beat good teams on the road and you're not going to win any championships. You have to rebound. We got out-rebounded at Stanford. Credit to them, they did a great job of keeping us off the boards. That was the No. 1 goal and key to winning in our game plan, we were determined to out-rebound Cal. We out-rebounded them by one, but we did it. You're not always going to shoot well. You can't always count on offense. We've been great in defensive rebounding. Our defensive rebounding percentage is second in the Pac-12 (.735). Our offensive rebounding is around eighth or ninth in the Pac-12 so I want to get up to first or second in that category, too."
On this team's start:
"I believe in these guys, I really do. I did not come into this season and think 'We want to go 8-3 in non-conference." I don't do that. I used to, but it doesn't work out well, in that you just start thinking too far ahead and thinking about the next game when you should be in the moment. As far as expectations, I didn't have a number on it. I didn't think like 'maybe we're going to split with the Bay Area teams.' It's just going one game at a time. I do believe in these players though, I really do. They're starting to believe in themselves, which is fun."
On beating a nationally-ranked team:
"It's huge going forward. I didn't know that stat until after the game. We're just not getting caught up in any of that stuff. We just have to be in the moment and play who we're playing. We know that in this league anyone can beat anyone, whether it's us beating Cal at Cal or us getting beat at home by anybody. That's what I'm learning, but what it does for the players is that it legitimizes them. It makes them think that our program can hang. We're legit. We are a Pac-12 program that can hang. These guys have worked really hard since the moment I got here. When you get rewarded for that hard work, you start to walk a little taller and play with more confidence, which is fun to see."
On making the sure the program avoids complacency:
"We talk about that all of the time. We were down 19 [at Cal], how did we get there? We did not play a perfect game. There are a lot of things we have to get better at. We had yesterday off, but we'll watch film today [Tuesday] and we're not just going to watch the good stuff. There are always things we can do better. That's my big thing. I've said this from the beginning, I just want the team to get better every week. I want to improve. Can we improve from last weekend's road trip? Absolutely, and they're going to hear that."
On this team 'buying in' to the coaching staff's message:
"To be honest with you, they're all doing a pretty good job. They're all really buying in. We have a good rotation going right now. I can't pinpoint one or two players who are really doing well right now. That's why we're winning games. We're pretty balanced. It's not all about one or two players. On any given night, we have players who are [taking charge]. We have games where four or five are scoring in double-figures, three or four people are getting a significant amount of rebounds. Emily Potter has been scoring great, but at Cal, Katie Kuklok was the one who hit the big baskets. Erika Bean, a freshman point guard, had eight assists. We're pretty balanced and that's what makes it fun."
On the development of this team's identity:
"People complimenting our team about how hard we play is the ultimate compliment. That's what I want. I want our identity to be a tough, blue-collar team. We can be down 19, but we're not going to quit and we're going to give ourselves a chance by doing so. Rebounding is a stat that shows that. We track deflections for every game and we do a really good job with that. This team is realizing that if we play this way, we give ourselves a good chance to succeed. Again, I don't like to be outcome-based, where it's all about winning or losing. You just have to keep improving. Playing with a blue-collar, tough style where we're just going to be tougher than you is fun to coach. These guys are realizing that you can win some games playing that way.
"What we also talk about too, is gaining respect. People don't respect us, necessarily. It's not disrespect. They're just not talking about us. They're not thinking about Utah. We want to be better than that. We are better than that, but you have to earn it. You can't just talk about it. You have to earn it and these guys are doing it. They're sinking their teeth into that a little bit, too, the idea that we're good and we want people to talk about us and respect us like they do the rest of the conference."
On that atmosphere of the team:
"As a staff, we just try to be as consistent as possible, not get too high and not get too low. The sun will always come up the same way as it did before, win or lose. You just have to be really consistent. Consistency creates an environment where players can relax a little bit and not wonder about what's coming around the corner. They know what to expect. There's a routine as to how we do things and how improve and how we get after it. It enables them to relax a little bit. When you're relaxed and just playing, that's when it becomes fun. Like I said from the beginning, we have really good kids. I am lucky with who I inherited. They're great, quality young people so they're fun to be around. They enjoy being around each other. Winning is the great elixir. It really makes things fun so they're having a good time."
Players Mentioned
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Sunday, March 08
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Wednesday, March 04
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Sunday, March 01