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
Lynne Roberts Press Conference
11/17/2016 7:45 AM | Women's Basketball
YouTube Link
Opening statement:
"It's good to be back home at our weekly press conference. We just got back from Fresno State at about 1 a.m. and picked up a 10-point win. It's always good when you can win on the road, especially in November. We ply Utah Valley Saturday at 5:30 p.m. after the football game and we're excited to be back home. We're making improvements and we still have a way to go, but we're getting better and we'll make those improvements."
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On key improvements team needs to make
"We need to play with a lot of energy. It's my expectation that we play with the tenacity and energy that is powerful and you can see it. We kind of lacked that Saturday against Montana State so I really challenged the players to fix that. I thought the rebounding was pretty poor against Montana State. We were OK against Fresno State, but OK isn't going to get it done at the Pac-12 level. We needed to be great. In those two areas against Fresno State, we were better. We still didn't shoot the ball great, but I'm not worried about that as long as we're taking good shots, the shooting percentages will happen. I think it's just the beginning of the season and getting the feel. We didn't shoot the ball well, but I thought we took pretty good shots. Our energy was tremendously improved."
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 On So. G Erika Bean
"I'm really proud of Erika. Of many of them, I challenged her the most in terms of the energy and bringing that point guard leadership. I came at her pretty good and she really responded. She did a really good shot she had eight assists, one turnover in 32 minutes. That's pretty good on the road in your second start of your career. That's a feisty Fresno State team and she did a really nice job. She played with a lot of poise and maturity so I'm really proud of the way she responded."
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On Malia Nawahine offensive struggle vs. Fresno State
"Malia had a rougher night offensively, but she's so valuable on the floor. She plays so hard. I was watching the film on the way home last night and she's everywhere. From a defensive standpoint, she makes up for it. She covers mistakes and she flies around because she's so athletic and tenacious. She was 1-13 in the game and I'd be shocked if she had another game where she went 1-13. She's a really good scorer. She got good looks, she just didn't knock them down. She brings value to the game even when she's not scoring. I haven't seen her have a game like that offensively and I don't think she'll have another one. She can really shoot it."
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On condition prep for season paying off
"I feel like we're in really good shape right now. You can start to see it in the third quarter with other teams. They start to lean on their knees a little bit and there's that dip. That's where the condition we've done comes into play. We're able to make a push in that third quarter. Our bench was better last night too. Daneesha Provo and Kiana Moore had good games. Those guys did a good job. The more our bench contributes the better we're going to be in our presses.
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On Utah Valley
"I have a coaches meeting in about 30 minutes and we're going to talk Utah Valley. I know our scout is ready. I know they're very competitive. They played BYU tough. It's a local game and they'll be up to playing us. They had some good couple years recently and I know it will be competitive. Any time you play an in-state school you want to put your best foot forward and compete. Regardless of who we're playing, at this point, particularly in November, it's more about us. You certainly have to prepare your team and let them know what they're going to see. It really is about improving your own program and your own team as you build and gain momentum leading up to the conference season. We will prepare for Utah Valley, but in the third game of the year we'll spend more time on ourselves."
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On most please with
"I'm most pleased with the buy-in. I know that's not tangible, but the players got a taste of success last year and they really want to do well. They're coachable and you can see in their faces that they're focused. They're taking it seriously. They have goals and it's fun to coach that. You don't have to motivate them in that situation. There are certainly 101 things we can get better at and we will, but they're bought in. They want to get better, they want to compete and they want to win, and that' really fun to coach."
Â
On team hunger
"We beat Montana State by 10 and we weren't too excited because we know we didn't play well. I reminded the team that last year when we won our first game, we were bouncing off the walls because we won. Our expectations have risen. You can win, but you may not be satisfied. They're hungry, but not satisfied. They know they won, but they know we can play better. Last year, that wasn't the case, we we're excited to have a win. The bar has been raised. It's fun to be and it's fun to climb. It's rewarding to see players really want to get better, not just win and that's where we are. For us to compete in the Pac-12 and to be in the top half of the league we have to get better every week. It's a grind for this league. If you're not getting better, someone is going to beat you."
Â
Opening statement:
"It's good to be back home at our weekly press conference. We just got back from Fresno State at about 1 a.m. and picked up a 10-point win. It's always good when you can win on the road, especially in November. We ply Utah Valley Saturday at 5:30 p.m. after the football game and we're excited to be back home. We're making improvements and we still have a way to go, but we're getting better and we'll make those improvements."
Â
On key improvements team needs to make
"We need to play with a lot of energy. It's my expectation that we play with the tenacity and energy that is powerful and you can see it. We kind of lacked that Saturday against Montana State so I really challenged the players to fix that. I thought the rebounding was pretty poor against Montana State. We were OK against Fresno State, but OK isn't going to get it done at the Pac-12 level. We needed to be great. In those two areas against Fresno State, we were better. We still didn't shoot the ball great, but I'm not worried about that as long as we're taking good shots, the shooting percentages will happen. I think it's just the beginning of the season and getting the feel. We didn't shoot the ball well, but I thought we took pretty good shots. Our energy was tremendously improved."
Â
 On So. G Erika Bean
"I'm really proud of Erika. Of many of them, I challenged her the most in terms of the energy and bringing that point guard leadership. I came at her pretty good and she really responded. She did a really good shot she had eight assists, one turnover in 32 minutes. That's pretty good on the road in your second start of your career. That's a feisty Fresno State team and she did a really nice job. She played with a lot of poise and maturity so I'm really proud of the way she responded."
Â
On Malia Nawahine offensive struggle vs. Fresno State
"Malia had a rougher night offensively, but she's so valuable on the floor. She plays so hard. I was watching the film on the way home last night and she's everywhere. From a defensive standpoint, she makes up for it. She covers mistakes and she flies around because she's so athletic and tenacious. She was 1-13 in the game and I'd be shocked if she had another game where she went 1-13. She's a really good scorer. She got good looks, she just didn't knock them down. She brings value to the game even when she's not scoring. I haven't seen her have a game like that offensively and I don't think she'll have another one. She can really shoot it."
Â
On condition prep for season paying off
"I feel like we're in really good shape right now. You can start to see it in the third quarter with other teams. They start to lean on their knees a little bit and there's that dip. That's where the condition we've done comes into play. We're able to make a push in that third quarter. Our bench was better last night too. Daneesha Provo and Kiana Moore had good games. Those guys did a good job. The more our bench contributes the better we're going to be in our presses.
Â
On Utah Valley
"I have a coaches meeting in about 30 minutes and we're going to talk Utah Valley. I know our scout is ready. I know they're very competitive. They played BYU tough. It's a local game and they'll be up to playing us. They had some good couple years recently and I know it will be competitive. Any time you play an in-state school you want to put your best foot forward and compete. Regardless of who we're playing, at this point, particularly in November, it's more about us. You certainly have to prepare your team and let them know what they're going to see. It really is about improving your own program and your own team as you build and gain momentum leading up to the conference season. We will prepare for Utah Valley, but in the third game of the year we'll spend more time on ourselves."
Â
On most please with
"I'm most pleased with the buy-in. I know that's not tangible, but the players got a taste of success last year and they really want to do well. They're coachable and you can see in their faces that they're focused. They're taking it seriously. They have goals and it's fun to coach that. You don't have to motivate them in that situation. There are certainly 101 things we can get better at and we will, but they're bought in. They want to get better, they want to compete and they want to win, and that' really fun to coach."
Â
On team hunger
"We beat Montana State by 10 and we weren't too excited because we know we didn't play well. I reminded the team that last year when we won our first game, we were bouncing off the walls because we won. Our expectations have risen. You can win, but you may not be satisfied. They're hungry, but not satisfied. They know they won, but they know we can play better. Last year, that wasn't the case, we we're excited to have a win. The bar has been raised. It's fun to be and it's fun to climb. It's rewarding to see players really want to get better, not just win and that's where we are. For us to compete in the Pac-12 and to be in the top half of the league we have to get better every week. It's a grind for this league. If you're not getting better, someone is going to beat you."
Â
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
W
/ Women's Basketball
W
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