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 Weekly Press Conference
1/18/2017 2:46 PM | Women's Basketball
Opening statement
"It always good to be back and see everyone. We had a good week last week, after coming off a rough week the week before. By good I mean it wasn't just about the games we played, we had a good week of practice. Sometimes when you don't play well, you have to evaluate and challenge yourself as a player and as a team. We had a good week and I was proud of our team for how they responded. We played Stanford on Friday and I thought we were much better in ways that we weren't very good the week before. Our rebounding was better. Our collective energy was a lot better. Our offense was better, we just didn't shoot well enough to beat a team like Stanford. The margin for error is very small in this league and the score was not indicative of how close the game was. They beat us, but I was much more pleased with how we played, carried ourselves and competed. We took that loss, then had a quick 36-hour turnaround to play Cal at home. I was looking forward to seeing how we would respond. I thought our team gave us everything they had in the Stanford game and to not win is sometimes challenging. You have to dig deep and get some mental toughness to pull through that and I thought we came out Sunday against Cal really well. We jumped out to an 11-1 lead and maintained the lead the whole time. Cal is good and they made several runs at us. The players even mentioned this in practice – Cal made runs, but we never really faltered. They made it interesting – they're talented and explosive – but we hung in there and made shots when we needed to and made stops when we needed to. We didn't play perfectly and there's areas we can improve. I was really pleased with our mental toughness after coming off a bad week the week before. Now we move forward. We're on the road this week at the Oregons – Oregon State is No. 11/12 in the country right now on Friday night and Oregon who's really good on Sunday. It never gets easier, but that's the way it is in this conference."
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On reflecting on positive and negative from last weekend
"I thought we played much more to our character in both games even though we didn't beat Stanford. Our rebounding was noticeable better, we were just tougher, and our guards were rebounding. Defensively, we were a lot better collectively, everyone was on the same page. We're a good team offensively when we move the ball and don't try to do too much by ourselves. In both games, I thought we did a better job of that. We can still get a lot better. There's always room for improvement. As we head to Oregon State, specifically, they're such a good defensive team. They do a tremendous job and the players really defend with discipline in terms of knowing who they're guarding and what they're trying to take away. We have to be really, really good offensively. This week I want to work on getting better offensively."
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On momentum
"Monday was pretty light – we lifted and watched some film, then did some skill development. Tuesday was an off day, so today will be the first hard-live practice we have this week and we'll start game planning for Friday's game today. You can sense there's a little momentum; I think we really needed that win on Sunday just to get some confidence and momentum. We have to go one at a time and it's not getting any easier."
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On team's mindset
"This group does a pretty good job on staying even keeled – maybe too even keeled. Sometimes I'd like to see them get a little more fired up. They're pretty consistent – they don't get too high, they don't get too low – which I like. I do appreciate that. They're good and they're excited. Last year we got swept by Oregon and Oregon State and I know that's fresh in their minds in terms of not wanting that to be a pattern. I think they're excited."
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On keys against Oregon State
"Oregon State is 5-1 in the league so you have to play nearly perfectly. It isn't a perfect game and there's going to be mistakes, but you can't beat yourself. We need to be really on point defensively and offensively. We can't have silly turnovers or mental lapses on defensive and give them easy shots. Their starting point guard, Sydney Wiese is a really good player and she kind of makes them go. They have a lot weapons. We have to be dialed in and we have to score the ball. They're so good defensively and they have a lot of firepower offensively. If we score 50 points, I have a hard time believing they're going to score 49 – we have to score more to beat these guys."
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On Joeseta Fatuesi and Daneesha Provo updates
"Joeseta had meniscus surgery – she tore her meniscus in her left knee in nonconference and tried to play through it. We sat her out a couple games because it was sore. It got to the point where she couldn't play on it so she had meniscus surgery. It was pretty bad when they got in there to clean it out so we're just waiting to see when and if she'll get cleared to play again. It could be a situation where she doesn't get cleared to play again for the rest of the year, in which case, if all the medical stuff comes through, she'll get a redshirt year. Daneesha dislocated her finger pretty badly – it was pretty gross. It was completely perpendicular to the way it should be. She had it put back in during the game against Stanford and she played on Sunday. You could tell it was a little tender. It's hard to catch the ball, but she's cleared to play. It's not broken, which is great. It's just a matter of handling the pain and learn to control the ball with your fingers taped together. I was impressed that she played Sunday, but you can tell it hindered her a little bit. A week of practice with getting used to it and the swelling going down, I think she'll be back to her old form by the time we play."
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On Wendy getting more playing time
"Wendy is a great player, she really is, and she's getting opportunities now. Wendy's biggest hurdle is herself. She gets in her own way, with the lack of 'Get out of my way, I can do this' mentality. On Sunday she had that mentality. The more she plays, the more success she has, the more confidence she's going to gain. The more confidence she has, she's going to get better and better. It's a cycle – you have confidence, you get opportunities, you have success and then the confidence builds. There's not a better kid out there than Wendy. Her teammates adore her. She works harder than anybody. She's such a good person so it's fun to see this for her. It's like that old saying – It's nice to see the good guy win every once in a while – and that's how it is with Wendy. She's a great teammate and really fun to have in our program. I'm excited for her. The truth is, we're going to need her. With Joeseta out and Potter has been inconsistent in conference play with being able to stay out of foul trouble, she knows it. If the foul trouble continues, then Wendy's role is going to be more critical than ever. You saw on Sunday what she's capable of and I have no doubt that will continue."
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On Potter's recent inconsistency
"It's two fold – I have to do a good job offensively of creating shots for other people and the key is getting Potter moving. If she's in the key posting up, she's a sitting duck and it's easy to double or push-and-shove. If she's moving it's harder to do those things. She's more athletic and mobile than people realize. I have to do a good job offensively of getting her moving and getting other people touches and shots. She needs to do her part and not get frustrated – because it is frustrating. When teams' game plans are to stop you for 40 minutes that gets frustrating. She has to have a composure and maturity to her. When you have the burden of being the team's 'best player' you've got to handle it with composure and she knows it. Potter is a smart player. It's just a matter of both of us doing our roles. She gets frustrated in the moment, but she doesn't carry that around with her."Â
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"It always good to be back and see everyone. We had a good week last week, after coming off a rough week the week before. By good I mean it wasn't just about the games we played, we had a good week of practice. Sometimes when you don't play well, you have to evaluate and challenge yourself as a player and as a team. We had a good week and I was proud of our team for how they responded. We played Stanford on Friday and I thought we were much better in ways that we weren't very good the week before. Our rebounding was better. Our collective energy was a lot better. Our offense was better, we just didn't shoot well enough to beat a team like Stanford. The margin for error is very small in this league and the score was not indicative of how close the game was. They beat us, but I was much more pleased with how we played, carried ourselves and competed. We took that loss, then had a quick 36-hour turnaround to play Cal at home. I was looking forward to seeing how we would respond. I thought our team gave us everything they had in the Stanford game and to not win is sometimes challenging. You have to dig deep and get some mental toughness to pull through that and I thought we came out Sunday against Cal really well. We jumped out to an 11-1 lead and maintained the lead the whole time. Cal is good and they made several runs at us. The players even mentioned this in practice – Cal made runs, but we never really faltered. They made it interesting – they're talented and explosive – but we hung in there and made shots when we needed to and made stops when we needed to. We didn't play perfectly and there's areas we can improve. I was really pleased with our mental toughness after coming off a bad week the week before. Now we move forward. We're on the road this week at the Oregons – Oregon State is No. 11/12 in the country right now on Friday night and Oregon who's really good on Sunday. It never gets easier, but that's the way it is in this conference."
Â
On reflecting on positive and negative from last weekend
"I thought we played much more to our character in both games even though we didn't beat Stanford. Our rebounding was noticeable better, we were just tougher, and our guards were rebounding. Defensively, we were a lot better collectively, everyone was on the same page. We're a good team offensively when we move the ball and don't try to do too much by ourselves. In both games, I thought we did a better job of that. We can still get a lot better. There's always room for improvement. As we head to Oregon State, specifically, they're such a good defensive team. They do a tremendous job and the players really defend with discipline in terms of knowing who they're guarding and what they're trying to take away. We have to be really, really good offensively. This week I want to work on getting better offensively."
Â
On momentum
"Monday was pretty light – we lifted and watched some film, then did some skill development. Tuesday was an off day, so today will be the first hard-live practice we have this week and we'll start game planning for Friday's game today. You can sense there's a little momentum; I think we really needed that win on Sunday just to get some confidence and momentum. We have to go one at a time and it's not getting any easier."
Â
On team's mindset
"This group does a pretty good job on staying even keeled – maybe too even keeled. Sometimes I'd like to see them get a little more fired up. They're pretty consistent – they don't get too high, they don't get too low – which I like. I do appreciate that. They're good and they're excited. Last year we got swept by Oregon and Oregon State and I know that's fresh in their minds in terms of not wanting that to be a pattern. I think they're excited."
Â
On keys against Oregon State
"Oregon State is 5-1 in the league so you have to play nearly perfectly. It isn't a perfect game and there's going to be mistakes, but you can't beat yourself. We need to be really on point defensively and offensively. We can't have silly turnovers or mental lapses on defensive and give them easy shots. Their starting point guard, Sydney Wiese is a really good player and she kind of makes them go. They have a lot weapons. We have to be dialed in and we have to score the ball. They're so good defensively and they have a lot of firepower offensively. If we score 50 points, I have a hard time believing they're going to score 49 – we have to score more to beat these guys."
Â
On Joeseta Fatuesi and Daneesha Provo updates
"Joeseta had meniscus surgery – she tore her meniscus in her left knee in nonconference and tried to play through it. We sat her out a couple games because it was sore. It got to the point where she couldn't play on it so she had meniscus surgery. It was pretty bad when they got in there to clean it out so we're just waiting to see when and if she'll get cleared to play again. It could be a situation where she doesn't get cleared to play again for the rest of the year, in which case, if all the medical stuff comes through, she'll get a redshirt year. Daneesha dislocated her finger pretty badly – it was pretty gross. It was completely perpendicular to the way it should be. She had it put back in during the game against Stanford and she played on Sunday. You could tell it was a little tender. It's hard to catch the ball, but she's cleared to play. It's not broken, which is great. It's just a matter of handling the pain and learn to control the ball with your fingers taped together. I was impressed that she played Sunday, but you can tell it hindered her a little bit. A week of practice with getting used to it and the swelling going down, I think she'll be back to her old form by the time we play."
Â
On Wendy getting more playing time
"Wendy is a great player, she really is, and she's getting opportunities now. Wendy's biggest hurdle is herself. She gets in her own way, with the lack of 'Get out of my way, I can do this' mentality. On Sunday she had that mentality. The more she plays, the more success she has, the more confidence she's going to gain. The more confidence she has, she's going to get better and better. It's a cycle – you have confidence, you get opportunities, you have success and then the confidence builds. There's not a better kid out there than Wendy. Her teammates adore her. She works harder than anybody. She's such a good person so it's fun to see this for her. It's like that old saying – It's nice to see the good guy win every once in a while – and that's how it is with Wendy. She's a great teammate and really fun to have in our program. I'm excited for her. The truth is, we're going to need her. With Joeseta out and Potter has been inconsistent in conference play with being able to stay out of foul trouble, she knows it. If the foul trouble continues, then Wendy's role is going to be more critical than ever. You saw on Sunday what she's capable of and I have no doubt that will continue."
Â
On Potter's recent inconsistency
"It's two fold – I have to do a good job offensively of creating shots for other people and the key is getting Potter moving. If she's in the key posting up, she's a sitting duck and it's easy to double or push-and-shove. If she's moving it's harder to do those things. She's more athletic and mobile than people realize. I have to do a good job offensively of getting her moving and getting other people touches and shots. She needs to do her part and not get frustrated – because it is frustrating. When teams' game plans are to stop you for 40 minutes that gets frustrating. She has to have a composure and maturity to her. When you have the burden of being the team's 'best player' you've got to handle it with composure and she knows it. Potter is a smart player. It's just a matter of both of us doing our roles. She gets frustrated in the moment, but she doesn't carry that around with her."Â
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Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
W
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