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
11/8/2017 2:02 PM | Women's Basketball
Opening Statement…
"As Pete Carroll would say, 'it is the day before the day before,' so we play our first game on Friday. It is that enthusiastic kind of feeling. It is time. October is a really hard time. It is exciting because you are starting practice, but by the end of the month, everyone is ready for games to start. You are sick of practicing against each other and talking about games and about the season, we are just ready to go here. From a player's standpoint, I know they get sick of going against each other and so they are ready to start playing. We play Friday night against Nevada at home at 5:30 p.m. They have a new coaching staff. Their head coach has been the associate head coach at Arizona State for the last five years and she was a head coach previously in Illinois. They are good coaches, but they also have a familiarity with our program with her being from Arizona State. It should be a good game. On Monday we play at Alabama which will be a good SEC road game. I think they won 22 games last year. They are a good team and that will be a good test for us on the road against a power five school. So, those are the two that we are facing down in the next five days. We are excited to play somebody else and see where we are at."
On how she feels practice and preparation for the games this week has gone…
"They have been good. We played on Thursday against Carroll in an exhibition. Everybody played and the minutes were pretty equal across the board for all 10 players that we have in uniform right now. I thought we played well for about 27 minutes and then the last 12 to 13, we weren't very good. We ran out of gas and out of motivation, which is not good. We have tried to clean that up in terms of getting in better shape so that we can play all four quarters and finish games at the level we want to play. We have had a good week this week and we are getting after it today. It has been good. Like I said, I think we are sick of talking about it and we are ready to play."
On how she felt about the starting five against Carroll College and if she will change it up for Nevada…
"As I have mentioned before, we actually have legitimate parody and depth. The starting five might flux from week to week. I anticipate it to be who it was against Carroll, but we will see how practice goes today and tomorrow. I think it is going to be very competitive this season. In terms of the starting five, no job is a guarantee, and I think that is a good thing. All 10 people that we have in uniform are important and they are going to play. Whether they start or not, doesn't really matter because we are going to need them."
On how the added size from the freshman class will impact the season…
"It's big, no pun intended. I think we have the biggest freshman class in the Pac-12. Some of them are banged up right now. Elli Koskinen from Finland is not playing yet, but will be out there soon. The two that are playing a lot, Tori Williams and Maurane Corbin, are going to have great years for us. They are doing a lot. I think our freshman class is going to be important moving forward and I anticipate them all to contribute."
On if there are an expectations of the freshman class as a whole…
"They were all highly recruited and we beat out some top programs. What we sold to them is that not only would they be coming to a power five school where we win, but also that they were going to have a chance to play and that we were going to need them to play. Dru Gylten, I anticipated her to play a lot as a freshman, but she is out with a knee injury. With Tori and Maurane, I anticipate them to play a lot, but beyond that, we need them to play well. As a freshman, a lot of times when you play well, it is kind of gravy. The coaches will see it as 'oh good, we got that from a freshman,' but this year, that is what we need from them. And I think that is why they came here and why they chose to come here. To not only play, but be needed."
On if there is a time frame that she would like to have a consistent starting five named…
"Traditionally, and this is my 15th year as a head coach, I have always had a starting five and stuck with it, and it might end up being like that this year. I think there is something to be said for having that continuity of things and not having to wonder. The players can really sink their teeth into their roles. This year, it is unique because I don't think there is much drop off, so ideally I would like it to be pretty set, but I don't this that is realistic with this group. In terms of timeline, I don't have one. I think the sooner we can get our roles figured out and everyone settled with their jobs, the better we are going to be."
On Emily Potter's role this year on the team…
"I don't think her role will be different, I think she is just going to have some help. That will change the pressure that is put on her. She gets so much attention from the other teams defensively that by the time we reach conference, it is hard. The last two years that I have been here that I have had the chance to coach her, it has been challenging. You get into the Pac-12 and the coaching is so good and the scouting reports are well done, it makes it tough. The Pac-12 is tough on her because everything has been targeted on 'stop Potter.' This year I think she will have some help. I don't think that changes her ability or changes her potential for impact, but it will take some pressure off of her. Megan Huff is going to be tough and will take pressure off of Potter. I think we are going to shoot the ball better which will take some of that pressure from her too."
On Maurane Corbin and the role she will have this season…
"She is 6-5 and she just plays her tail off, she plays so hard. I actually want her to look to do a little bit more when she is out there. She is still learning and everything is still new because she is a freshman. You kind of forget that she is a freshman because she does all of the little things correct unlike most freshman. So, I sometimes forget that she is still learning. She does everything right and is very coachable. If you tell her to do something, she will do it the hardest that she humanly can and that is valuable. That is so nice to have that coming off the bench. She is somebody that her value may not show up on the stat sheet, but she is going to be very valuable to us."
On if there is a specific position group that needs to improve…
"I think one through five we have to continue to get better. I could break it down and go through every position and say what we need to get a little bit better at, but there isn't a glaring weakness. I think the biggest thing as a team that we need to get better is taking care of the ball. By take care of the ball better, like turnovers that is the obvious, but shot selection. A bad shot is a turnover. The last two years I thought we have done some pretty good things, but we have turned the ball over too much. We have to get better at that. Our point guard play relies on that, our post players can't dribble into traffic, you can't jack up a bad shot early in the shot clock. We want to make a move in the Pac-12 and we were picked to finish ninth. If we aren't going to finish ninth, then we have to fix that and clean up our ball control with how we shoot it, shots we take and how we take care of it. So that's not a specific position, but is for everybody."
On who in addition to Emily Potter will be a leader this year…
"All of our seniors do a good job. Tanaeya BoClair is definitely someone will leadership pull on our team. She is kind of the calming force. She doesn't get too high or too low and that has leadership impact. If one of your starters is just consistent, players can feed off of that in a good way. Tilar Clark has done a really nice job as a senior with her work ethic. Wendy Anae, she is out with a knee injury for the year, but she has done a nice job. I think once you know you aren't playing, you can say things and provide impact where it is coming from a different voice as a player. This is a unique group where there doesn't appear to have a hierarchy. It is pretty much a shared responsibility."
On what she wants the identity of the team to be…
"I want us to be tougher than who we play. I think that is who we have to be for us to be good. I think our depth across the board is good, which can allow everyone to play and everyone to be important. I want there to be a shared ownership in our success and in our failures. And just to have that mental and physical toughness. In terms of the Xs and Os, we are still going to be up tempo, we are still going to defensively get after it, but I want us to always like that if we lose, we got beat and we didn't' beat ourselves from not giving it our best. That is my hope. I think we could have that as our identity."
On getting to open the season at home…
"I think there is always a little bit more enthusiasm when you are playing at home because it is exciting. But the saying is, 'you can't win them all if you don't win your first one,' so we want to play to win. I don't know if playing at home or away to start matters at this point because everyone is excited to play. I promise you Nevada will be too. With a new staff there is always new enthusiasm and sometimes you might play a little bit better than you should because of it. Everything is new. I anticipate a really good game from them because they will be very well prepared. Friday is going to be fun."
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"As Pete Carroll would say, 'it is the day before the day before,' so we play our first game on Friday. It is that enthusiastic kind of feeling. It is time. October is a really hard time. It is exciting because you are starting practice, but by the end of the month, everyone is ready for games to start. You are sick of practicing against each other and talking about games and about the season, we are just ready to go here. From a player's standpoint, I know they get sick of going against each other and so they are ready to start playing. We play Friday night against Nevada at home at 5:30 p.m. They have a new coaching staff. Their head coach has been the associate head coach at Arizona State for the last five years and she was a head coach previously in Illinois. They are good coaches, but they also have a familiarity with our program with her being from Arizona State. It should be a good game. On Monday we play at Alabama which will be a good SEC road game. I think they won 22 games last year. They are a good team and that will be a good test for us on the road against a power five school. So, those are the two that we are facing down in the next five days. We are excited to play somebody else and see where we are at."
On how she feels practice and preparation for the games this week has gone…
"They have been good. We played on Thursday against Carroll in an exhibition. Everybody played and the minutes were pretty equal across the board for all 10 players that we have in uniform right now. I thought we played well for about 27 minutes and then the last 12 to 13, we weren't very good. We ran out of gas and out of motivation, which is not good. We have tried to clean that up in terms of getting in better shape so that we can play all four quarters and finish games at the level we want to play. We have had a good week this week and we are getting after it today. It has been good. Like I said, I think we are sick of talking about it and we are ready to play."
On how she felt about the starting five against Carroll College and if she will change it up for Nevada…
"As I have mentioned before, we actually have legitimate parody and depth. The starting five might flux from week to week. I anticipate it to be who it was against Carroll, but we will see how practice goes today and tomorrow. I think it is going to be very competitive this season. In terms of the starting five, no job is a guarantee, and I think that is a good thing. All 10 people that we have in uniform are important and they are going to play. Whether they start or not, doesn't really matter because we are going to need them."
On how the added size from the freshman class will impact the season…
"It's big, no pun intended. I think we have the biggest freshman class in the Pac-12. Some of them are banged up right now. Elli Koskinen from Finland is not playing yet, but will be out there soon. The two that are playing a lot, Tori Williams and Maurane Corbin, are going to have great years for us. They are doing a lot. I think our freshman class is going to be important moving forward and I anticipate them all to contribute."
On if there are an expectations of the freshman class as a whole…
"They were all highly recruited and we beat out some top programs. What we sold to them is that not only would they be coming to a power five school where we win, but also that they were going to have a chance to play and that we were going to need them to play. Dru Gylten, I anticipated her to play a lot as a freshman, but she is out with a knee injury. With Tori and Maurane, I anticipate them to play a lot, but beyond that, we need them to play well. As a freshman, a lot of times when you play well, it is kind of gravy. The coaches will see it as 'oh good, we got that from a freshman,' but this year, that is what we need from them. And I think that is why they came here and why they chose to come here. To not only play, but be needed."
On if there is a time frame that she would like to have a consistent starting five named…
"Traditionally, and this is my 15th year as a head coach, I have always had a starting five and stuck with it, and it might end up being like that this year. I think there is something to be said for having that continuity of things and not having to wonder. The players can really sink their teeth into their roles. This year, it is unique because I don't think there is much drop off, so ideally I would like it to be pretty set, but I don't this that is realistic with this group. In terms of timeline, I don't have one. I think the sooner we can get our roles figured out and everyone settled with their jobs, the better we are going to be."
On Emily Potter's role this year on the team…
"I don't think her role will be different, I think she is just going to have some help. That will change the pressure that is put on her. She gets so much attention from the other teams defensively that by the time we reach conference, it is hard. The last two years that I have been here that I have had the chance to coach her, it has been challenging. You get into the Pac-12 and the coaching is so good and the scouting reports are well done, it makes it tough. The Pac-12 is tough on her because everything has been targeted on 'stop Potter.' This year I think she will have some help. I don't think that changes her ability or changes her potential for impact, but it will take some pressure off of her. Megan Huff is going to be tough and will take pressure off of Potter. I think we are going to shoot the ball better which will take some of that pressure from her too."
On Maurane Corbin and the role she will have this season…
"She is 6-5 and she just plays her tail off, she plays so hard. I actually want her to look to do a little bit more when she is out there. She is still learning and everything is still new because she is a freshman. You kind of forget that she is a freshman because she does all of the little things correct unlike most freshman. So, I sometimes forget that she is still learning. She does everything right and is very coachable. If you tell her to do something, she will do it the hardest that she humanly can and that is valuable. That is so nice to have that coming off the bench. She is somebody that her value may not show up on the stat sheet, but she is going to be very valuable to us."
On if there is a specific position group that needs to improve…
"I think one through five we have to continue to get better. I could break it down and go through every position and say what we need to get a little bit better at, but there isn't a glaring weakness. I think the biggest thing as a team that we need to get better is taking care of the ball. By take care of the ball better, like turnovers that is the obvious, but shot selection. A bad shot is a turnover. The last two years I thought we have done some pretty good things, but we have turned the ball over too much. We have to get better at that. Our point guard play relies on that, our post players can't dribble into traffic, you can't jack up a bad shot early in the shot clock. We want to make a move in the Pac-12 and we were picked to finish ninth. If we aren't going to finish ninth, then we have to fix that and clean up our ball control with how we shoot it, shots we take and how we take care of it. So that's not a specific position, but is for everybody."
On who in addition to Emily Potter will be a leader this year…
"All of our seniors do a good job. Tanaeya BoClair is definitely someone will leadership pull on our team. She is kind of the calming force. She doesn't get too high or too low and that has leadership impact. If one of your starters is just consistent, players can feed off of that in a good way. Tilar Clark has done a really nice job as a senior with her work ethic. Wendy Anae, she is out with a knee injury for the year, but she has done a nice job. I think once you know you aren't playing, you can say things and provide impact where it is coming from a different voice as a player. This is a unique group where there doesn't appear to have a hierarchy. It is pretty much a shared responsibility."
On what she wants the identity of the team to be…
"I want us to be tougher than who we play. I think that is who we have to be for us to be good. I think our depth across the board is good, which can allow everyone to play and everyone to be important. I want there to be a shared ownership in our success and in our failures. And just to have that mental and physical toughness. In terms of the Xs and Os, we are still going to be up tempo, we are still going to defensively get after it, but I want us to always like that if we lose, we got beat and we didn't' beat ourselves from not giving it our best. That is my hope. I think we could have that as our identity."
On getting to open the season at home…
"I think there is always a little bit more enthusiasm when you are playing at home because it is exciting. But the saying is, 'you can't win them all if you don't win your first one,' so we want to play to win. I don't know if playing at home or away to start matters at this point because everyone is excited to play. I promise you Nevada will be too. With a new staff there is always new enthusiasm and sometimes you might play a little bit better than you should because of it. Everything is new. I anticipate a really good game from them because they will be very well prepared. Friday is going to be fun."
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Players Mentioned
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