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
Utah Head Coach Lynne Roberts Press Conference
2/1/2017 12:21 PM | Women's Basketball
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Opening statement
"It's great to see everyone and I can't believe it's already Feb. 1. January has had some ups and downs. We had some good wins and some tough losses. The Pac-12 Conference proved to be extremely competitive. We lost Joeseta Fatuesi for the year with a knee injury and Tanaeya Boclair missed some action because of an ankle injury.  We had some adversity in January, but we did get some good wins. We're continuing to get better and learn, and it's all part of the process. I looked at my phone today and I can't believe it's February already. We have eight regular-season games left and this season has just flown by. We play Washington at home on Friday at 8 p.m. and Washington State Sunday at noon. We have four weeks left until the Pac-12 Tournament so we need to take care of business one game at a time."
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On most recent win vs. Colorado
"Playing the same team twice in one week is bazar – for the players and the coaches. We went to the Oregons and came home Sunday night then turned around to leave Tuesday to go to Colorado to play Wednesday. We were a little tired and flat, and I was not happy with how we played at Boulder. We regrouped for how we wanted to play and carry ourselves for Saturday's game. It was a good win, but there's still a lot to improve. We'll take it. Any win in this conference is nice to have."
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On free-throws
"We were 6-19 from the free-throw line, which is almost impressively hard to do. It's not like we don't work on them. We took yesterday off, but practiced Monday, We did a lot of pressure free-throws for about an hour and a half. At the end of the day, players need to step up and knock them down. They've been shooting free-throws since they were in fourth grade. You're a Division I Pac-12 player and you need to step and hit them when they count. We probably would have won a lot more convincingly had we just shot 70 percent from the free-throw line. We were doing a good job attacking and getting to the free-throw line. My experience with free-throws is the more you talk about it, the worse it gets. The players need to get in the gym and shoot them on their own."
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On different lineup
"We had lost a couple in a row and I didn't like the way we were playing. I didn't like the mentality we had. We weren't playing Utah Basketball and the way I want our team to play. I decided to shake it up a little bit, and it's not that one or two players is the reason we didn't play well. Sometime you just need to shake it up. I don't change the starting lineup very much as a coach so I think that's why there's a lot of buzz about it. I think people made too big a deal about the starting lineup anyways. I wish we'd do away with the introduction because it's a team game. No one plays just five people, it takes everybody. Like I say, I rather be on the floor at the end of a close game than at the beginning."
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On seeing results
"We got the win and I thought we played better and we were more cohesive. I don't know if that's because of the starting lineup or not. I thought we played better and we had some momentum. At Colorado we started the game down 14-4 and at home we had a much better start in the first quarter. We'll practice the next couple of days and go from there."
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On Malia Nawahine
"Whether she starts or comes off the bench she goes hard. Down the stretch, we had a lead and I wanted to have players who have been in that situation before. She has played a lot minutes and a lot of games, and she knows what it takes to win games. She brings that toughness out there."
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On freshmen
"They're getting a lot of minutes for freshmen – and on a team that has some experienced returners. They've played in every game and they've done a nice job. Megan Jacobs plays really hard and she got in foul trouble at Colorado and probably didn't get as many minutes as she would have without the fouls. She's really smart and she wants to figure it out. They both want to be good. They're all about being here and improving. They're in the gym a lot, watching film, and putting in time. I think Megan's biggest strength is her versatility, she can play four positions. That's huge because it provides more opportunity for you to play. Kiana is an explosive athlete and probably our best athlete on the team. She has a scorer's mentality. She played the 2-guard with Erika Bean on the floor and I thought that was a good line up. She continued to learn the mental side of games. The more she continues to do that, the better she'll be."
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On team's mentality about facing another ranked opponent (No. 10 Washington)
"It never stops. Every week you have a ranked opponent. We have to focus on Washington now, they're No. 10 in the country. They have arguably the best player in college basketball with Kelsey Plum. She's leading the country in scoring and she's the all-time Pac-12 leading scorer – men or women- in the history of the league and there's still eight games left. She has a chance to be the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history. She makes them go and she's going to get her points. They have a really nice supporting cast. They have another potential all-American  with forward Chantel Osahor who leads the nation in rebounding. They have the nation's leading scorer and rebounder so that's a formula for a really good team. They'll get up and down the floor and score a lot of points. It will be a good game for fans to come watch. We're excited. These are games where you get to lace them up and compete against some of the best players at home. We have nothing to lose in those games and that's the mindset. You need to be fearless and have some mental toughness. As a coach I'm really excited and I know the players are too."
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On Megan Jacob's passing
"Megan is 6-1 and she's probably our second best passer – Erika Bean is our best – in terms of vision and ability to read defenses and create shots. It does help that she's taller, bigger and has good vision. Having her on the perimeter has helped because Emily Potter is swarmed in there and there's very little daylight. You have to be armed and ready when there is daylight and Megan does a good job of that."
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On promotions for Saturday's game vs. Washington
"We have a lot of stuff going on and our Marketing Department has done a tremendous job to promote this game. It's our blackout game so we'll be wearing black uniforms. The first 1,000 fans who come will get a back replica t-shirt jersey free. If you wear black to the game you get in free. It's also Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night so they can get up to six tickets with your ID to get in free. I don't know if you know this, but it will also be National Carrot Cake Day. At every timeout our dance and cheer will be up in the stands handing out carrot cake. I don't know if they're going to swing by the bench, but I hope they do. There's a lot going on. There's always a lot for family on the concourse before games with face painting and balloons. It should be fun night. The game is at 8 p.m. so it's a little bit of a later start. Have dinner, the come down to the game – get desert with the free carrot cake. Wear black and we're hoping to have a good crowd for a big game. It should be really great basketball too."
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Opening statement
"It's great to see everyone and I can't believe it's already Feb. 1. January has had some ups and downs. We had some good wins and some tough losses. The Pac-12 Conference proved to be extremely competitive. We lost Joeseta Fatuesi for the year with a knee injury and Tanaeya Boclair missed some action because of an ankle injury.  We had some adversity in January, but we did get some good wins. We're continuing to get better and learn, and it's all part of the process. I looked at my phone today and I can't believe it's February already. We have eight regular-season games left and this season has just flown by. We play Washington at home on Friday at 8 p.m. and Washington State Sunday at noon. We have four weeks left until the Pac-12 Tournament so we need to take care of business one game at a time."
Â
On most recent win vs. Colorado
"Playing the same team twice in one week is bazar – for the players and the coaches. We went to the Oregons and came home Sunday night then turned around to leave Tuesday to go to Colorado to play Wednesday. We were a little tired and flat, and I was not happy with how we played at Boulder. We regrouped for how we wanted to play and carry ourselves for Saturday's game. It was a good win, but there's still a lot to improve. We'll take it. Any win in this conference is nice to have."
Â
On free-throws
"We were 6-19 from the free-throw line, which is almost impressively hard to do. It's not like we don't work on them. We took yesterday off, but practiced Monday, We did a lot of pressure free-throws for about an hour and a half. At the end of the day, players need to step up and knock them down. They've been shooting free-throws since they were in fourth grade. You're a Division I Pac-12 player and you need to step and hit them when they count. We probably would have won a lot more convincingly had we just shot 70 percent from the free-throw line. We were doing a good job attacking and getting to the free-throw line. My experience with free-throws is the more you talk about it, the worse it gets. The players need to get in the gym and shoot them on their own."
Â
On different lineup
"We had lost a couple in a row and I didn't like the way we were playing. I didn't like the mentality we had. We weren't playing Utah Basketball and the way I want our team to play. I decided to shake it up a little bit, and it's not that one or two players is the reason we didn't play well. Sometime you just need to shake it up. I don't change the starting lineup very much as a coach so I think that's why there's a lot of buzz about it. I think people made too big a deal about the starting lineup anyways. I wish we'd do away with the introduction because it's a team game. No one plays just five people, it takes everybody. Like I say, I rather be on the floor at the end of a close game than at the beginning."
Â
On seeing results
"We got the win and I thought we played better and we were more cohesive. I don't know if that's because of the starting lineup or not. I thought we played better and we had some momentum. At Colorado we started the game down 14-4 and at home we had a much better start in the first quarter. We'll practice the next couple of days and go from there."
Â
Â
On Malia Nawahine
"Whether she starts or comes off the bench she goes hard. Down the stretch, we had a lead and I wanted to have players who have been in that situation before. She has played a lot minutes and a lot of games, and she knows what it takes to win games. She brings that toughness out there."
Â
On freshmen
"They're getting a lot of minutes for freshmen – and on a team that has some experienced returners. They've played in every game and they've done a nice job. Megan Jacobs plays really hard and she got in foul trouble at Colorado and probably didn't get as many minutes as she would have without the fouls. She's really smart and she wants to figure it out. They both want to be good. They're all about being here and improving. They're in the gym a lot, watching film, and putting in time. I think Megan's biggest strength is her versatility, she can play four positions. That's huge because it provides more opportunity for you to play. Kiana is an explosive athlete and probably our best athlete on the team. She has a scorer's mentality. She played the 2-guard with Erika Bean on the floor and I thought that was a good line up. She continued to learn the mental side of games. The more she continues to do that, the better she'll be."
Â
On team's mentality about facing another ranked opponent (No. 10 Washington)
"It never stops. Every week you have a ranked opponent. We have to focus on Washington now, they're No. 10 in the country. They have arguably the best player in college basketball with Kelsey Plum. She's leading the country in scoring and she's the all-time Pac-12 leading scorer – men or women- in the history of the league and there's still eight games left. She has a chance to be the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history. She makes them go and she's going to get her points. They have a really nice supporting cast. They have another potential all-American  with forward Chantel Osahor who leads the nation in rebounding. They have the nation's leading scorer and rebounder so that's a formula for a really good team. They'll get up and down the floor and score a lot of points. It will be a good game for fans to come watch. We're excited. These are games where you get to lace them up and compete against some of the best players at home. We have nothing to lose in those games and that's the mindset. You need to be fearless and have some mental toughness. As a coach I'm really excited and I know the players are too."
Â
On Megan Jacob's passing
"Megan is 6-1 and she's probably our second best passer – Erika Bean is our best – in terms of vision and ability to read defenses and create shots. It does help that she's taller, bigger and has good vision. Having her on the perimeter has helped because Emily Potter is swarmed in there and there's very little daylight. You have to be armed and ready when there is daylight and Megan does a good job of that."
Â
On promotions for Saturday's game vs. Washington
"We have a lot of stuff going on and our Marketing Department has done a tremendous job to promote this game. It's our blackout game so we'll be wearing black uniforms. The first 1,000 fans who come will get a back replica t-shirt jersey free. If you wear black to the game you get in free. It's also Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night so they can get up to six tickets with your ID to get in free. I don't know if you know this, but it will also be National Carrot Cake Day. At every timeout our dance and cheer will be up in the stands handing out carrot cake. I don't know if they're going to swing by the bench, but I hope they do. There's a lot going on. There's always a lot for family on the concourse before games with face painting and balloons. It should be fun night. The game is at 8 p.m. so it's a little bit of a later start. Have dinner, the come down to the game – get desert with the free carrot cake. Wear black and we're hoping to have a good crowd for a big game. It should be really great basketball too."
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Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
W
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
W
/ Women's Basketball
W
/ Women's Basketball
F
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