SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 12 Utah Utes (10-2) start the final season of Pac-12 women's basketball at No. 8 Colorado on Dec. 30 at 1:00 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
No. 12 Utah (10-2, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 8 Colorado (10-1)
DATE | TIME: Saturday, Dec. 30 | 1:00 p.m. MT
LOCATION: Boulder, Colo. | CU Events Center
LIVE STATS: Click Here
LIVE STREAM: Click Here
TV: Pac-12 Networks
LISTEN: Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES: @UtahWBB
HOW TO TUNE IN
Fans can watch the Colorado game on the Pac-12 Networks with Jenny Cavnar & Elise Woodward. The radio call will be on ESPN 700, with Tyson Ewing handling play-by-play and Milee Enger as analyst. Live stats are on UtahUtes.com.
OPENING TIP
The Utes have posted a 10-2 record so far on the season. Utah and Colorado have never played each other with both teams being ranked in the Top 25.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah took down its third in-state foe of the season defeating Weber State 89-36. Utah had five Utes score in double figures with
Alissa Pili leading the way with 20. Utah's bench had a strong showing with 34 points with Maty Wilke and
Lani White each scoring 11.Utah ended the game shooting 55.7 percent from the field while Southern Utah shot 49.1 percent. Utah dominated beyond the arc knocking down 16 while SUU only made two.
THE UTES
Utah returned all of last year's starting five including All-American and Pac-12 Player of the Year,
Alissa Pili, as well as All-American
Gianna Kneepkens.Utah also brought back starters,
Jenna Johnson,
Kennady McQueen and
Isabel Palmer. Other key players returning are
Ines Vieira,
Lani White and
Dasia Young. Utah welcomed three transfers in
Matyson Wilke,
Alyssa Blanck and
Samantha Crispe as well as two true freshmen
Daniela Falcon Hernandez and
Reese Ross to this year's squad.
The Utes lost Kneepkens after a season ending foot injury that occurred against BYU (Dec. 2).
PILI POWER
Pili earned Preseason AP All-American Honorable Mention as well as named to the Katrina McClain Preseason Watchlist, Naismith Trophy Watchlist and the WBCA Wade Trophy Preseason Watchlist. Pili was placed No. 4 on the most recent ESPN Top 25 Women's Basketball Players list.
Pili posted a career-high 37 points against No. 1 South Carolina (Dec. 10). After that performance Pili earned ESPN, AP and USBWA Player of the Week. She also earned Pac-12 Player of the Week.
IN THE RANKS
Utah has been ranked No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 polls. Utah has been ranked in the Top 25 for seven consecutive weeks. Utah is No. 4 in the NCAA Net Rankings and No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Utah is one of five Pac-12 schools currently in the Top 25.
Utah was ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll. This was the highest preseason ranking for Utah in school history and the first time the Utes have been ranked to start a season since 2005.
AT THE TOP
Utah is the nation's No. 3 scoring team averaging 93.3 points per game. Utah is No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage (53.8%). The Utes are No. 1 in the nation in assists per game averaging 24.9 assists per game and average an assist on 72.2% of all made field goals. Utah is also the nation's best three point shooting team averaging 13.3 made three pointers a game and No. 1 in three point percentage (42.6). Utah is ranked in the top 10 nationally in a total of eight major statistical categories
HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
Roberts is in her ninth season at the helm of the Utes. She has posted a 149-106 record in her time at Utah. She was dubbed the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the team to its first ever Pac-12 regular season title. She led Utah to its second ever Sweet 16 appearance. Roberts also led the Utes to its highest AP Rankings in school history, including 12 weeks in the Top 10.
SCOUTING COLORADO
The No. 8 Colorado Buffs have a 10-1 record on the year. The Buffs are on a four-game winning streak and coming off a 78-56 win to Northern Colorado.
Colorado is led by Frida Formann who averages 15.4 points per game. Aaronette Vonleh is another big contributor for the Buffs as she averages 15.2 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game.
This will be the 43rd meeting between the two teams. Utah has a 21-21 overall record against Colorado. Utah is on a one game losing streak in the series. The last time the two teams met up was Jan. 6, 2023 where Utah fell to the Buffs in Boulder 77-67. Utah has an 8-11 record against Colorado in Boulder.
NOTABLES
(all statistical rankings are updated through games of 12/26/23)
- Ranked No. 12 in this week's AP Top 25 Polls
- Utah has been ranked for seven consecutive weeks this season in the Top 25. Last year, the Utes broke the record being ranked for 13 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 10 during 2022-23 and was ranked in the AP Poll 19 consecutive weeks.
- The Utes are 6-0 in the Huntsman Center this year and are currently on a 22-game win streak at home.
- Utah has never defeated a team ranked higher than No. 15 on the road when Utah won in Corvallis on Dec. 8, 2020 against Oregon State.
- Utah's 98-34 win over Merrimack College (Nov. 24) is Utah's largest margin of victory so far this season.
- Against South Carolina State (Nov. 9), Utah had 21 made three pointers breaking the school record for most threes in a game which was previously set at 19 (vs. Lipscomb Nov. 10, 2021).
- Utah has three Utes averaging double figures, Alissa Pili (23.8), Gianna Kneepkens (17.8) and Isabel Palmer (14)
- Utah has posted five games of 100 points or more and are undefeated when hitting 100 or more in school history (25-0).
- Utah is the nation's No. 3 scoring team and ranked in the top 10 nationally in eight major statistical categories:
- No. 3 scoring (93.3)
- No. 3 in assist/turnover ratio (1.77)
- No. 1 in assists per game (24.9)
- No. 1 field goal percentage (53.8)
- No. 3 scoring margin (+37.2)
- No. 1 in three point percentage (42.6)
- No. 1 in made three pointers per game (13.3)
- No. 1 in three point attempts per game (31.3)
- Alissa Pili is No. 4 in the nation in field goal percentage (69.7), No. 5 in scoring (285) and No. 4 in points per game (23.8).
- Pili leads the country in three point percentage (56.5).
- Ines Vieira is No. 7 in the nation in total assists (89) and No. 6 in assists per game (7.4). She just broke into the top 10 in total steals at No. 6 with 40 on the season and No. 8 in steals per game (3.33).
- Kennady McQueen has stepped up her performance from beyond the arc and sits at No. 22 in the nation in three point percentage (46.7).
- The Utes are coming off a historic 2022-23 season including a Pac-12 regular season title and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance
- At the helm for the Utes is reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Lynne Roberts who enters her ninth season
NEXT UP
The Utes will continue Pac-12 action at Arizona State Jan. 5 and Arizona Jan. 7. The Utes will return to the Huntsman on Jan. 12 to take on Stanford before hosting California Jan. 14.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2023-24 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram:
@UtahWBB | Facebook:
Facebook.com/UtahWBB).