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7:00 PM
Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
The University of Utah Athletics
Monday, March 25
Spokane, WA
8:30 PM
University of Utah
at
Gonzaga
No. 5 Utah to take on No. 4 Gonzaga in NCAA Second Round
3/24/2024 12:17 PM | Women's Basketball
SPOKANE – The No. 5 seeded Utah Utes will take on the No. 4 seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. on Monday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. (MT).
GAME INFORMATION
No. 5 Utah (23-10, 11-7 Pac-12) vs. No. 4 Gonzaga (31-3, 16-0 WCC)
DATE | TIME: Monday, March 25 | 8:30 p.m. (MT)
LOCATION: Spokane, Wash. | McCarthey Athletic Center
LIVE STREAM: Click Here
TV: ESPN2
LISTEN: Click Here
LIVE STATS: Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES: @UtahWBB
HOW TO TUNE IN
Fans can watch the match up on ESPN2 with Ann Schatz and Mike Thibault calling the action. The radio call will be on ESPN 700, with Tyson Ewing handling play-by-play and Milee Rustand as analyst.
TICKETS
Tickets for the Second Rounds can be purchased by clicking here. Second Round All-Session passes start at $57.
OPENING TIP
The No. 5 seeded Utes are making their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and third consecutive appearance. Utah has picked up three consecutive First Round wins.
Utah has posted a 23-10 record overall on the season and finished with an 11-7 record in the Pac-12. This will be the 10th matchup with Gonzaga in school history and the first meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah picked up a 68-54 win over No. 12 seeded South Dakota State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Utah had a big first quarter pulling out to a 20-3 lead. The Utes lagged in the second quarter and allowed SDSU a 17-0 run to bring the score to 27-24 in favor of the Utes going into the half. Utah finished the second half strong maintaining a double digit lead the remainder of the game eventually leading to the W. Utah was led by Alissa PIli's 26 points and Kennady McQueens 17 points. Jenna Johnson had a big game on the boards pulling down 10.
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 currently leads Utah averaging 21.0 points per game. She's posted a career-high 37 points twice this season both against Top 10 teams.
She was named to The Athletic's All-America Second Team as well as the All-America Third Team by AP, Sporting News and USBWA. She was named as a Wooden Award Final Top 15 finalist. She was named a Katrina McClain Top 5 Finalist. She was also named to the midseason team for the Naismith Trophy and the preseason watchlist for the WBCA Wade Trophy. She was named to the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Watchlist. Pili was placed No. 4 on the most recent ESPN Top 25 Women's Basketball Players list.
She has posted four games this season scoring 30 or more points and 19 games recording 20 or more points. She's currently shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from the three and 81.2 percent from the free throw line.
Pili's career-high 37 points against No. 1 South Carolina (Dec. 10) earned her ESPN, AP and USBWA Player of the Week. She also earned Pac-12 Player of the Week.
IN THE RANKS
Utah is ranked No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Utah has been ranked in the Top 25 for 20 consecutive weeks. Utah is No. 11 in the NCAA Net Rankings. Utah is one of six 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.
UTAH IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Utah has a 12-19 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. This has been the first time Utah has made three consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances since the 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. The 2024 NCAA Tournament will mark Utah's 20th March Madness appearance.
Utah has made it to the Sweet 16 three times in school history, with only one appearance in the Elite Eight.
HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
Roberts is in her ninth season at the helm of the Utes. She has posted a 162-113 record in her time at Utah. She was named 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 GONZAGA
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have a 31-3 overall record and are 16-0 in the West Coast Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off a 75-56 win over UC Irvine in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. GU has won 25 of its last 26 games.
Gonzaga has five Bulldogs averaging double figures and are led by Yvonne Ejim who drops 20.0 points per game and averages 8.7 rebounds a game. Brynna Maxwell is another big contributor for GU as she puts up 14.4 points per game.
Utah has a 5-4 record with Gonzaga. Utah has never seen GU in the NCAA Tournament but the two teams did meet up in the WNIT Second Round in 2016. The last time the two teams met up was March 2016 when Utah picked up a 92-77 win in Spokane. Utah has an even 2-2 record in Spokane.
Gonzaga is led by head coach Lisa Fortier who is in her 10th season. She has a 264-62 record at the helm of the Bulldogs.
NOTABLES
(all statistical rankings are updated through games of 3/24/24)
Fans can follow along during the 2023-24 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
GAME INFORMATION
No. 5 Utah (23-10, 11-7 Pac-12) vs. No. 4 Gonzaga (31-3, 16-0 WCC)
DATE | TIME: Monday, March 25 | 8:30 p.m. (MT)
LOCATION: Spokane, Wash. | McCarthey Athletic Center
LIVE STREAM: Click Here
TV: ESPN2
LISTEN: Click Here
LIVE STATS: Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES: @UtahWBB
HOW TO TUNE IN
Fans can watch the match up on ESPN2 with Ann Schatz and Mike Thibault calling the action. The radio call will be on ESPN 700, with Tyson Ewing handling play-by-play and Milee Rustand as analyst.
TICKETS
Tickets for the Second Rounds can be purchased by clicking here. Second Round All-Session passes start at $57.
OPENING TIP
The No. 5 seeded Utes are making their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and third consecutive appearance. Utah has picked up three consecutive First Round wins.
Utah has posted a 23-10 record overall on the season and finished with an 11-7 record in the Pac-12. This will be the 10th matchup with Gonzaga in school history and the first meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah picked up a 68-54 win over No. 12 seeded South Dakota State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Utah had a big first quarter pulling out to a 20-3 lead. The Utes lagged in the second quarter and allowed SDSU a 17-0 run to bring the score to 27-24 in favor of the Utes going into the half. Utah finished the second half strong maintaining a double digit lead the remainder of the game eventually leading to the W. Utah was led by Alissa PIli's 26 points and Kennady McQueens 17 points. Jenna Johnson had a big game on the boards pulling down 10.
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 currently leads Utah averaging 21.0 points per game. She's posted a career-high 37 points twice this season both against Top 10 teams.
She was named to The Athletic's All-America Second Team as well as the All-America Third Team by AP, Sporting News and USBWA. She was named as a Wooden Award Final Top 15 finalist. She was named a Katrina McClain Top 5 Finalist. She was also named to the midseason team for the Naismith Trophy and the preseason watchlist for the WBCA Wade Trophy. She was named to the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Watchlist. Pili was placed No. 4 on the most recent ESPN Top 25 Women's Basketball Players list.
She has posted four games this season scoring 30 or more points and 19 games recording 20 or more points. She's currently shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from the three and 81.2 percent from the free throw line.
Pili's career-high 37 points against No. 1 South Carolina (Dec. 10) earned her ESPN, AP and USBWA Player of the Week. She also earned Pac-12 Player of the Week.
IN THE RANKS
Utah is ranked No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Utah has been ranked in the Top 25 for 20 consecutive weeks. Utah is No. 11 in the NCAA Net Rankings. Utah is one of six 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.
UTAH IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Utah has a 12-19 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. This has been the first time Utah has made three consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances since the 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. The 2024 NCAA Tournament will mark Utah's 20th March Madness appearance.
Utah has made it to the Sweet 16 three times in school history, with only one appearance in the Elite Eight.
HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
Roberts is in her ninth season at the helm of the Utes. She has posted a 162-113 record in her time at Utah. She was named 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 GONZAGA
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have a 31-3 overall record and are 16-0 in the West Coast Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off a 75-56 win over UC Irvine in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. GU has won 25 of its last 26 games.
Gonzaga has five Bulldogs averaging double figures and are led by Yvonne Ejim who drops 20.0 points per game and averages 8.7 rebounds a game. Brynna Maxwell is another big contributor for GU as she puts up 14.4 points per game.
Utah has a 5-4 record with Gonzaga. Utah has never seen GU in the NCAA Tournament but the two teams did meet up in the WNIT Second Round in 2016. The last time the two teams met up was March 2016 when Utah picked up a 92-77 win in Spokane. Utah has an even 2-2 record in Spokane.
Gonzaga is led by head coach Lisa Fortier who is in her 10th season. She has a 264-62 record at the helm of the Bulldogs.
NOTABLES
(all statistical rankings are updated through games of 3/24/24)
- Ranked No. 21 in this week's AP Top 25 Poll
- This is the 20th week in a row Utah has been ranked in the Top 25. This is the record for most weeks ranked in the AP Top 25. Last year the Utes broke the record ranked for 13 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 10 during 2022-23.
- Utah's No. 5 Preseason Ranking is its highest preseason ranking in school history and the first time Utah has been ranked to start the season since 2005
- Utah has four wins over Top 10 teams, the most in a single season in school history.
- Utah's 74-68 win over No. 7 USC (Feb. 25) marks the highest ranked road win in program history.
- Utah's 91-84 overtime win over No. 2 UCLA (Jan. 22) marks the highest ranked win in program history.
- Utah women's basketball hit 1,000 program wins with its W over Oregon becoming the second Pac-12 school to hit the milestone. Second only to Stanford.
- 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 posted five games of 100 points or more and are undefeated when hitting 100 or more in school history (25-0).
- Third consecutive 20-win season (32nd, 20-win season in school history)
- New school record with 339 made three pointers in a single season
- Kennady McQueen, Dasia Young, Gianna Kneepkens and Jenna Johnson all hit 1,000 points in career scoring.
- Alissa Pili became the fastest Ute to score 1,000 points in just 48 games and also hit 2,000 career points this season.
- Utah's 98-34 win over Merrimack College (Nov. 24) is Utah's largest margin of victory so far this season.
- Utah has two Utes averaging double figures in Alissa Pili (21.0) and Kennady McQueen (10.6) with Jenna Johnson (9.0) on the brink.
- Utah is top 20 nationally in seven major statistical categories:
- No. 6 in assists per game (19.5)
- No. 11 Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.40)
- No. 12 field goal percentage (47.6)
- No. 17 scoring margin (+16.2)
- No. 4 in made three pointers per game (10.4)
- No. 6 in three point attempts per game (28.2)
- No. 18 in three point percentage (36.4)
- Alissa Pili is No. 11 in the nation in total made field goals (257). She's also No. 16 in points per game (21.0) She is No. 9 in the nation for total points (692).
- Inês Vieira is No. 11 in the country in total assists with 193 on the year and No. 15 in assists per game averaging 5.8.
- Alissa Pili was named Pac-12 Player of the Week (Dec. 12) after putting up back-to-back 30 point games, including a career-high 37 points against No. 1 South Carolina.
- 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
Fans can follow along during the 2023-24 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
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