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
Photo by: Liv MedivitzUtah Athletics
Utah Women's Basketball First Day of Practice Quotes
9/23/2024 3:30 PM | Women's Basketball
On what the season expectations are…
"Different year, same expectations. We are in a good place with where our program is at, every year we bring in a good group of freshmen and we have a couple transfers this year, and they are joining a group of established veterans. Our culture is intact and its almost player-lead at this point, in terms of how we want to compete and practice, which really is a luxury as a coach at this point to not have to coach every little thing, they know what the expectations are. We want to make the NCAA tournament, make a run in it, have a chance to compete for a Big XII title, those expectations aren't going to change.
On if the team identity change year-to-year...
I don't think our identity changes, it's my job to use the summer and even the fall workouts to figure out what we have, what we don't have and kind of create a system that plays to strengths, but as far as identity, the goal is always to play with toughness and a collective spirit, I know that's all cliché coaching talk but it's the truth. That's our identity.
On what the teams focus and main objective between now the start of the season…
To build on what we are, who we have, but we are adding some things and doing things a little differently because we lost Alissa Pili. We will make some adjustments on what we do offensively and defensively. I think we will be able to do some more defensively and offensively we just have to adapt a little bit. We're adding Gianna Kneepkens back which is a blessing, and we got a lot of new guys that are going to need to play, so that's kind of the focus is to get the group together but work on what we've always done, it's a lot of teaching and putting it into practice.
On the loss of Alissa Pili and what the post looks like moving forward…
It's going to look different, Pili was intimidating in all terms of the word. We ran a lot of stuff to get her the ball, especially when (Gianna) went out, Pili was the main focus offensively. So our post play is different, we have depth, Maye Toure from Rhode Island, grad transfer, she's good, so she's going to play a lot, super athletic. She's going to do really well, and she plays really hard, and Nene Sow is getting better. I anticipate her to play this year, she put the work in, and then you have Jenna Johnson who's just the anchor of the whole group, and you just can't coach what she brings.
On new coaching staff additions…
We have some great additions, I'll start with Dasia Young, she was going to go play overseas but then she came to me and told said it wasn't the best path for her. I had always told her you should think about coaching and so we were able to add her to our staff. It's really valuable to have former players as coaches, with her situation to have just recently played, she's going to be a good coach, she has what it takes. Morgan Bailey has been awesome. When I found out Jerise [Freeman] was leaving, Morgan was my first call, I always enjoyed her and respected her, I had to coach against her when I was at Pacific and she was a heck of a player. Her familiarity with the state and her post play has been such an asset for us.
On having Gianna Kneepkens back…
Gianna is a difference maker in every sense of the word, and she just brings a level of swagger when she plays. She's still not feeling like her normal self and it's probably going to take couple of months to where she's completely ready for games. She hasn't been back that long, but she just brings a level of swagger that you can't put a value or describe it.
On Matyson Wilke's role this year…
I'm most excited for her I think coming into the season. She's put in so much work in the dark when no one's watching, she's playing with a different level of confidence and a new level of comfort, and she's going to be someone people aren't going to talk about now, but by the end of the season they are going to be talking about her, she looks really good.
"Different year, same expectations. We are in a good place with where our program is at, every year we bring in a good group of freshmen and we have a couple transfers this year, and they are joining a group of established veterans. Our culture is intact and its almost player-lead at this point, in terms of how we want to compete and practice, which really is a luxury as a coach at this point to not have to coach every little thing, they know what the expectations are. We want to make the NCAA tournament, make a run in it, have a chance to compete for a Big XII title, those expectations aren't going to change.
On if the team identity change year-to-year...
I don't think our identity changes, it's my job to use the summer and even the fall workouts to figure out what we have, what we don't have and kind of create a system that plays to strengths, but as far as identity, the goal is always to play with toughness and a collective spirit, I know that's all cliché coaching talk but it's the truth. That's our identity.
On what the teams focus and main objective between now the start of the season…
To build on what we are, who we have, but we are adding some things and doing things a little differently because we lost Alissa Pili. We will make some adjustments on what we do offensively and defensively. I think we will be able to do some more defensively and offensively we just have to adapt a little bit. We're adding Gianna Kneepkens back which is a blessing, and we got a lot of new guys that are going to need to play, so that's kind of the focus is to get the group together but work on what we've always done, it's a lot of teaching and putting it into practice.
On the loss of Alissa Pili and what the post looks like moving forward…
It's going to look different, Pili was intimidating in all terms of the word. We ran a lot of stuff to get her the ball, especially when (Gianna) went out, Pili was the main focus offensively. So our post play is different, we have depth, Maye Toure from Rhode Island, grad transfer, she's good, so she's going to play a lot, super athletic. She's going to do really well, and she plays really hard, and Nene Sow is getting better. I anticipate her to play this year, she put the work in, and then you have Jenna Johnson who's just the anchor of the whole group, and you just can't coach what she brings.
On new coaching staff additions…
We have some great additions, I'll start with Dasia Young, she was going to go play overseas but then she came to me and told said it wasn't the best path for her. I had always told her you should think about coaching and so we were able to add her to our staff. It's really valuable to have former players as coaches, with her situation to have just recently played, she's going to be a good coach, she has what it takes. Morgan Bailey has been awesome. When I found out Jerise [Freeman] was leaving, Morgan was my first call, I always enjoyed her and respected her, I had to coach against her when I was at Pacific and she was a heck of a player. Her familiarity with the state and her post play has been such an asset for us.
On having Gianna Kneepkens back…
Gianna is a difference maker in every sense of the word, and she just brings a level of swagger when she plays. She's still not feeling like her normal self and it's probably going to take couple of months to where she's completely ready for games. She hasn't been back that long, but she just brings a level of swagger that you can't put a value or describe it.
On Matyson Wilke's role this year…
I'm most excited for her I think coming into the season. She's put in so much work in the dark when no one's watching, she's playing with a different level of confidence and a new level of comfort, and she's going to be someone people aren't going to talk about now, but by the end of the season they are going to be talking about her, she looks really good.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
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