UP NEXT: Utah to Start Big 12 Action at Arizona

Monday, December 22

Tucson, AZ

Noon (MT)

University of Utah

Arizona

UP NEXT: Utah to Start Big 12 Action at Arizona

12/19/2025 2:27 PM | Women's Basketball

WBB Game Notes vs Arizona

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's basketball is set to kick off Big 12 action Dec. 22 at Arizona. The Utes are currently on a six-game win streak. The Utes are also on a two-game win streak against the Wildcats.

GAME INFORMATION
Utah (9-3, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Arizona (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)
DATE | TIME: Monday, Dec. 22 | 12 p.m. (MT)
LOCATION: Tucson, Ariz. | McKale Memorial Center
LIVE STATS: Click Here
LIVE STREAM: Click Here
LISTEN:Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES:@UtahWBB

HOW TO TUNE IN
Fans can follow along with the live action of the matchup on ESPN+ with Cindy Brunson on the play-by-play and Joan Bonvicini as analyst. The radio call will be on ESPN700 and can be found on the TuneIn app, with Tyson Ewing and Milee Rustand calling the action.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah women's basketball picked up a 61-52 win over UC Riverside. The Utes were led by Reese Ross' double-double of 17 points and career-high rebounds. Utah had 13 assists to UC Riverside's nine. The Utes outrebounded the Highlanders 43-29. Utah boasted 36 points in the paint to UC Riverside's 20.

THE UTES
Utah returns four key contributors from the 2024-25 season including Maty Wilke, Samantha Crispe, Brooke Walker and Reese Ross. This year the Utes welcome back Lani White who played at Utah for her freshman and sophomore seasons. White spent her junior season at Virginia Tech but has returned to finish her collegiate career where she started it all, as a Ute. The Utes welcome one true transfer in Kamryn Mafua and four freshmen in LA Sneed, Ella Todd, Avery Hjelmstad and Evelina Otto.

THE KEY IS WILKE
Maty Wilke is Utah's top returner. Wilke is shooting 38.9% from the field, 37.5% from three and 100% from the line while averaging 9.7 points per game. She's averaging 3.9 rebounds and has 33 assists so far this season. Wilke has 995 total points in her collegiate career and is just five points away from the exclusive 1,000 point club.

LANI'S CHARISMA
Lani White hit a hot streak. She scored 20 or more points and hit five or more made three pointers in back-to-back games (Boise State, 12/10 and Northwestern 12/14). She posted a career-high 26 points and a career-high 7-of-7 from three point range against Northwestern (12/14). She knocked down 12 straight three pointers without a single miss.

White currently leads the Utes with 13.2 points per game. She's shooting 45.8% from the field, 38.3% from three and 80.6% from the free throw line. She's second on the team in rebounding pulling down 67 total on the year and averages 5.6 rebounds a game.

HJELMSTAD & THE FOURTH QUARTER
Freshman Avery Hjelmstad THRIVES in the final 10 minutes of a game. 54.6% (59-of-108) of Hjelmstad's points have been scored in the fourth quarter. Against Weber State (11/26) all of Hjelmstad's 12 points were scored in the fourth quarter. 10 of those were scored within 90 seconds and seven of them were unanswered. Weber State (11/26) was her biggest fourth quarter to date with 12 points going 3-of-4 from the field, 2-of-3 from the three and 4-of-5 from the line.

Against Sioux Falls (11/3) Hjelmstad posted 11 points including three from deep and two made free throws. Hjelmstad went 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-5 from deep against Utah State (11/7) for 11 points. Against Colorado State (12/4), Hjelmstad posted 16-of-22 points in the second half with 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Hjelmstad made 3-of-10 points in the fourth quarter against Boise State.

Game-By-Game Breakdown:
(Points in the Fourth - Total Points)
vs. Sioux Falls 11-of-14
vs. Utah State 11-of-16
vs. Utah Valley 3-of-3
vs. UConn 6-of-6
vs. Weber State 12-of-12
vs. Montana 3-of-6
vs. Colorado State 10-of-22
Vs. Boise State 3-of-10

HEAD COACH GAVIN PETERSEN
Petersen enters his second season and first full season as head coach. He was named the head coach of the Utah women's basketball team on Nov. 19, 2024 just four games into the 2024-25 season. He has a 28-11 record in his career. Petersen became the fastest coach in program history to get a Top-10 victory when he led the Utes to a 78-67 win over No. 3 NotreDame (11/30/24). He brings 23 seasons of college coaching experience to the role, he is in his 11th season overall with the Utes and spent the previous five years as associate head coach under Lynne Roberts.

Petersen has been a part of the staff that has led the Utes to seven postseason appearances—including four NCAA tournaments and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen—and five 20-win seasons, as well as regular appearances in the AP Top 25.

SCOUTING ARIZONA
Arizona is 9-2 this season and is coming off a 105-59 win over Bellarmine.  The Wildcats are led by head coach Becky Burke who is in her 1st season at the helm of Arizona. She has a 9-2 record. Arizona is averaging 79.8points per game through 11 games while allowing opponents to average 66.2 points per game. The Wildcats are shooting 49.3% from the field, 31.7% from three, and 71.2% from the free-throw line so far this season. On the glass, Arizona is averaging 36.1 rebounds per game, compared to opponents' 35.1 boards per game.

The Wildcats have three players averaging double figures in Mickayla Perdue (17.9), Noelani Cornfield (14.3) and Daniah Trammell (11.7). Perdue leads the team in scoring and is shooting 32.5% from the field, 32.5% from three, and 79.2% from the line, while adding 2.0 rebounds per game. Utah has a 23-13 overall record with Arizona and have an 8-9 record with the Wildcats in Tucson. The last time the Utes and Wildcats faced off was just last season where Utah downed Arizona 67-58 in Salt Lake City. Utah went 2-0 against Arizona last season and picked up its first win in Tucson since 2018.

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
• Senior Lani White hit back-to-back 20-points games. First White, put up 23 points against Boise State (12/10) that inlcuded a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc for a career-high. She then bested that career mark going 7-of-7 from three and posted a career-high 26 points against Northwestern (12/14).
• Reese Ross became the third Ute to log a 20-point game with her 20 against Northwestern (12/14).
• Ross put up a double-double against UC Riverside with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
• The Utes have knocked down 10 or more threes in a game seven times this season and are undefeated in those games.
• Utah's bench put up 27 points against Boise state (12/10). The Utes are 6-0 when the bench puts up 20 or more points in a game.

2025-26 SEASON NEED TO KNOW
• Utah is coming off its fourth consecutive 20-win season and fourth NCAA Tournament appearances. Head Coach Gavin Petersen enters his second season at the helm of the Utes and 11th overall season at Utah.
• The Utes are returning seven from last year's squad including, key contributors Maty Wilke, Reese Ross, Samantha Crispe and Brooke Walker.
• Utah welcomes back Lani White who spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 season with Utah before spending the 2024-25 season at Virginia Tech.
• The Utes have five true newcomers on the roster this year in transfer Kamryn Mafua and freshmen Ella Todd, Evelina Otto, LA Sneed and Avery Hjelmstad
• At the helm for the Utes is Gavin Petersen who is in his second season as head coach and 11th overall season at Utah. He was named head coach Nov. 19, 2024, just four games into the 2025-26 season.

• Against UConn (11/23), the Utes posted 14 assists on 14 made field goal for a 100% rate, the highest on the season.
• Maty Wilke, Avery Hjelmstad and Lani White have each logged five made threes in a game so far on the season.
• Lani White holds the season high with 12 rebounds in a game (Washington, 11/15) as well as the most points scored in a game 26 (Northwestern. 12/14).
• Utah had a season high of 25 assists against Utah State including a career-high nine from LA Sneed
• Maty Wilke tied her career high with six assists against Weber State (11/26). Wilke's six assists pushed her over the 200-assist milestone.
• LA Sneed has the season best nine assists against Utah State (11/7).
• The Utes best rebounding game of the season came against Boise State where Utah had 56 total boards.
• The Utes knocked down 14 from beyond the arc for the most threes made in a game this season against Boise State (12/10).
• Avery Hjelmstad is the fourth quarter queen with 59 of her 108 total points coming in the fourth quarter. Against Weber State (11/26), Hjelmstad posted all 12 points in the final 10 minutes of action, 10 of those points happened within 90 seconds and seven of them went unanswered.

• Utah is top 40 nationally in five major statistical categories:
    No. 26 assists per game (18.0)
    No. 24 defensive rebounds per game (30.1)
    No. 23 three point attempts (27.3)
    No. 44 three point percentage (35.7)
    No. 12 three pointers per game (9.8)

UP NEXT
The Utes first home Big 12 game will be against the Sun Devils of Arizona State on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. Utah will then host No. 9 TCU on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.

FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2025-26 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).