UP NEXT: Utah Hits the Road to Take on Houston

Saturday, January 17

Houston, TX

Noon (MT)

University of Utah

Houston

1/16/2026 1:04 PM | Women's Basketball

WBB Game Notes vs. Houston

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's basketball team hits the road to take on the Houston Cougars. The last time the Utes played at Houston was Dec. 1988.

GAME INFORMATION
#RV Utah (13-5, 4-2 Big 12) vs. Houston (6-11, 0-6 Big 12)
DATE | TIME: Saturday, Jan. 17 | 12 p.m. (MT)
LOCATION: Houston, Texas | Fertitta 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 Matt Thomas on the play-by-play and Austyn Iven as analyst. The radio call will be on 92.5 FM with Tyson Ewing and Milee Rustand calling the action.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah women's basketball fell to No. 18 Baylor 61-45. Utah stayed tied in the first quarter and trailed by single digits going into half time but ultimately couldn't close any gaps or snag any momentum. The Utes were led by Chyra Evans' first career double-double with 14 points and career-high 11 rebounds.

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 40.6% from the field, 35.9% from three and 100% from the line while averaging 10.1 points per game. She's averaging 3.8 rebounds and has 45 assists so far this season. Wilke has 1,060 total points in her collegiate career. She has also hit 208 career made three pointers, pulled down 324 career rebounds and posted 232 career assists.

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. She matched her career-high scoring by hitting 26 points against Arizona (12/21) including a career-high 11 made field goals.

White currently leads the Utes with 14.3 points per game. She's shooting 45.4% from the field, 38.3% from three and 86.0% from the free throw line. She's second on the team in rebounding pulling down 97 total on the year and averages 5.4 rebounds a game.

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 32-13 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 HOUSTON
Houston is 6-11 overall and 0-6 in Big 12 play this season. The Cougars are coming off a 71-59 loss against Texas Tech. The Cougars are led by head coach Mathew Mitchell, who is in his first season at the helm of Houston and owns a 6-11 record.

Houston is averaging 60.8 points per game while allowing opponents to score 70.3 points per contest. The Cougars are shooting 37.2% from the field, 25.7% from three-point range, and 66.3% from the free-throw line this season. On the glass, Houston is averaging 37.8 rebounds per game, compared to opponents' 39.6 rebounds per game.

Houston does not have a player averaging double figures this season, but Kierra Merchant (9.2) and T.K. Pitts (9.1) are leading the team in scoring. Kierra Merchant leads the Cougars in scoring at 9.2 points per game, shooting 40.9% from the field, 31.3% from three, and 69.8% from the free-throw line, while adding 5.2 rebounds per game.

Utah is 2-1 all-time against the Cougars, and are 0-1 in Houston. The Utes haven't played in Houston since Dec. 1988. Utah beat Houston in their only meeting last season in the Huntsman Center, 69-42 (1/11/26).

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
• Utah has received votes in this week's AP Top 25 Poll.
• The Utes sit at No. 43 in the Net Rankings.
• Utah remains undefeated in true road games this season with a 6-0 record after getting a clean sweep of Kansas (1/7) and K-State (1/10).
• The Utes have won 10 of their last 12 games and are on a one game losing streak after falling to No. 18 Baylor 61-45.
• Reese Ross breached a new career-high in scoring with her 21 points against K-State (1/10). Also against K-State Ross logged her third double-double this season as she also snagged 10 boards. This is her second 20-point game this season and fourth double-digit rebounding performance.
• Chyra Evans recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against No. 18 Baylor (1/14/26).

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.

• Utah downed No. 8 TCU (1/3) in overtime 87-77 handing the Frogs their first loss of the season. This was the 11th Top-10 win in school history and the fourth consecutive season the Utes have downed a Top-10 team. It also marked the first time in program history that Utah has picked up a Top-10 win in four straight seasons.
• Against No. 1 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 at least five made threes in a game so far on the season.
• Lani White holds the season high with most points scored in a game with 26 twice (Northwestern 12/14, Arizona 12/21).
• Utah had a season high of 25 assists against Utah State (11/7) including a career-high nine from LA Sneed. Sneed's nine also marks a season high for Utah.
• 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).

• Utah is top 40 nationally in five major statistical categories:
    No. 26 assists per game (17.7)
    No. 35 rebound margin (7.9)
    No. 13 defensive rebounds per game (30.1)
    No. 22 three point attempts (26.7)
    No. 13 three pointers per game (9.3)

UP NEXT
Utah will have three consecutive games in the state of Utah. First, the Utes will host No. 17 Texas Tech Jan. 24 and then West Virginia Jan. 27. Utah will then make the short trip to Provo, Utah to take on rival BYU Jan. 31.

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