UP NEXT: Utah to Host No. 22 West Virginia in Annual Pink Game

Tuesday, January 27

Salt Lake City, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Utah

West Virginia

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UP NEXT: Utah to Host No. 22 West Virginia in Annual Pink Game

1/26/2026 11:25 AM | Women's Basketball

WBB Game Notes vs. West Virginia

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's basketball team is set to host No. 22 West Virginia. This is the fifth Top-25 team to come to the Huntsman Center this year and the first time West Virginia has been to the Jon M. Huntsman in program history.

GAME INFORMATION
Utah (14-6, 5-3 Big 12) vs. No. 22 West Virginia (19-1, 11-1 Big 12)
DATE | TIME: Tuesday, Jan. 27 | 7 p.m. (MT)
LOCATION: Salt Lake City, Utah | John M. Huntsman 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 Tony Parks on the play-by-play and Elaine Elliott as analyst. The radio call will be on ESPN700 with Tyson Ewing and Milee Rustand calling the action.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah women's basketball fell to No. 19 Texas Tech 77-41. The Utes were led by Reese Ross' 13 points and nine rebounds. Texas Tech gained control early and never let up on the Utes.

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 39.4% from the field, 35.1% from three and 100% from the line while averaging 9.7 points per game. She's averaging 3.8 rebounds and has 50 assists so far this season. Wilke has 1,073 total points in her collegiate career. She has also hit 212 career made three pointers, pulled down 332 career rebounds and posted 238 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 46.3% from the field, 35.1% from three and 86.8% from the free throw line. She's second on the team in rebounding pulling down 101 total on the year and averages 5.0 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 33-14 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 No. 22 WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia is 17-4 overall and 7-2 in Big 12 play this season. The Mountaineers are coming off a 91-77 win against BYU. The Mountaineers are led by head coach Mark Kellogg, who is in his third season at the helm of West Virginia and owns a 51-16 record.

West Virginia is averaging 78.0 points per game while allowing opponents to score 58.7 points per contest. The Mountaineers are shooting 46.1% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range, and 69.9% from the free-throw line this season. On the glass, West Virginia is averaging 36.5 rebounds per game, compared to opponents' 29.6 rebounds per game.

West Virginia has three players averaging 12 points or more per game: Gia Cooke (14.6), Kierra Wheeler (13.7), and Jordan Harrison (12.3). Cooke leads the Mountaineers in scoring at 14.6 points per game, shooting 37.2% from the field, 30.9% from three-point range, and 75.6% from the free-throw line, while adding 2.0 rebounds per game.

Utah is 0-1 all-time against the Mountaineers, and this will be the first time the teams have faced off in Salt Lake City. West Virginia beat the Utes in their last meeting in Morgantown on 2/26/25 (75-46)

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
• The Utes sit at No. 49 in the Net Rankings.
• Utah remains undefeated in true road games this season with a 7-0 record after downing Houston 71-61 (1/17).
• The Utes have outrebounded their opponents in 12 of the last 13 games with an average margin of 11.3 boards per 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.
• 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. 34 assists per game (17.2)
    No. 45 rebound margin (6.8)
    No. 17 defensive rebounds per game (29.5)
    No. 26 three point attempts (26.2)
    No. 18 three pointers per game (9.1)

UP NEXT
Utah will make the short trip to Provo, Utah to take on rival BYU Jan. 31 before heading to Orlando, Fla. to take on UCF Feb. 4. The Utes next home game will be Feb. 7 against Iowa State.

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