Preview:
This weekend's games look a lot different after the offensive meltdown at USC. Utah scores a lot of points--even against good defenses--and we are going to have to keep up. This depends on Utah either being unable to implement the USC style of defense, or Stanford being able to overcome it.
Utah is ranked 8 after taking care of Arizona at home last weekend, while we have dropped to 4/3 after our mixed results in SoCal. Utah is the team Tara picked as the best in the conference other than Stanford and it might turn out to be true. Utah is 15-1, having only lost 67-77 at Colorado. Note that they scored 67 in their loss. They got on the national map by beating then #16 Oklahoma 124-78. Their other best win was knocking off Arizona at home 80-79 last weekend.
Tara clearly likes coach Lynne Roberts, has mentored her a bit over the last couple of years. Utah was a great offensive team last year and got all the way to the finals of the Pac 12 tournament where we beat them 73-48 with a strong defensive effort of our own. But our defense is entirely different this year in the absence of the Hulls and Wilson. Utah went to the NCAAs last year and won the first round but lost to Texas in the second.
I've watch a few Utah games this year, and what makes them different is their defense. They are holding opponents to 61ppg and have a +26 scoring margin. They will mix some zone in with man situationally, though how they handle Stanford will probably be determined by Roberts' study of the USC game. In any case, they are improved defensively over last year.
With strong Alissa Pili transferring in from USC they have an inside presence that they once lacked. Pili is leading the team in scoring at 20 ppg, is 6'2". She is hitting almost 40% of her threes and has great moves under the basket, to go along with an accurate step-back jumper. Very difficult to defend.
Utah's second leading scorer is 5'11" sophomore guard Gianna Kneepkins. Kneepkins is scoring more proficiently from three point range than our own Hannah Jump. Kneepkins leads her team in treys. She is shooting as astounding 47% from three point range in volume.
To understand the contributions of 6'2" sophomore forward Jenna Johnson, just think of Lexie Hull. She is about the same body size and shape, scores 12 ppg, and is a competitor. However, she is the only Utah starter who doesn't shoot well from three point range--a difference from Hull.
Utah's point guard is 5'11" sophomore guard Kennady McQueen. She has 50 assists to 29 turnovers--not bad but not stellar, but she also scores 11 ppg and shoots 34% from long range. She has almost as many made treys as Kneepkins.
In addition to those 4 regulars, three other players have been the fifth starter. Against Arizona it was 5'9" junior guard (from Australia) Izzy Palmer. Palmer started at Texas 2 years ago, was injured all last year, and is now playing for Utah in her junior year. She has a 40% three point shot and an even better percentage overall.
It is harder to defend Utah than last year, since they are now much more than a three point shooting team. While they make 8 threes a game, they make 31 baskets a game. A lot of that comes from Pili, but all the guards will take an open lane to the basket if they are guarded too tightly on the three point line. Their offense is clicking--scoring 80 points against a very tough Arizona defense that held us to 73 gives you a bit of an idea.
Utah's defense is not their strongest suit, but they are much improved. They are holding opponents to 38% shooting, while shooting 50% themselves. For the season, Utah is +8 on rebounding per game, but Arizona out rebounded them last weekend. We ought to be able to dominate the boards, though not quite as easily as in the pre-Pili years. They turn the ball over 15 times a game, but also get 9 steals a game and 22 points off turnovers a game.
We have challenges on both the offensive and the defensive sides of the court. On offense, we need to get our shots to fall and regain confidence. Under other circumstances I would not have worried about doing this against a Utah team, but given the loss at SC and Utah's very bright coach, we had better be ready to find ways to get our offense in rhythm. For example, Utah might well play its successful zone against us, daring us to take threes.
On defense everyone has problems with Utah. Washington somehow held them to 61 points, so there is some tape for (probably) Kate Paye to watch to get ideas. When we played FGCU and Creighton coaches remarked that they were good warm-ups for Utah--but I think that may underestimate Utah, which has Pili and Johnson to give them a little height. I do think that our players are probably, on average, athletic enough to keep up with their players, even though we may be taller. I could see Belibi inserted just to defend Pili, for example.
This was always going to be a big game, but last weekend's schooling made it a lot bigger. With Utah's enjoyable style of play and Tara's chess mind responding to our loss, this game should be among the most interesting all year.
This weekend's games look a lot different after the offensive meltdown at USC. Utah scores a lot of points--even against good defenses--and we are going to have to keep up. This depends on Utah either being unable to implement the USC style of defense, or Stanford being able to overcome it.
Utah is ranked 8 after taking care of Arizona at home last weekend, while we have dropped to 4/3 after our mixed results in SoCal. Utah is the team Tara picked as the best in the conference other than Stanford and it might turn out to be true. Utah is 15-1, having only lost 67-77 at Colorado. Note that they scored 67 in their loss. They got on the national map by beating then #16 Oklahoma 124-78. Their other best win was knocking off Arizona at home 80-79 last weekend.
Tara clearly likes coach Lynne Roberts, has mentored her a bit over the last couple of years. Utah was a great offensive team last year and got all the way to the finals of the Pac 12 tournament where we beat them 73-48 with a strong defensive effort of our own. But our defense is entirely different this year in the absence of the Hulls and Wilson. Utah went to the NCAAs last year and won the first round but lost to Texas in the second.
I've watch a few Utah games this year, and what makes them different is their defense. They are holding opponents to 61ppg and have a +26 scoring margin. They will mix some zone in with man situationally, though how they handle Stanford will probably be determined by Roberts' study of the USC game. In any case, they are improved defensively over last year.
With strong Alissa Pili transferring in from USC they have an inside presence that they once lacked. Pili is leading the team in scoring at 20 ppg, is 6'2". She is hitting almost 40% of her threes and has great moves under the basket, to go along with an accurate step-back jumper. Very difficult to defend.
Utah's second leading scorer is 5'11" sophomore guard Gianna Kneepkins. Kneepkins is scoring more proficiently from three point range than our own Hannah Jump. Kneepkins leads her team in treys. She is shooting as astounding 47% from three point range in volume.
To understand the contributions of 6'2" sophomore forward Jenna Johnson, just think of Lexie Hull. She is about the same body size and shape, scores 12 ppg, and is a competitor. However, she is the only Utah starter who doesn't shoot well from three point range--a difference from Hull.
Utah's point guard is 5'11" sophomore guard Kennady McQueen. She has 50 assists to 29 turnovers--not bad but not stellar, but she also scores 11 ppg and shoots 34% from long range. She has almost as many made treys as Kneepkins.
In addition to those 4 regulars, three other players have been the fifth starter. Against Arizona it was 5'9" junior guard (from Australia) Izzy Palmer. Palmer started at Texas 2 years ago, was injured all last year, and is now playing for Utah in her junior year. She has a 40% three point shot and an even better percentage overall.
It is harder to defend Utah than last year, since they are now much more than a three point shooting team. While they make 8 threes a game, they make 31 baskets a game. A lot of that comes from Pili, but all the guards will take an open lane to the basket if they are guarded too tightly on the three point line. Their offense is clicking--scoring 80 points against a very tough Arizona defense that held us to 73 gives you a bit of an idea.
Utah's defense is not their strongest suit, but they are much improved. They are holding opponents to 38% shooting, while shooting 50% themselves. For the season, Utah is +8 on rebounding per game, but Arizona out rebounded them last weekend. We ought to be able to dominate the boards, though not quite as easily as in the pre-Pili years. They turn the ball over 15 times a game, but also get 9 steals a game and 22 points off turnovers a game.
We have challenges on both the offensive and the defensive sides of the court. On offense, we need to get our shots to fall and regain confidence. Under other circumstances I would not have worried about doing this against a Utah team, but given the loss at SC and Utah's very bright coach, we had better be ready to find ways to get our offense in rhythm. For example, Utah might well play its successful zone against us, daring us to take threes.
On defense everyone has problems with Utah. Washington somehow held them to 61 points, so there is some tape for (probably) Kate Paye to watch to get ideas. When we played FGCU and Creighton coaches remarked that they were good warm-ups for Utah--but I think that may underestimate Utah, which has Pili and Johnson to give them a little height. I do think that our players are probably, on average, athletic enough to keep up with their players, even though we may be taller. I could see Belibi inserted just to defend Pili, for example.
This was always going to be a big game, but last weekend's schooling made it a lot bigger. With Utah's enjoyable style of play and Tara's chess mind responding to our loss, this game should be among the most interesting all year.
![[Image: score-jadakiss.gif]](https://media.tenor.com/NzGz5JgZf7wAAAAM/score-jadakiss.gif)