Utes Up Next For Huskies
SALT LAKE CITY -- Sunday's meeting at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City will pit a pair of hungry teams looking to snap four-game losing skids in Pac-12 play. The Huskies (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) and Utes (2-5, 1-5) will tip at 1:00 p.m. PT with the Pac-12 Network (Washington & Mountain) in the house. Krista Blunk and Amanda Smith will be on the call. The Utes have won six of the last seven meetings with the Huskies' last win coming in the 2019 Pac-12 Tournament. As usual, fans can listen locally to Gary Hill Jr. on the UW/IMG College Network on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App, or GoHuskies.com.
Leading the Break
• Jody Wynn got a late Christmas present when Jess Finney, who signed her letter of intent this past November and graduated from Chaparral HS in Scottsdale, Ariz., in December, was added to the roster. Finney was the 94th overall ranked recruit and made her Husky debut at Colorado, playing nine minutes.
• Quay Miller has notched double-figure scoring in each of the last three games and can be the first Husky to score 10-or-more points in four-consecutive games if she can do so against Utah.
• Haley Van Dyke reached 100 career steals on Jan. 1 at Colorado and is one rebound shy of reaching 300 for her career. Both are highs among Huskies. Khayla Rooks is two games shy of playing the 100th of her career.
• Either Tameiya Sadler, Quay Miller or Haley Van Dyke has led the Huskies in scoring and/or rebounds in every game, except for when Darcy Rees led UW in scoring with 20 vs. Oregon.
• The Huskies' four losses have come against teams that are a combined 25-5 this season (Oregon 8-0, Stanford 8-0, Washington State 5-1 and Colorado 4-4).
• This season, Washington is 0-4 when scoring less than 60 points and are in fact 0-48 under this scenario since they last won a game when they scored under 60 points, Jan. 21, 2017 vs. WSU (56-49).
• In the first 6 games, UW outscored each of its opponents in the fourth quarter and had a 121-70 (+51) advantage. The Huskies have been outscored in the last 10 minutes in each of the last two games at a 38-19 margin.
Scouting the Utes
The Utes are traditionally extra tough to beat at the Huntsman Center, going 507-120 all-time at home. In the early going, the Utes defense has been stellar, ranking in the top-35 nationally in blocks per game. They brought in the nation's No. 20-ranked recruiting class, which includes Kelsey Rees, the sister of the Huskies, Darcy Rees. The average height of the Utes roster is 6-1 with 10 of 14 players standing 6-0 or taller. Brynna Maxwell out of Gig Harbor, Wash. leads the Utes in scoring (12.6 ppg) and steals (2.0 spg).
Head coach Lynne Roberts is a 1997 graduate of Seattle Pacific and is in her sixth season at Utah. She has a 88-76 overall record, including 7-4 against the Huskies as head coach at Utah and 1-0 as coach at Pacific from 2007-15.
All-Time Series vs Utah
The all-time series between the two teams is in Utah's favor, 15-14, after the Utes won both of last season's games. Utah ended the Huskies season with a win in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, 72-63, in the No. 8-9 matchup. The Utes also picked up a 74-65 win in Seattle on Feb. 7, 2020. The Utes have won six of the last seven games in the series with the lone Washington win coming in the first round of the 2019 Pac-12 Tournament. The teams have met four times in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament since Utah joined the conference in 2012. The Huskies are 3-8 all-time at Utah with their last win, 82-53, coming on Feb. 3, 2017.
Last Game
Tameiya Sadler had 14 points in her return from a two-game absence, but the Huskies (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) were outscored 32-17 in the second half and fell, 60-50, to Colorado (4-4, 2-3) on Friday at the CU Events Center.
The Huskies came out strong in the first half and led 33-28 at the midway point. UW held the Buffaloes without a field goal over the final 5:57 of the second quarter and would outscore them 8-1 down the stretch to take a five-point lead into the locker room. But the second half was a different story.
The Huskies held the Buffs to 1-of-13 from 3-point range and forced 21 turnovers but were out-muscled down low with Colorado outscoring UW, 42-24, in the paint. Coupled with 22 of their own turnovers and 4-of-27 shooting from distance – including 1-of-13 in the second half – the Huskies could not mount a rally.
UW was 2-for-12 in the fourth quarter, including 1-of-their-last-11.
Up Next
The Huskies return home and will host Arizona and Arizona State. Up first, No. 6 ranked Arizona at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 8.