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Women's Basketball Opens Practice for 2021-22 Season

by Utah Athletics
Sep 30, 2021

SALT LAKE CITY – The 2021-22 basketball season kicked off Thursday morning for the Utah Utes women's basketball team when they held their first official practice of the season. 
 
The Utes open the season on Friday, October 29, when they host Westminster (Utah) in an exhibition contest at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah's non-conference schedule can be found by clicking here. 

"It was great to be out on the court again," head coach Lynne Roberts remarked. "I think we had a great summer and fall, and everyone was ready for the first practice. We are ahead of where we have been in the past because we had such a successful offseason." 
 
Season tickets for the 2021-22 season are now available. Floor seats are priced at $100 while general admission tickets at $25. Call the Utah ticket office at 801-581-UTIX or visit www.UtahTickets.com.  
 
The Pac-12 has announced the weekly matchups and site designations for the league 2021-22 season. Specific dates and times for each game will be announced after television selections are finalized. Some games may shift outside the Conference's traditional Friday-Sunday windows, pending those television selections and other factors. The weekly pairings can be found by clicking here. 

Utah brings back six players from last year's squad, including Brynna Maxwell and Kemery Martín that led the Utes in scoring with 12.8 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. At the same time, Utah's second-leading rebounder (4.4) and top shot blocker (1.1) Peyton McFarland also returns.

The Utes welcome in transfers Isabel Palmer, Maka Jackson, and Dasia Young. Palmer, transferred from Texas, and was part of the 2020-21 team but redshirted due to NCAA transfer rules. Jackson joins the Utes from Texas Tech, where she played in 48 games in her two years a Red Raider. Young comes to SLC from UT Martin, where she played in 56 games with 45 starts from 2019-21. 
 
Freshman Inês Vieira, Gianna Kneepkens, and Jenna Johnson join the Utes this season. Vieira brings extensive international experience, playing for the Portugal National Team at the U16 Women's European Championships in 2018 and 2019. Keneepkens and Johnson come to Utah from the state of Minnesota. Johnson played high school basketball for Wayzata High School (Medina, Minn.) and Kneepkens came to Utah after a strong career at Duluth Marshall High School (Duluth, Minn.).
 
"I can't wait to get back to normal for the 2021-22 season," stated coach Roberts. "We were missing staff and managers last year in the gym, and it's a great feeling to have everyone back. I can't wait to see fans in the Jon M. Huntsman Center again this season." 
 
In four of the last six seasons, the Pac-12 has been the nation's top-rated Conference by RPI, with the Utes facing a Top 25 opponent almost every week. Under the direction of Lynne Roberts, the Utes have knocked off a Top 25 opponent each year, all coming during conference play.

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