Last Updated: October 28, 2023, 00:01 IST
SALT LAKE CITY: Utah has accomplished a journey from underdog to top contender in the Pac-12 and now finds itself in the uncommon place of being a hunted group.
All 5 starters and a number of other key reserves are again from a group that received a share of the regular-season convention title final season. Utah’s mixture of expertise and depth are why the Utes had been picked to repeat as convention champions and acquired a No. 5 rating in the preseason AP Top 25.
“Everyone is just so excited to get going,” junior guard Gianna Kneepkens mentioned. (*5*)
The transformation for Utah is mirrored in scheduling. When Lynne Roberts left Pacific and took over as the Utes’ coach in 2015, groups known as nonstop asking for video games with the beleaguered program.
Now that Utah has carved out a spot amongst the nation’s top groups, getting anybody to reply the cellphone has turned into a chore.
“We’ve gotten to a point where nobody wants to play us,” Roberts mentioned.
Building a program that different groups concern didn’t occur in a single day. Roberts inherited a Utah program that went 21-40 in the two seasons earlier than she arrived in Salt Lake City.
After profitable simply 5 video games in the 2020-21 season, the Utes took an enormous leap the following yr and made their first NCAA Tournament look in a decade. The Utes reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 2 seed final season earlier than falling 66-63 to eventual nationwide champion LSU.
“You have to bite off year by year,” Roberts mentioned. “I tell the team all the time, ‘You can’t take the elevator. You have to take the stairs.’ The stairs are hard and you gotta work. I’ve been told ‘no’ a lot by recruits, and we’ve lost games and we’ve been embarrassed in some games at the beginning. It just takes persistence.”
Persistence paid off as Roberts assembled her present roster. Kennady McQueen debuted at Utah throughout its 5-win marketing campaign. Kneepkens and Jenna Johnson got here in as freshmen two years in the past. All three gamers grew to become dependable scorers and rapidly received beginning roles.
The greatest recruiting coup got here when Alissa Pili joined the Utes as a switch from USC. Pili instantly elevated Utah to a convention title contender. She averaged 20.7 factors on 59% capturing final season with 5.6 rebounds and a pair of.3 assists.
Pili’s dominance gave her teammates area to emerge. Kneepkens averaged 15.3 factors whereas she and McQueen advanced into harmful shooters on the perimeter. Johnson complemented Pili in the publish along with her rugged play, permitting the senior ahead to step out and knock down exterior pictures as wanted.
Buoyed by this collective expertise, Utah overwhelmed one opponent after one other with an explosive offense and a rugged protection. The Utes opened final season with 14 consecutive victories and completed with 27 wins — one shy of the college file set in 2000-01. Along the means, they led the Pac-12 with 82.8 factors per sport whereas holding opponents to a 66 level common.
“We already knew we were a really good team,” Pili mentioned. “It was just part of proving ourselves to the nation and just putting ourselves on the map. Now that we’ve done that, we can just grow even more. Everybody on this team wants to get better.”
The highlight might be shining vibrant on Utah this season, and the Utes may have alternatives to benefit from that.
They face early checks in opposition to No. 19 Baylor and No. 6 South Carolina earlier than plunging into Pac-12 play one final time, and can finally be trying forward to competing in the Big 12 Conference. They are keen to show final season’s convention championship run was not a fluke.
“We don’t want to settle for anything less,” Pili mentioned, “than a national championship.”
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AP girls’s faculty basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
