With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Utah women’s basketball team is on a six-game win streak and trending positively with the postseason fast approaching.
The Utes are currently tied for fourth in the Big 12 standings and, barring an unlikely complete collapse, will receive a first-round bye in the conference tournament next month in Kansas City, which runs March 5-10.
There is also a possibility that Utah could earn a top-four seed for the league tournament and have a pair of byes, all the way into the tournament quarterfinals.
That will all be determined over the Utes’ final five games.
Utah’s next game will be at Arizona State on Saturday (2 p.m. MST, ESPN+), followed by hosting No. 20 Oklahoma State next Tuesday (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
The Sun Devils (8-17, 2-11 Big 12) are tied for 14th in the league standings and on a 10-game losing streak entering the matchup. Utah and Arizona State met at the Huntsman Center in mid-December, with the Utes winning 102-82.
The Cowboys (20-4, 10-3 Big 12) are currently tied with Utah in the Big 12 standings, and as long as both teams win Saturday (Oklahoma State plays at BYU), the winner of next week’s game will have the inside track to the No. 4 seed in the league tournament.
There’s also the possibility the winner could catch the three teams tied for the Big 12 lead at 11-2 — Kansas State, TCU and Baylor.
The focus remains on one game at a time for the Utes.
“By the time we get to Tuesday, it’s gonna be our third game in seven days,” Utah coach Gavin Petersen said. “We’ve got to do a good job, and our sports performance team does a great job in keeping us on task to be able to peak on game days. So our focus … as a staff, is all ASU and until we get on the plane back here, that’s all our focus is on.”
“These next couple of weeks, we want to make sure that we’re healthy, we’re cohesive, and … now the fun happens.”
— Utah coach Gavin Petersen
In Utah’s most recent game, a 77-60 win over Colorado on Wednesday, the Utes’ depth and ability to rely on a wide variety of players on their roster for big plays was on display.
Also, outside of a pair of late substitutions with a little over a minute to play, nine Utah players finished with four or more points, led by 16 points from Gianna Kneepkens and 15 from Maye Toure.
“I have the utmost confidence in all of our people we have in the rotation,” Petersen said. “As I said last night, I think it falls on me to make sure that in practice, we’re putting them in lineups that actually are going to reflect the game. It can’t just be the first unit, second unit, and that’s on me, and I’m going to grow and get better when we get those opportunities to practice.
“... Knowing that they’ve put in the work, I push them and I want them to continue to get better and never be satisfied, because you just want to keep pushing to see where you can go.”
Six Utah players finished the game with four or more rebounds, in a game where the Utes held a 36-23 rebounding edge and were able to crash the offensive glass at key moments.
“The rebounding, to me, signifies how hard you’re playing, because it’s not about you, it’s about our team,” Petersen said. “We need an offensive rebound, go get it. If we need a defensive stop and a defensive rebound, go get it. And those are the stats that really show me, like, wow, they’re playing hard. And so I have the utmost confidence in all of them to be able to do that.”
Throughout the season, Petersen has stressed the importance of peaking at the right moment, in March when postseason play arrives.
In discussing that this week, he shared that this year’s team reminds him of the 2021-22 squad that started Pac-12 play 1-4 before going 7-3 in its final 10 regular-season games. Utah then advanced to the Pac-12 tournament championship, where it lost to Stanford.
That team made the NCAA Tournament and reached the second round.
“We had a rough patch, but then we kind of hit our stride, and that’s the fun part of the season,” Petersen said.
Similarly, Utah has had its share of struggles this season — among them an early loss at Northwestern and losing three contests in a four-game stretch in Big 12 play, all against teams currently tied atop the conference standings — but has rebounded well and finds itself on its six-game win streak.
“These next couple of weeks, we want to make sure that we’re healthy, we’re cohesive, and … now the fun happens. Let’s peak at the right time, and I think we’re on our way to doing so. So it’s just kind of, we just got to stay the course,” Petersen said.
“Once the Big 12 tournament comes around, man, that’s some cool stuff. It’s going to be the first time for us in Kansas City, different arena, different atmosphere. That’s cool, man. And I think all of our kids are going to be really looking forward to that.”
