The Utah women’s basketball team will look to finish their season opening homestand a perfect 3-0 as they host a competitive George Mason team tonight at the Huntsman Center before flying to the Bahamas where they will play Boston College and 17th-ranked Oklahoma in the Junkanoo Jam.
The Utes are coming off of two impressive home wins in which they held both South Dakota and Lamar to 31 and 30 percent shooting from the field respectively. While to say the Utes’ defense thus far has been impressive is an understatement, head coach Lynne Roberts is still focused on fine-tuning Utah’s play on that end of the floor.
“The offense I think kind of takes care of itself … I’m not as worried about that,” Roberts said. “The defensive rotations, all being on the same page and finishing plays, in terms of coming down with the rebound. I think our effort has been pretty good, I think it’s just putting it together.”
This Friday will mark the first ever matchup between George Mason and Utah. The last time the Utes played an Atlantic 10 conference team was Jan. 31, 1978, when they beat Rhode Island 71-46.
George Mason comes to Utah looking to right the ship, winning just one of three games so far this season. The Utes will try to capitalize on a reeling Patriots defense, which has 74 points per game so far this season.
The Patriots, third in the Atlantic 10 in offensive rebounding percentage, will test how well the Utes commit to defensive rebounding, an area that Roberts has emphasized greatly but has yet to see results in. When asked about how a Lamar team, who didn’t have a player on their roster over 6-foot-1, out-rebounded the bigger Utes offensively, Roberts was quick to evoke the name of the greatest rebounder of all time, a flamboyant ball-hawk unpopular in the state of Utah.
“What’s that Dennis Rodman quote? ‘Rebounding is 90 percent desire and 10 percent ability,'” Roberts said. “You can coach rebounding, you can practice it, you can teach it, but at the end of the day the players decide if they’re going to be a good rebounding team. It’s just a mentality.”
George Mason brings what will make for an interesting front court matchup with it to Salt Lake City, as well. Bridget O’Donnell is a player whose situation Ute fans will recognize. The 6-foot-6 center redshirted last season after leading her conference in blocked shots the year before. Sound familiar? (i.e. Utah’s Emily Potter)
O’Donnell brings a size-matchup to Utah’s post play that Emily Potter and the Utes won’t see many more times pre-conference play in January. Ute fans should watch to see how the players in the middle handle the matchup.
Utah fans should also be closely tallying Potter’s blocks in Friday night’s game. Currently, Potter needs just four blocks (averaging 5.5 per game) to tie the NCAA leader, UTC’s Jasmine Joyner, as the nation’s best shot-blocker.
Additionally, watch to see this Ute squad build on the progress it has made in adopting Roberts’ new philosophy, defensive rotations and ball-movement.
“We’re sharing the ball really well right now. We’re starting to gel, we’re being unselfish. Defensively we’re communicating more, we’re moving together as one more,” said team leader Dani Rodriguez.
Tip off against the Patriots will be at 7 p.m. MT this Friday night.
@westinjay