The women’s basketball team will take to the road over the Thanksgiving Break and take on two of the top teams in the Pacific-10 Conference.
The team will kick off its road trip with a Wednesday night showdown against the Washington Huskies in Seattle, followed by a Saturday night match-up against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz.
“The two Pac-10 teams next week are on the road, and it doesn’t get any tougher than that,” Ute head coach Elaine Elliott said. “It will be a good test for us and a good chance to see where we are and what we need to work on.”
Washington is 2-0 with close road wins against Alabama (56-52) and Florida State (71-69).
Junior guard Cameo Hicks led the Huskies in both wins, scoring 13 points against the Crimson Tide and 21 points against the Seminoles.
The Utes hosted the Huskies in last year’s contest, which they won 64-56. Shona Thorburn scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Utah.
The Huskies return all five starters from last year’s squad, so this game should look similar to last season’s contest.
Arizona won its season opener against Loyola Marymount 74-66 and will compete in the Great Alaska Shootout before returning home to take on the Utes.
The Wildcats were led to the victory by junior guard Joy Hollingsworth and senior guard Natalie Jones. Hollingsworth led all scorers with 21 points, and Jones chipped in 17 points while pulling down seven rebounds.
Last year’s Wildcat team knocked off Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before being ousted by Louisiana State University in the next round, but has lost several key players from last year’s squad.
The Utes received the typical strong performances from Thorburn, Kim Smith and Jessica Perry in their season opener against Jacksonville State, but convincing performances from Heidi Carlsen, Joh-Teena Filipe and Marie Warner show that Utah should have plenty of depth for the tough games.
Including the two preseason games, Carlsen is shooting 90 percent (9-10) from three-point range and 76 percent from the field overall (13-17).
“I’ve just been putting in extra practice and making sure I am shot-ready every time,” Carlsen said. “If I will just be coming off of the bench, I hope to bring a little fire on the court and make everybody pick it up a little bit.”
Tip-off for the Wednesday’s game at Washington is set for 8 p.m., and the contest Saturday at Arizona is set for 7:30 p.m.