The U women’s basketball team got a little love from the national media Monday when it landed in the Top 25 after narrowly downing No. 15 Wyoming on the road, 60-59, and blowing out Colorado State, 68-28, last week.
The Utes (18-3, 7-0 MWC) climbed all the way up to the No. 20 spot in The Associated Press poll, passing fellow MWC-cohort Wyoming (18-3, 6-2 MWC), which followed its home loss to Utah with a loss to BYU on the road and dropped to No. 22.
“(Being ranked is) always nice,” head coach Elaine Elliott said. “It’s the marker in our particular sport that is sort of an acknowledgment, so it’s nice for the program and the kids.”
However, for the veteran coach, reaching the rankings is not what college basketball is about.
“You can only try to be consistent and make sure that your motivation is there everyday,” Elliott said. “It’s not external. It’s not about being ranked. It’s about your passion to come to practice everyday and your commitment to perform at your very best.”
Elliott sees being ranked as a pat on the back for a job well done, but not as something that her players should dwell on, she said.
“We talked about it once to acknowledge it, and we won’t talk about it again,” Elliott said.
The Utes are on a 13-game winning streak, tied for the third longest in the nation. It’s Utah’s best stretch since the 2000-2001 season when the Utes won 15 straight games.
It’s not easy for a MWC team to get noticed nationally with power conferences like the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference stealing the spotlight, but the Utes slowly worked their way into elite status by methodically winning game after game. After receiving votes for six straight weeks, the Utes finally made their Top 25 debut.
Morgan Warburton was named co-MWC Player of the Week for her back-to-back performances. The junior averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds in Utah’s back-to-back wins. Warburton also hit the last-second 3-point shot to best Wyoming on Jan. 30. It was Warburton’s first conference honor of the season. She shared it with BYU’s Mallary Carling.
Jarad ReddekoppLeilani Mitchell and the Utes have pushed their way into the top 25 in the nation by ripping off 13 wins in a row.