Don’t look now, but the basketball season is officially upon us. The U women’s team will take the court Saturday in its first and only exhibition game of the season against Southern Oregon. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. at the Huntsman Center.
This will be the first time fans will get to see the Utes, who are projected to win the Mountain West Conference. It will also be the first time Morgan Warburton gets to show fans why she was picked as the MWC Preseason Player of the Year. But what will interest most observers is probably how Utah is going to look with Leilani Mitchell no longer running the point.
The Southern Oregon Raiders are not a NCAA Division-I team, but rather a member of the NAIA. They are in the Cascade Conference. They are ranked No. 19 in their division and are coming off a 112-43 throttling of Pacific Union in their season opener. Jacki Speer led all scorers with 17 points. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, because Speer is the team’s best player and the Cascade Conference Preseason Player of the Year. The Raiders had five other players score in double figures, so this is a team that doesn’t lack offensive firepower. They also went 10-for-16 from 3-point range, so expect the Utes to defend the 3-point line tightly.
Southern Oregon is also a good team when it comes to ball movement, notching 31 assists on the game. Pacific Union had an astonishing 46 turnovers. These numbers shouldn’t be duplicated in the Utah game, but it is a good indicator as to what type of style Southern Oregon likes to play. Expect Southern Oregon to try and use its speed to force some turnovers, especially because Utah will be starting a freshman at point guard.
The combination of Warburton and Kalee Whipple will be too much for the Raiders to deal with. Where Utah should really kill Southern Oregon is on the boards. Southern Oregon was only able to outrebound Pacific Union 38-34, and this time it will be going up against a much bigger and talented Ute team.
Southern Oregon only has four players listed at or above 6 feet. Compare that to the Utes, who have seven players listed at 6 feet or taller. Whipple and Katie King will give the Utes a huge advantage on the boards. If Deanne Stevenson is able to play through her injury, that will only give the Utes more to work with. The only question mark in this game will be how Hannah Stephens and Janita Badon handle the point guard spot. This will be the first collegiate game for both players, and they may have a few jitters playing in the Huntsman Center for the first time.
Southern Oregon is a solid squad within its respective division, but it doesn’t have the horses to match up with Utah. Utah is bigger and simply has too much talent on its side. Southern Oregon may keep it close at first if it is able to rattle the freshmen point guards a little and knock down their shots, but Utah’s size and scoring on the wings will be too much.