Before they flew to California on Tuesday, the Utes weren’t shy about their goal. Multiple players said they didn’t just want to continue their season — they wanted to win the WNIT.
They talked the talk, and last night, they walked the walk.
Utah’s big three of Michelle Plouffe, Taryn Wicijowski and Iwalani Rodrigues backed up their words by leading the Utes to a 56-49 win over Long Beach State in an opening-round game of the WNIT and getting them one step closer to their goal.
“We’re happy we get to survive and advance and go play again,” said head coach Anthony Levrets on the ESPN 700 postgame show. “This group is a lot of fun to be around.”
Plouffe led the charge with 17 points, 14 boards, two assists and three steals. Wicijowski had 12 points and 4 rebounds and Rodrigues chipped in 10 as part of Utah’s 47 percent shooting display against the 49ers. The big three were the only Utes to score in double figures, and led the team in minutes as they have all season.
“Our offense runs stuff for us [the big three]” Plouffe said. “Offensively we are pretty good players, and we can score one on one.”
However, Plouffe said it’s not just her and her two teammates that are responsible for the win. She said the whole team is competitive, and the role players contribute heavily to their success on the stat sheet.
Her coach isn’t as modest in giving credit where credit is due.
“She [Plouffe] is just an unbelievable competitor,” Levrets said. “She battled through her tiredness and the frantic play that was going on. She’s a heck of a player.”
Throughout the season, the Utes have had trouble getting off to good starts.
Not on Wednesday.
After Long Beach State scored the game’s first basket to go up 2-0, the Utes never trailed the rest of the contest. Utah took a 26-20 lead into halftime after a solid first half by Plouffe, which saw her put up nine of her 17 points and seven of her 14 rebounds.
“My teammates are really good at finding me,” Plouffe said.
Utah extended their lead in the second half with solid defense. The Utes held the 49ers scoreless for a period of nearly six minutes and were able to stretch their lead to 13, at 52-39. LBSU was able to add some garbage points near the end of the game to bring the score back down to single-digits.
Utah held the 49ers to only 38 percent shooting and limited Devin Hudson to only four points — six below her season average.
“In the first half we gave them a lot of easy shots,” Plouffe said. “We knew we needed to be better. In the second half, we did a way better job of not giving them anything easy. Defense is a key for us.”
Plouffe credited the scouting of her assistant coach Matt Legerski, who leads the scouting of the opponent for each game.
With the win, Utah advances to the second round and will play the winner of tomorrow night’s matchup between Hawaii and San Diego. The team will fly black to Salt Lake City on Thursday and wait to see who their next opponent will be. The game’s location and date have yet to be announced.
No matter whom they end up playing, the Utes will need to continue to walk the walk if they want to keep extending their season.