TOUGH PLAYERS The Utes’ increase physical aggression in their game play, leading to success on the court

Players have mobbed each other in the middle of the floor after the final buzzer in Utah’s last two winning games. There have been high fives, hugs and yelps of enthusiasm that were not there earlier in the year. The Utes know just how tough it is to win in the postseason — and their emotion is showing it.
The Utes (22-13, 8-10 Pac-12) are in the semifinals of the WNIT for the first time in school history, in large part thanks to adopting a more physical, scrappy mentality throughout the tournament. They have talked smack and gotten in the faces of their opponents. Couple that with excellent 3-point shooting, and Utah has shown an ironic way to succeed: physical intensity and finesse shooting.
In the postseason, players don’t often settle for outside shots because points are at a premium. They go to the rack and are often rewarded with a high-percentage shot, a trip to the foul line or both. Going to the basket and trying to draw a foul is one of the main reasons the Utes have become more physical as of late. Players don’t want their season to end, and they’re not shy about showing it.

“Our team is gritty and tough,” said head coach Anthony Levrets on the ESPN 700 postgame show after Saturday’s win against St. Mary’s. “This team is a bunch of fighters. To win three postseason games on the road is an unbelievable feat.”
As more evidence of Utah’s increased physical play, the Utes had a technical foul in each of their past two games. In Thursday’s 60-55 victory against Pacific, all 10 players on the court gathered around each other as trash talk led to bumping. Utah’s Cheyenne Wilson and Pacific’s Shanice Butler each received technical fouls for their roles in the scrum. There was not any dirty play on Wilson’s part, but not backing down on the road showed the Utes aren’t going to back down to anyone.
Two days later against St. Mary’s, Taryn Wicijowski received a technical after a collision near her offensive basket. Wicijowski tweeted after the game that the referee called her for kicking, but she claimed the opponent was the aggressor. Video evidence seemed to back up Wicijowski’s defense, but nevertheless, the fact that Utah’s 6-foot-3 post player continues to fight in the paint shows the toughness of this team.
In addition to their physicality, the Utes have been deadly from beyond the arc when they’ve needed to be. Plouffe hit four 3-pointers Thursday against Pacific, and the team combined to shoot 11-for-22 from distance in Saturday’s 58-55 win over St. Mary’s. Iwalani Rodrigues, Rachel Messer and Plouffe all made multiple triples after the Gaels took away the paint.
“It’s always easy when you start making shots,” Rodrigues said. “We knew they were going to take away down low. You just have to be ready to shoot, and I think we did a really good job of that.”
Levrets is impressed with his team’s ability to win in multiple ways.
“Nothing is ever exactly the same,” Levrets said. “Every game is different, and we feel like we’re versatile in what we’re able to do because of our players.”