Coming off a dominating weekend at the Jon M. Huntsman Center against Washington and Washington State, the Utah women’s basketball team is looking forward for a weekend away in California for a pair of games. The Utes will start off the weekend against UCLA on Friday, Mar. 1 at 8 p.m. MST.
After sweeping the weekend, the Utes progressed 20-7 overall and 9-7 in Pac-12 play. The Utes reached their highest number of season wins since 2012-13 (24 wins) Sunday afternoon when they took their 20th win of the season against the Washington State Cougars. This is the most season wins the Utah women’s basketball has had under the direction of head coach Lynne Roberts.
The Utes have also set the record in the Pac-12 for the most Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors with nine. Freshman wing Dre’Una Edwards has received six of those awards, which is the third most awards a player has received in a season.
Utah has had some outstanding players in the last couple of games. Utah continues to be led by senior forward Megan Huff, who holds 16 double-doubles so far this season. Huff is currently tied for 13th in the nation. Junior guard Kiana Moore stepped up on Sunday afternoon during the game against Washington State. Moore reached a career-high game of 26 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the arc.
After the loss of senior wing Daneesha Provo thanks to a torn ACL at the start of the season, the Utes have seen Moore step up on the court. Moore has started for the last 14 games and has averaged 12.5 points per game. Moore’s shooting percentage is 45 percent from the floor, leading her to be ranked as fourth in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage at 45.7 percent.
Looking into the competition this coming Friday, UCLA is coming from a split weekend taking a win against the Oregon Ducks and a loss against the Oregon State Beavers. UCLA progressed to 17-11 overall and 10-6 in Pac-12 play. After this weekend, the Bruins moved into the AP Top 25 taking No. 25. Leading the Bruins is forward sophomore Michaela Onyenwere, who is averaging 17.8 points per game. Onyenwere is ranked eighth in the league. UCLA is also ranked first in the Pac-12 in rebounds, and as a team they are averaging 42.0 rebounds per game.
After the game Friday night, the Utes will have a day to recover before their game against USC on March 3 at 1 p.m. MST against USC. USC is coming from two losses this past weekend, losing to both Oregon State and Oregon. USC is currently 15-12 overall and 5-11 in Pac-12 play. Recently, USC has had two guards reach 1,000 career points, senior guard Aliyah Mazyck and junior guard Minyon Moore.
The game against UCLA will be live-streamed and the game against USC will be streamed on Pac-12 networks. Both games will also be available on the radio on ESPN 700 with Tyson Ewing. Following this weekend, the Utes will have completed their regular season and will continue on into the Pac-12 tournament held in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 7 to March 10.