The University of Utah women's basketball team has been successful over the years in getting invited to the NCAA Tournament.
Winning a tournament game has been a different matter, though.Utah, 21-7 and the WAC's regular-season co-champion, will face 21-7 Southern Mississippi tonight at 5 p.m. on the campus of Louisiana Tech. It marks the seventh NCAA tournament appearance for the Utes in the past 14 years.
But trips to the Big Dance have been short. The Utes are 0-6 in NCAA tourney games.
Utah feels good about its chances of getting past the first round this time, however. For just the second time in NCAA games, the Utes will be playing on a neutral court rather than at the opponent's place.
"It's a big plus for us to be playing on a neutral court," said Ute coach Elaine Elliott. "Finally the women's tournament is moving in that direction, although there are still a few teams that get to play on their home courts."
Like top-ranked Louisiana Tech (28-1), which will face Central Florida (15-13) following the Utah/Southern Mississippi game. The winners of today's two games will meet Monday at 6 p.m.
Southern Mississippi, the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Regional, placed second in the new Conference USA. The Golden Eagles have a talented backcourt in point guard Nedra Hosey and outside shooter Patricia Nash, who averages 19.6 points per game and is a 35-percent 3-point shooter. Eagle forward Brandy Reed, a 6-1 sophomore, was the conference player of the year. She averages 22 points and 11.6 rebounds.
"Southern Mississippi plays and up-tempo game and is eighth in the country in scoring," Elliott said. "We don't want to try to outscore them in transition. We need to control the tempo and take advantage of our inside game."
Namely, WAC player of the year Amber McEwen, Utah's 6-4 senior center. McEwen averaged 17.3 points and 10 rebounds per game this season. She also led the league in field goal accuracy, making 54.4 percent.
"We can be a pretty average shooting team, so we absolutely have to get the ball inside to Amber," Elliott said. "They are very talented on the perimeter, but we should have an advantage over them inside."
Utah also has one of the nation's best 3-point shooters in sophomore guard Julie Krommenhoek, who's averaging 16.5 points per game. Krommenhoek made 39 percent of her 3-point bombs (72-for-185) this season.
GAME NOTES: The game will be broadcast live on KALL Radio (910 AM). Utah's second-round game, should they win tonight, would be televised nationally on ESPN2 in addition to being on KALL . . . Utah back-up senior forward Angie Bandy-Donahue hurt her back in practice Thursday and is questionable for tonight's game.