The next two-and-a-half weeks of competition will look familiar for the Utah women’s basketball team.
The Utes’ next three games come against former Pac-12 foes — first a nonconference game at Washington, who’s now a member of the Big Ten, and that’s followed by matchups against Arizona State (at home) and Arizona (on the road).
The Sun Devils and Wildcats, along with Utah and Colorado, moved from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 this year, and those games against Arizona State and Arizona will kick off Big 12 play for the Utes.
Before that, though, Utah will face Washington on Saturday (7:30 p.m. MST) in its final matchup of a nonconference schedule that’s provided several challenges for the Utes.
Twice, Utah has needed last-second execution to beat Princeton and Saint Joseph’s at the Huntsman Center. The Utes have also lost heartbreakers to power conference programs Mississippi State and Northwestern.
And let’s not forget the biggest challenge — facing then-No. 3 Notre Dame. The Utes beat the Irish 78-67 at the Cayman Islands Classic, and since then, Notre Dame has knocked off No. 4 Texas and No. 2 UConn.
“I think our nonconference schedule has been really good. In that sense, we’ve had some really tough opponents. You know, Princeton, really good. St Joe’s, really good. Two potential NCAA tournament teams. And then you have Mississippi State, Notre Dame, NCAA tournament teams,” Utah coach Gavin Petersen said.
“I think Washington again at their home court, that’s a tough game. That could potentially be an NCAA tournament team. So we’re getting ready for Big 12 play.”
Washington, meanwhile, is coming off a 73-62 loss to No. 1 UCLA in its conference opener last Sunday.
Unlike the Big 12, the Big Ten has built in some league games into the middle of the nonconference slate, before Big Ten kicks off in force at the turn of the new year.
The Huskies, who are 7-3 on the year, also have played No. 4 LSU, losing by a point on a last-second layup.
Last year, the Utes and Huskies split a pair of games, with each team winning by double digits on the road. Washington beat Utah in Salt Lake City in the regular-season finale, costing the Utes a chance at a better Pac-12 conference tournament seed.
Washington returns four starters from last season, including Elle Ladine (15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds per game), Sayvia Sellers (14.6 points per game) and Dalayah Daniels (10.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks per game).
“They’re a very disciplined team. They know how to execute what they run,” Petersen said. “They run it and execute it at a high level, and then defensively, they’re very in tune with personnel, in tune with their opponent’s strengths, so they’re going to try to make us go to our second, third options and we’ve got to be ready for that.”
It’s not the first time this year Utah has turned to its old Pac-12 ties to test it — during training camp, the Utes faced UCLA and Washington State in scrimmages to help prepare it for the grind of the season.
“Well, I think you know, last year we played two exhibition games, and we won by a lot, and then we played two nonconference games and won by a lot, and then we went down to Baylor and did not play well. But we had never been tested. We hadn’t been — nothing had been hard,” former Utah head coach Lynne Roberts told the Deseret News during Big 12 basketball media days. “And so I said to our staff, like we’re not doing that again. We want to be ready.”
Since then, Petersen has taken over for Roberts, who left to become the head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
The lessons gained from those scrimmages can still apply now, with Big 12 play on the horizon.
“We wanted our nonconference to give us more quality wins, potential for quality wins, quality games, because we want to get as high a seed as we can (in the NCAA tournament),” Roberts said.
Utah sophomore forward Reese Ross, who’s shown arguably the most growth on the Utes roster this season, echoed Petersen’s sentiments about what Washington does best.
In particular, the Utes will need to be assertive on the boards against a scrappy Huskies team.
“Obviously got a chance to play them a little bit last year, and they’re a good team. They execute really well. They run their stuff, and they also hone in really on what the other opponents are great at,” Ross said.
“... Gritty teams are good at offensive rebounding. Everyone’s gonna have to crash just being ready to get on the boards and take over the game and just understand, every possession is something that we have to take care of.”
With a new era of Big 12 play just around the corner — Utah hosts Arizona State on Dec. 21 before playing at Arizona on Dec. 31 — there is confidence and knowledge to rely on while playing a few familiar opponents.
Conference play will bring about a new challenge — and another opportunity for the Utah program to prove itself.
“It’s just interesting that our first two Big 12 games are against former Pac-12 teams. So in terms of knowing what to expect, it helps us out, at least in that regard, one at home, one on the road, familiar teams, familiar places,” Petersen said.
“At the end of the day, everybody starts 0-0. And it doesn’t matter what your preseason record is, you got to go.”
