When the Utah women’s basketball team has played at its peak this season, the Utes have shown they can compete with most anyone in their conference.
Case in point: Utah handed Big 12 champion TCU its first loss of the year back in early January.
The Utes (19-11, 10-8) have also dealt with inconsistency, having gone through a recent stretch where it lost five of seven games.
Utah is riding a two-game winning streak heading into this week’s Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, though.
That included a critical win last week at then-hot Colorado and beating Arizona convincingly on Senior Night.
Can the Utes, who are the No. 8 seed, take advantage of their opportunity at the conference tournament and bolster their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season?
“I joked with these guys last week, ‘OK, I packed four suits last year and I used one,’” Utah coach Gavin Petersen told reporters after the Arizona win. “Come on, let’s make sure I use all my attire.”
Last year, Utah was one and done at the Big 12 tournament, falling to Texas Tech in the second round after a first-round bye.
This time, they’ll need a run, though the mentality is focusing on the next opponent.
“One game at a time, 1-0, give it everything we got and the winners stay,” Petersen said. “We want to just make sure we can stay there as long as we can. I think we have a great opportunity to play our way into the NCAA Tournament.”
Entering the Big 12 tournament, Utah is viewed as an NCAA bubble team — in the latest bracketology projections, the Utes show up among the first four out with ESPN, The IX Sports and Her Hoop Stats and among the next four out by CBS Sports and USA Today.
There are several Big 12 teams to watch on the bubble, besides Utah. BYU, Colorado and Arizona State are also fighting for an at-large bid.
The 68-team NCAA field will be unveiled March 15.
“All we can do is focus on ourselves until we get our opponent,” guard Lani White, who was named to the All-Big 12 second team, said in the lead-up to the tournament.
“We understand that this conference isn’t easy, but we’ve also played everyone, you know? So we just gotta focus on ourselves until we understand our opponent. But regardless of who we’re going to play, we’re going to attack them and hope for the best.”
Oddly enough, rivals Utah and BYU will get that chance to boost their stock against each other, as Utah and BYU meet for the third time this season when they match up in Thursday’s second round (12:30 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
CBS Sports’ Connor Groel called it “essentially an elimination game” in the NCAA bubble race.
The Cougars, the No. 9 seed, beat Houston 76-66 in the Big 12 tournament’s first round Wednesday to advance and set up the rematch.
BYU struggled with turnovers in the win, giving it away 22 times, including 15 in the first half.
The Cougars pulled away in the second half, though, as they shot 52.9% after halftime and had four players score in double figures, led by freshman Olivia Hamlin’s 16.
“We like playing our rival. It’s a good thing for college basketball,” first-year BYU coach Lee Cummard said after Wednesday’s victory. “It’s a great thing for our state. Gavin and his staff do a great job, and looking forward to it tomorrow.”
BYU swept the season series against Utah. That helped keep the Cougars in contention for the NCAA Tournament, while fueling part of that losing stretch for the Utes.
Can Utah beat the Cougars this time?
Delaney Gibb scored a career-high 37 points when BYU beat Utah 86-74 in Salt Lake City less than two weeks ago, and in the first meeting in Provo, the Cougars rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to win by 12.
After earning two must-have wins in the final week of the year, the Utes are in Kansas City with the mindset they hold their fate in their own hands.
“We have all the capabilities to beat anybody in this league. And when we show up and we’re casual, we’re going to lose to anybody in this league,” Petersen said. “We have the talent, we have the skill set, we have the system. Let’s just go out and play. Don’t worry about making mistakes.
“I know you’re going to be focused on the game plan, I know you’re going to try to execute it, and let’s just go — let’s enjoy each other’s company, be connected, and then just play as hard as you possibly can.”
