Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Western Colorado (EXHIBITION) on October 27, 2025 at TBD
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Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Utah Women's Basketball Opens Regular-Season
11/13/2001 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2001
Salt Lake City -
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COMING UP: The No. 24/25 ranked University of Utah women's basketball team opens the regular-season schedule on the road at the Gopher Basketball Classic on Sat.-Sun. Nov. 17-18, in Minneapolis, Minn. Utah will face Santa Clara in the tourney on Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m. and play either Minnesota or Butler on Nov. 18.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH: Utah defeated the NWBL, 72-56, in its final exhibition game on Sat., Nov. 10 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes shut-down the Mirabel Banska Bystrica (Slovakia) team, 73-36, in an exhibition game on Fri., Nov. 2 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The Utes return three starters and nine letterwinners from a team which posted a perfect 14-0 league record and a 28-4 overall mark. Utah, which led the nation in scoring defense and made its 11th appearance in the NCAA tournament a year ago, has won or shared a conference title each of the past six years. The Utes add four newcomers to the roster this season.
Possible starters for the Utes in the Minnesota Tournament are: Erin Gibbons (Sr., G), Katherine McColl (Sr., F), Kelsy Stireman (So., G), Lindsay Herbert (Sr., G/F) and Lauren Beckman (Sr., F/C). Utah's 2000-01 final RPI ranking, produced by the NCAA, was 12th out of 316 teams. The Mountain West Conference was 7th out of 32 conferences.
The 2001-02 Utes remain ranked at the No. 24 spot in the Nov. 12 USA Today/ESPN Top-25 and No. 25 in the pre-season Associated Press Top-25 poll. Utah was also ranked No. 21st in Lindy's magazine Top-25 poll and No. 22 in Athlon Sports magazine Top 25 poll. The Utes have been ranked for two consecutive weeks.
SERIES SHORTS: Utah leads the series with Santa Clara, 4-0. In the last meeting on Dec. 20, 1986, the Utes defeated the Broncos, 68-55 in Santa Clara, Calif. Utah is 2-0 at home, 2-0 away and 0-0 at a neutral site vs. Santa Clara. The Utes and the Golden Gophers (Minnesota) might meet for the first time ever at the Minnesota Tournament this weekend. Utah and Butler might also match up for the first time ever at the Minnesota Tournament this weekend.
QUOTING ELLIOTT: On the upcoming Minnesota Tournament- "Opening our season on the road is always a challenge. An even greater challenge is a very good Santa Clara team. We will focus our efforts on ourselves as we have a very untested bench. I always wish for more preparation time, but the players are always ready to play."
UP NEXT: On Tues., Nov. 20, the Utes will open their regular home schedule facing Albertson College at 5:00 p.m. Utah travels to Dallas, Texas, matching up with the SMU Mustangs on Sat., Nov. 24 at 7:00 p.m. On Thurs., Nov. 29 the Utes are back at home taking on the Oregon State Beavers at 7:00 p.m. Utah will host UCLA on Sat., Dec. 1 at 4:34 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes will travel to Eugene, Ore. on Sat., Dec. 8, to face the Oregon Ducks at 7:00 p.m. On Mon., Dec. 17, Utah will meet in-state rival Weber State in Ogden, Utah at 7:05 p.m.
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA: Santa Clara opened its exhibition season with a 79-65 win over the Bay Area Pro-Ams on Thurs., Nov. 1, at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif. The Broncos closed out the exhibition schedule with another win. They defeated the KSC Szekszard, 95-78 on Thurs., Nov. 8, in Santa Clara, Calif. Santa Clara opens regular-season play at the Minnesota Tournament, facing the Utes on Sat., Nov. 17.
The Broncos return 10 letterwinners and three starters from its 20-8 team that finished last season with an 11-3 West Coast Conference record, good for a share of the regular-season conference title. Led by all-WCC senior guards Becki Ashbaugh and Caroline Gruening, the Broncos advanced to the postseason for the fourth straight season with its participation in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA: The Minnesota Gophers recorded a pair of wins in their exhibition schedule last week. On Sat., Nov. 3, the Gophers defeated Houston, 83-75 and on Thurs., Nov. 8, Minnesota shut-down LKKA-Kaunas, 95-65 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Gophers open the regular-season on Sat., Nov. 17 at their own tournament, facing Butler at 2:00 p.m.
Ten letterwinners return to the roster, nine of whom started at least a game in the 2000-01 season. A deeper analysis of the Gopher team shows a squad with just two seniors, Kim Bell, whose collegiate career has been limited by injuries, and Jenny MacKay, a walk-on guard who served as a team manager the past two seasons. The majority of the roster is sophomores and juniors. Only one rookie, though quite a newcomer in Wisconsin High School Co-Player of the Year Janel McCarville, joins the team that posted an 8-20 overall record a year ago.
SCOUTING BUTLER: Butler lost, 112-81 to the Reebok Lady Stars on Mon., Nov. 5, in Indianapolis, Ind. The Bulldogs open regular-season play at the Minnesota Tournament, taking on the Gophers at 2:00 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 17.
The Bulldogs return six letterwinners, one starter and adds four newcomers to its roster. Last season, Butler went 8-20 overall and 3-11 in conference play.
HEAD COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: The winningest coach in school history, Elaine Elliott has kept the winning tradition alive since earning the head coaching position in 1983-84. She has posted a 374-152 (.711) career record in 18 seasons. In the last 11 years alone, Elliott has guided the Utes to nine 20-win seasons, six 1st-place, three 2nd-place and two third-place finishes in conference play. Overall, Elliott has led the Utes to thirteen 20-win seasons and three 19-win seasons, averaging 20 wins per season. Elliott was named the 1999-2000 IKON/WBCA Division I District 7 Coach of the Year, the 2000-01 IKON/WBCA Division I District 7 Coach of the Year, the 1999-2000 inaugural Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and the 2000-01 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
Last season, Elliott led the Utes to a first-ever NCAA "Sweet 16" tournament appearance.
BECK BREAKING THROUGH: Lauren Beckman is nine points away from recording her 1,000th career point. This season she should hit the mark and will become only one of seventeen 1,000-point-plus scorers in Utah women's basketball history. Please note: statistics from exhibition games do not count towards regular-season statistics and results.
EXHIBITION GAME RECAP (NWBL): A strong first-half propelled Utah to a 72-56 victory over the NWBL in its final exhibition game on Sat., Nov. 10 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah finishes 2-0 in exhibition play.
As a team, Utah shot 64.3 percent on 18-of-28 shooting in the first half and capitalized on the tired NWBL team. Earlier in the day, the NWBL beat Boise State (72-67) in Boise, Idaho before traveling to Salt Lake City.
Utah struggled in the second half shooting 41.7 percent as a team and turning the ball over 15 times. The NWBL battled back from the 22-point halftime deficit to come within 10 points of the Utes, but was unable to come up with the win. Utah out rebounded the NWBL 42-29 on the game, but turned the ball over 27 times.
Sophomore Kelsy Stireman was 2-of-2 from the three-point line and 5-of-6 from the field as she led the Utes in the first half with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds. Stireman was forced to temporarily leave the game in the second half after she re-injured her thumb, which she had sprained two weeks before. Stireman finished the game with 14 points, seven assists and four points in 24 minutes.
Sophomore Carley Marshall scored 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting with four rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench for Utah. Seniors Lauren Beckman and Lindsay Herbert both played 27 minutes and scored in double figures for the Utes. Beckman finished with 17 points and five rebounds and Herbert scored 12 points with nine rebounds.
"We struggled offensively in the second half," said head coach Elaine Elliott. "We were not playing aggressively and we were not doing what we need to do when the shots aren't falling. I'm not worried about our inside game, but instead the perimeter game we kind of lean on because we don't have any experienced players on the bench. We are at a good place to start the season and have shown a lot of progress."
EXHIBITION GAME RECAP (MIRABEL BANSKA BYSTRICA): The Utes opened their season with a 73-36 exhibition win over the Mirabel Banska Bystrica (Slovakia) team on Fri., Nov. 2 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Senior Lauren Beckman tallied 24 points to lead the Utes after shooting 9-of-13 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Beckman just missed a double-doubled after grabbing nine rebounds in her team high 31 minutes. Senior Katherine McColl nabbed a team high 11 rebounds and posted four points in 23 minutes.
Erin Gibbons and Lindsay Herbert, both seniors, played over 20 minutes each in the opener. Gibbons finished with 13 points and led the Utes with three three-pointers. Herbert hit 4-of-8 from the field for 10 points to go with five rebounds. Sophomore Carley Marshall, who redshirted the 2000-01 season, pulled down seven rebounds and added five points for the Utes. Eva Antalecova led Mirabel Banska Bystrica with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Utah came out firing when guard Erin Gibbons hit a three-pointer off a Kelsey Stireman assist just 18 seconds into the game. Utah built a 17-7 lead, but Mirabel began to gain ground on the Utes after Antelacova hit a three-pointer (17-10) with 12:45 left in the first half. Mirabel cut the lead to 17-15 when Antelacova stole the ball and scored on a fast break. Utah pushed its lead to 22-15 after Beckman made two free-throws and Stireman made a three-pointer.
The Utes led 36-21 at halftime. Mirabel began the second half with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 36-27, but Beckman took over as she scored 15 second half points, including Utah's first six of the half. "We weren't getting the ball into the post during the first half, and we needed to because they were playing a laid back zone," said Beckman. "We made the adjustments we needed to at halftime and those adjustments worked during the second half."
"We have a lot of things to evaluate," said head coach Elaine Elliott. "I'm excited to look over the film and break down what we need to do to be good. Our team has an interesting mix of players, leaving us with a lot of things to smooth out. We have four seniors who have played since the time they arrived at Utah, but aside of Stireman, we have no one else with experience."
MWC PRE-SEASON POLL: Utah, defending MWC regular season champion, placed second in the MWC preseason media poll with five first-place votes. Colorado State ranked first, BYU ranked third, followed by UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming, San Diego State and Air Force. Utah senior Lauren Beckman was picked as to the MWC preseason all-conference team.
UTES ON THE RADIO/TV: Utah women's basketball is back on KALL 910-AM this season. KALL will carry 20 regular-season games and all post-season contests live. Clear Channel is in the third year of a four-year contract as the exclusive radio home of University of Utah sports.
Anchoring the broadcast team is KALL-910 AM Sports Director Brad Stone. Stone will broadcast the women's home games, while Kent Rupe will call the road games
As part of its agreement with the University of Utah, KJZZ-TV is scheduled to televise the Utah-UCLA game on Dec. 1 and the Utah-BYU game on Jan. 26 live from the Huntsman Center. KJZZ is also tentatively scheduled to televise one of the Utes' games in the MWC Tournament.
Veteran sportscaster Steve Brown will call the Ute women's basketball games on KJZZ.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The Utes practice from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus. All practice times and dates are tentative and subject to change. For regular scheduled practice times, please contact Julie Lapomarda. Utah Women's Basketball practices are closed to the media. To set up interviews before or after practice with Head Coach Elaine Elliott or Ute players, please contact Julie Lapomarda women's basketball SID at: (801) 581-3771.
POST-GAME SERVICES/INTERVIEWS: Head Coach Elaine Elliott and Utah players will be available for interviews outside the Utah lockerroom following a 10 minute cooling off period. A member of the Utah sports information staff will gather interview requests immediately following the match. Box scores will be provided and faxed upon request.
WEEKLY INTERVIEWS: Members of the media who wish to interview Head Coach Elaine Elliott, and any interviews with the athletes should be arranged through Julie Lapomarda (801-581-3771).
THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: The newest conference in the nation has quickly emerged as one of the best. The Mountain West Conference, which officially commenced operation on July 1, 1999, sent two basketball teams to NCAA post-season play and one team to the WNIT in its first year. The Mountain West Conference saw five out of the eight schools compete in either the NCAAs or the WNIT last season. League champion Utah made it to the NCAA "Sweet 16," Colorado State made it to the NCAA Second Round, while UNLV, New Mexico and BYU were all WNIT participants.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEDIA INFORMATION: Ron Christian, Assistant Director of Communications, handles all information requests related to women's basketball at the Mountain West Conference office. The MWC address is 15455 Gleneagle Drive, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80921. The MWC telephone number is (719) 488-4040. The fax number is (719) 487-7240.
FACTS AND FIGURES: The 2000-2001 season marked the most wins (28) in a season and the best winning percentage (.875) in a season in Utah women's basketball school history. Utah went undefeated in conference play (14-0) for the second time in school history. The first time they went undefeated in conference play was in 1976-77, when Utah was a perfect 13-0 under former head coach Fern Gardner.
Utah finished first in the MWC, marking its 27th consecutive upper-division finish in conference play. Utah wrapped up regular-season MWC play with a 64-59 win over New Mexico, on Sat., Mar. 3, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. As a team, the Utes reached their seventh-consecutive 20-win season in 2000-01. Utah notched its 20th win on Sat., Feb. 10, with a 74-43 victory at home over UNLV. The 2000-2001 Utes reached 20 wins faster than any other team in Elliott's tenure. The quickest run to 20-wins in Utah history was in 1976-77, when the Utes won 20 of their first 21 games under former head coach Fern Gardner.
2000-01 ACCOLADES: After leading Utah to a perfect 14-0 conference record and its second straight MWC regular-season title, Elaine Elliott was named 2001 Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year. Senior forward Amy Ewert was honored as the Co-Player of the Year. Ewert picked up the league's Defensive Player of the Year award. Utah placed three individuals on the all-conference list as Lauren Beckman and Amy Ewert, both second team members in 1999-00, made the first team. Kristina Andersen, a second team selection in 1999-2000, earned third-team honors in 2000-01.
Amy Ewert and Lauren Beckman were named 2000-01 honorable mention All-Americans. They were among the top six vote getters in District 7 for the WBCA Women's Basketball All-America award.
Kristina Andersen, Lauren Beckman, Amy Ewert and Lori Red-Castagnetto earned 2000-01 Academic All-Mountain West Conference recognition. Andersen and Beckman were also named Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athletes in 2000-2001.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: As a team, Utah led the nation in scoring defense, holding its opponents to an average of 51.5 points per game. The Utes were second nationally in field goal percentage defense (34.2), sixth in win-loss percentage (28-4, .875), seventh in scoring margin (16.7) and eighth in free-throw percentage (77.0). Senior Kristina Andersen ranked 15th nationally in free-throw percentage (87.4).
UTES AND THE NCAAS: Utah made its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2000-01, and stand 3-11 in NCAA Tournament play. The Utes participated in their first-ever NCAA "Sweet 16" Tournament, Mar. 24, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. The Utes lost in the Midwest Regional, 69-54, to the eventual National Champion, Notre Dame. Utah hosted its first-ever NCAA First & Second Round Tournament on Mar. 17-19 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes upset No. 4 seeded Iowa 78-69, in the NCAA Second Round on Mon., Mar. 19, in Salt Lake City. Utah won its first round game in the NCAA Tournament over Fairfield, 79-57, on Sat., Mar. 17. The win over Fairfield marked the second time in school history Utah has made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament (the first time was in 1996-97).
UTAH VS. 2000-01 RANKED OPPONENTS: Utah went 2-2 (.500) vs. ranked opponents in the 2000-01 season. The Utes upset then-No. 14-ranked Oregon, 63-58, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Sat., Dec. 16, and lost to the then-No. 17/21 (USA Today/ESPN, Associated Press) ranked Stanford Cardinal, 72-58, on Sat., Dec. 30. On Mar. 19, Utah upset then-No. 16/20 (USA Today/ESPN, Associated Press) ranked Iowa 78-69, in the NCAA Second Round, in Salt Lake City. The Utes ended their season with a 69-54 loss to then-No. 2-ranked Notre Dame in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Sat., Mar. 24, in Denver, Colo.
THE FANS: Utah ranked 50th in the nation in home match attendance. In 18 games at home, the Utes brought in 27,922 fans, an average of 1,551 fans per game. Utah's 76-73 victory over New Mexico at The Pit on Sun., Jan. 7, in the conference opener ranked fourth in the nation with 16,845 fans. Utah's 67-57 win over in-state rival Brigham Young at the Jon M. Huntsman Center ranked in as the highest single-game attendance (7,032) for the Utes in 2000-01.
UTES IN THE NEWS: Utah had eight games televised in 2000-01. The Utes' match-up at Stanford was aired live on Fox Sports Bay Area on Sat., Dec. 30. Utah's conference opener at The Pit in New Mexico on Jan. 7, was televised live by ESPN2. Utah's game at UNLV was aired in the Las Vegas area on the UPN affiliate KTUD on Jan. 14. The Utah-Brigham Young game on Jan. 27 was aired live locally by KJZZ-TV. Fox Sports Rocky Mountain televised the Utah-Colorado State match-up live from Fort Collins, Colo., on Feb. 17. ESPN televised the Utes' NCAA First Round game vs. Fairfield live from the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Mar. 17. The Utah-Iowa NCAA Second Round game was televised live from the Jon M. Huntsman Center on ESPN2 on Mar. 19. ESPN produced Utah's NCAA Midwest Regional game vs. Notre Dame live from the Pepsi Center on Sat., Mar. 24th.
UTAH CAREER-LIST: Five members of the 2000-2001 team made their way into Utah's all-time career-leader's list. Lauren Beckman - 163 career blocks (1st on all-time list) - 394 defensive rebounds (4th on all-time list) - 214 offensive rebounds (5th on all-time list) - 76.5 career free-throw percentage (6th on all-time list) - 273 career free-throws (7th on all-time list) - 6.7 defensive rebounds (8th on all-time list) - 357 free-throw attempts (10th on all-time list), Erin Gibbons - 131 career three-pointers (2nd on all-time list) - 357 three-point attempts (2nd on all-time list) - .367 three-point field goal percentage (4th on all-time list), Lori Red-Castagnetto - 92 career three-pointers (5th on all-time list) - 257 three-point attempts (5th on all-time list) - .358 three-point field goal percentage (6th on all-time list), Kristina Andersen - 90 career three-pointers and 254 attempts (6th on all-time list) - 81.3 career free-throw percentage (2nd on all-time list) - 336 defensive rebounds (7th on all-time list), - 176 offensive rebounds (8th on all-time list) and - .354 three-point field goal percentage (7th on all-time list) and Amy Ewert - 173 career steals (5th on all-time list).
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