Utah Ready For Duel In The Desert

Thursday, December 20

Las Vegas, NV

1:00 PM

University of Utah

Florida

12/17/2018 3:23 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

Game 10 vs. Florida
Date: Thursday, Dec. 20
Time: 1 p.m. MT
Location: Las Vegas, Nev. (Cox Pavilion)
Radio: ESPN 700
TV: FloHoops.com
Live Stats: www.UtahUtes.com

The Basics: The Utah women's basketball program is set to wrap-up non-conference play in sunny Las Vegas as they take on the Duel in the Desert. The Utes will play Florida in the opening game on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. MT on the UNLV campus (Cox Pavilion).

How to Tune In: The game against Florida will be streamed on FloHoops.com (must be a subscriber to have access). Fans can also catch the game in action on the radio with Tyson Ewing calling the shots on ESPN 700.

The Opponent: The Florida Gators enter the tournament 3-7 overall. The Gators were on a three-game winning streak, defeating Texas Tech (72-67), Bethune-Cookman (64-53) and Florida A&M (62-38) before falling to Ohio State on the road on Sunday. They are led in scoring by senior Funda Nakkasoglu, who is averaging 19.4 points per game. The Australian guard is the SEC's scoring leader, averaging 20.1 points per game in her career.

Next Up: The Utes are guaranteed two games in Las Vegas this week and will play the winner of the Hawaii/UNLV game on Friday, Dec. 21 at either 1 p.m. MT or 3:30 p.m. MT.

Non-Conference Tournaments: The Utes are 2-2 in non-conference tournaments under the direction of Lynne Roberts. Utah played in the Hilton Concord Classic in 2016, winning both games, but dropped both contests at the Junkanoo Jam in 2015.

Three Pointers:
• Utah is averaging 11.4 steals per game, ranking first in the Pac-12. The Utes have more players ranked in the top-12 in the league in steals per game than any other team (Dre'Una Edwards, 4th; Daneesha Provo, 5th; Erika Bean, 11th, Megan Huff, 11th).
• Utah's game against Florida will be the second game this season against an SEC opponent.
• In Utah's nine games this season, eight of Utah's 10 eligible players have reached double digits at least once.

Last Time Out: Utah out-rebounded Weber State 42-24 and came away with a 77-56 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. The Utes were led in scoring by Megan Huff, who put up 23 points with Dre'Una Edwards chipping in a career-high tying 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kiana Moore recorded 10 points off the bench with redshirt freshman Jordan Cruz also pouring in a career-best eight points that included going 2-of-3 from the arc.

Utah vs. The SEC: Utah's game against Florida will be the second SEC opponent the Utes have faced this season. They defeated Alabama in November, giving them five program wins over SEC opponents. The Utes are 5-13 all-time against the current members of the league.

Dre's Doubles: Dre'Una Edwards has four double-doubles this season, including in the last two games. Her four double-doubles is tied for third in the Pac-12 (tied for first among freshmen). Her double-double against Weber State included a career-high tying 19 points.

Edwards's Double Doubles (18-19)
at Nevada 16 pts, 15 rbs
Alabama 10 pts, 10 rbs
BYU                     12 pts, 15 rbs
Weber State         19 pts, 12 rbs

Bench Points: Kiana Moore and Jordan Cruz combined to score 4-for-6 from the three-point line in Utah's game against Weber State. They both went 2-of-3 from the arc (66-percent) with Moore scoring 10 points (second game in double digits this year) and Cruz putting up a career-high eight. The Utes outscored Weber State 20-6 in bench points.

Huff Ranks Fifth:Megan Huff currently ranks fifth in both scoring and rebounding per game. She is one of just two players in the Pac-12 that are ranked in the top-five in both categories (Kristine Anigwe, Cal).

Straight Starts: Senior Erika Bean leads the team in games played (105). She has started in 70 total games with her 50^thconsecutive start coming against Weber State.

Dre Gets Rebounds:Dre'Una Edwards currently ranks seventh in the league in rebounds per game (8.8) with four double-digit rebounding games. Her four 10+ rebounding games is tied for first among freshmen in the Pac-12 this season.