The Utah women’s basketball team is set to play its final home game of the season against Arizona on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City. Following the game, seniors Alyssa Blanck, Samantha Crispe, Lani White, and Maty Wilke will be honored in a post-game ceremony.
Utah currently holds an 18-11 overall record and is 8-8 in Big 12 conference play. The team’s most recent game was a close 67-64 win over Colorado. In that matchup, Utah started strong with a 6-0 run but trailed after the first quarter. They managed to tie the game early in the third quarter and regained momentum through key plays by Lani White and Maty Wilke. The Utes outscored Colorado in both the third and fourth quarters to secure victory.
Fans can watch Saturday’s game on ESPN+ with Tony Parks providing play-by-play commentary and Elaine Elliot as analyst. Radio coverage will be available on ESPN700 with Tyson Ewing and Milee Rustand calling the action.
Returning players from last season include Maty Wilke, Samantha Crispe, Brooke Walker, and Reese Ross. Lani White has rejoined Utah for her senior year after spending her junior season at Virginia Tech. New additions this year are transfer Kamryn Mafua and freshmen LA Sneed, Ella Todd, Avery Hjelmstad, and Evelina Otto.
Maty Wilke leads returning players with averages of 10.6 points per game while shooting 39% from the field and making 35.2% of her three-point attempts this season. She also has contributed 66 assists so far.
Lani White leads Utah in scoring with an average of 15.6 points per game and has logged nine games with at least 20 points this season. She scored a career-high 26 points twice—against Northwestern on December 14 (including seven three-pointers without a miss) and against Arizona on December 21.
Head coach Gavin Petersen is in his second season leading Utah after being named head coach four games into last year’s campaign. “He brings 23 seasons of college coaching experience to the role,” according to team information provided by Utah Athletics staff members, “he is in his 11th season overall with the Utes.” Petersen guided Utah to a notable win over No.3 Notre Dame earlier this season.
Arizona enters Saturday’s contest with a record of 12-16 overall (3-14 Big 12). The Wildcats recently defeated Houston by eight points under first-year head coach Becky Burke, who holds a matching record for her tenure at Arizona this year.
Arizona features three players averaging double figures: Mickayla Perdue (17.1), Noelani Cornfield (14.1), and Sumayah Sugapong (10.3). Perdue leads all scorers for Arizona while shooting over forty-four percent from the field.
Historically, Utah holds a slight edge over Arizona in their series matchups—winning twelve out of twenty meetings—and have won six out of nine times when playing at home against them.
Utah stands at No.56 nationally in Net Rankings this week as they prepare for postseason play at next month’s Big 12 Championships scheduled for March 4–8 in Kansas City.
