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Preview: #2 Stanford WBB heads to Salt Lake City to face Utah

#2 Stanford looks to get a sweep in their Rocky Mountain road trip.
#2 Stanford looks to get a sweep in their Rocky Mountain road trip. (GoStanford.com)

On Sunday at 11:00 AM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio, #2 Stanford women’s basketball will take on the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. Stanford comes in at 12-3 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12 while Utah comes in at 9-3 overall and 0-0 in the Pac-12. Utah is playing their first Pac-12 game of the season after having their first five league games postponed.

Last time out: On Friday, Stanford got a 60-52 win at #22 Colorado. Haley Jones was the top scorer for Stanford with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists.

RECAP: #2 Stanford WBB picks up tenacious victory at #22 Colorado

On Utah: The Utes are led by freshman forward Jenna Johnson (14.2 points & 5.9 rebounds) and junior guard Brynna Maxwell (13.0 points & 3.3 rebounds). Both players are having really strong seasons and doing their part to help Utah get off to an impressive start. Freshman guard Gianna Kneepkens (10.7 points) is also scoring in double figures on average while sophomore guard Kennady McQueen (9.6 points) is knocking on the door.

The Utes are kind of a hard team to get a pulse on without having played any league games up to this point. They did lose to Gonzaga 89-71 in Hawaii, but they also battled now #18 BYU tough in Salt Lake, losing 85-80. So they’ve shown that they can hang with a ranked team.

As a team, the Utes average 85.7 points per game on 46.9% shooting from the field, 36.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 75.0% shooting from the foul line. They also average 42.3 rebounds, 19.3 assists, 8.3 steals, 2.7 blocks, and 13.8 turnovers per game. Their rebound margin per game is +11.5 and their turnover margin per game is +2.4. Their opponents are averaging 63.6 points per game on 40.7% shooting from the field, 27.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 67.9% shooting from the foul line.

Keys to the game: The first thing Stanford needs to do is hold their own inside. Stanford has a +9.7 rebound margin per game, so Utah has actually been better in this department up to this point. If Cameron Brink has a big game inside and Haley Jones and others are doing their part on the glass, Stanford will be taking away one of Utah’s biggest strengths.

Secondly, Stanford needs to take care of the ball. They turned it over 22 times on Friday in Boulder and it really made it hard for them to gain separation until the end of the game. If Stanford is able to take care of the ball and cut back on those turnovers, they should be fine.

Lastly, Stanford needs to win the 3-point battle. Stanford is shooting 33.7% on the year from 3-point range while Utah is shooting 36.8%. If Hannah Jump, Lexie Hull, and others are out-shooting Utah from the perimeter, Stanford should be in a good spot. The player who Stanford really needs to watch out for in this department is Maxwell. She’s shooting 44.7% from deep on a team-high 76 attempts on the season.

Prediction: Utah is a good enough team to give Stanford some trouble, but I would be very surprised if they actually pulled off the upset. Especially after the way Stanford beat Colorado on Friday. That said, I don’t see Stanford blowing the doors off Utah, either. I think it’ll be a close game for a bit before Stanford pulls away in the end. Stanford 80 Utah 69 is how I see this one going.

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