Despite season finale setback, Utes women confident in postseason opportunities

LAS VEGAS — A somber and disappointed feeling blanketed the Huntsman Center Saturday afternoon as the Utah women's basketball team exited the court after suffering a double-digit loss on senior night to a team that had previously won only five conference games.

The regular season wasn't supposed to end that way — not for the team that was picked to win the conference in the Pac-12 preseason poll.

Saturday was a game against a down Washington team that felt like a gimme game to closeout the season as Utah hoped for a top-four seed in the Pac-12 Tournament and a potential opportunity to host the NCAA Tournament in the Huntsman Center for the second consecutive season.

In an instant, all of that was gone.

In many ways, it was the antithesis to last season when the Utes celebrated a win over Stanford in the season finale and a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title.

There were no nets cut down Saturday, just a lingering feeling of regret after what junior guard Kennady McQueen described as a "weird" game.

"I felt like our effort and hard work was there, but it felt like we were just a step behind in everything we were trying to do," McQueen said. "So it was a weird game, and it was disappointing, as I'm sure it was for coaches. It felt like that as teammates, too."

Head coach Lynne Roberts said it was "mind boggling," and one of those games where she was left wondering "what in the world was that?"

It was far from the expectations she's helped preach within the program. But the loss, she said, could serve as a galvanizing moment after an "up and down" season defined largely by key injuries to Gianna Kneepkens and Issy Palmer. If anything, it was a harsh reminder that any perceived success can be quickly wiped away in an instant.

"We can't do that anymore, and if we want to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, which I think we can, we can't do it at all. ... If we can't get motivated to play our tails off and coach our tails off, then we deserve to lose," Roberts said. "That's just kind of the mentality right now."

It's a fresh reminder as her team enters the Pac-12 Tournament hungry to play better.

"We did not go in expecting to play like that, so just coming off a game like that, I mean, as a competitor we hate playing like that; we hate when we play like that, so we're just so excited to get a chance to go at ASU and get some revenge there, and really show and make our case for the NCAA Tournament and seeding," McQueen said.

Last season, Utah entered the tournament with success on its side, coming off a record-breaking season and a share of the regular-season title. In some ways, it led to some complacency among the team and the Utes "looked flat," Roberts recalled. The Utes lost early to eventual champion Washington State.

"This year, we're coming off a game where it was like, 'What in the world was that?' And so everybody's a little pissed off and motivated," Roberts said. "And now we're coming into the tournament that way, so I think it's like a 180 difference from mentality."

And though it's a "gauntlet" of a tournament, especially with six teams ranked inside the Associated Press Top 25 poll, Roberts maintains the confidence she's always had about her team and their postseason opportunities.

The Utes are "battle tested," she said, and has seen everything Pac-12 teams can throw at them. But she's quick to point out, too, that "it's been an inconsistent year" and anything is possible. Her team has played like a team that can be dangerous in the postseason and go far, and they've also been a team capable of getting beat by double digits.

"The year has been kind of up and down — three steps forward, one step back," she said. "Some of the things we can't control. ... There's been so many things that we can't control that added to that, and then there's things that we could control that added to it.

"I feel like our team is in a good spot, and if you can't get motivated to play at your best — and that doesn't mean you have to play perfectly — but play at your best in terms of intensity, energy, focus, controlling the things you can control, then you don't deserve to win," Roberts added. "And I feel like our guys are in a good spot with that."

Though somewhat obvious, there's no doubt from the coaching staff or players that Utah has what it takes to still achieve its goal of winning the Pac-12 and making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The challenge may be more difficult now than previously thought, but it's still a capable team.

"I feel very confident in our team," McQueen said. "When we play well, when we play together, we're so hard to beat. So we just have to get back to that and do that consistently. Now's the time; there's no more second chances — you lose you go home. So starting tomorrow, we've got to show up and win some games."

Utah opens up the Pac-12 Tournament Wednesday (9:30 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Networks) in a first-round game against the 11th-seeded Arizona Sun Devils at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. To see the full bracket, click here.

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