'I want to kick the door down': Lynne Roberts working to push the limits even higher

SALT LAKE CITY — More than a month after the Utah women's basketball team lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, head coach Lynne Roberts said she's still "ticked off."

Even the mere mention of it makes her bristle a bit as she talks about it.

Everything about that weekend in Spokane, Washington, could have been better. But what stings the most is that Roberts believes she and the coaching staff "could have done a better job," even as it ran up against a hot-handed Bulldogs team riding a 35-game home win streak.

Making it to the tournament — a year after narrowly falling to eventual champion LSU in the Sweet 16 — is no longer enough. Utah basketball has a new standard, and it starts with making the Big Dance, and it ends with a deep run in March.

To that extent, Utah fell short of its goal.

Roberts doesn't shy away from the expectations; instead, she embraces them and wants to be held to a higher standard.

"We're going to make the tournament," Roberts told KSL.com recently in a wide-ranging interview. "And I'm not saying that just because we should. We're gonna work our asses off to make the NCAA Tournament — like that is the expectation. The goal is not going to be that, like the goal is going to be let's make a deep run."

A deep run was something her team set for itself ahead of the 2023-24 season — an Elite Eight appearance or further mindset — and nothing has changed going into her 10th season as the program's head coach.

The team fell short of making it to the second weekend of the tournament, but she felt the coaching staff "squeezed every bit out of this group as we could" after suffering season-ending injuries to Gianna Kneepkens and Issy Palmer.

"We didn't want to adjust our goals, because it just didn't seem — we never lowered the bar, but I think there was just kind of an acceptance from all of us like, 'OK, let's see what we can do regardless,'" Roberts said. "I'm incredibly proud of our staff and players. ... For us to never, despite all kinds of the things that could have made us go up and down, we didn't."

As the Utah athletic department soon transitions fully to the Big 12 after more than a decade in the Pac-12, Roberts is optimistic about her team's chances in a competitive, yet different, Big 12 slate — and how that will help prepare the team in March.

In almost all offensive statistical categories over the last couple years, Roberts' team would ranked at or near the top of the Big 12. That, she said, gives the program confidence it can continue to be one of the top teams in the Big 12 — even if stats don't always fully translate to the different styles of play in a new conference.

"That doesn't mean you win the league, but it's going to put you in a position to compete for it," Roberts said. "So we're going in that thing knowing that there's going to be a steep learning curve. Every opponent's new, every road trip's different, but that's kind of fun, too — like, there's an excitement about that.

"But we're not going in the thing to just see how we do. Like, I want to kick the door down," she said. "Understanding, and with a sense of humility of like, I don't think it's going to be easy, but that's my mindset."

It will be a different experience, no doubt, and the Utes will have to adapt, but Roberts is determined that Utah — the culture and identity of the team — will not change. It's that identity that has helped Roberts hone in on what can make Utah great — and consistently win.

"I'm very confident in who we are — like what Salt Lake City is, what the University of Utah is, what our athletic department is — so I'm able to really dive into what we are. ... The University of Utah's not gonna change," she said. "We have to double down on who we are. And who are we? We're hard-working, blue collar, kids that want to be here, recruit them since they're 15; and when they get here, they'll run through a wall for you.

"I don't think I've arrived," she added. "I think I'm always trying to — you always have to get better. There's a thousand people that want this job. Well, I'm not gonna let you take it, and I'm gonna get better, and I'm going to keep learning and developing. I've gotten better as our teams have gotten better, certainly, and I want to continue to do that."

The Utes will now have to do that without star forward Alissa Pili, who was selected No. 8 overall in the recent WNBA draft to the Minnesota Lynx, and veteran contributors Dasia Young and Palmer. But the core of the team, including the return of Kneepkens back in the lineup, will provide Utah consistency in its first season in the Big 12.

"Every season, even if you have some of the same ingredients, the recipe always comes out different," Roberts said. "And so we have a lot of the same ingredients coming back, but the recipe is going to be different. I think it's kind of exciting."

Roberts said losing Pili, a "unicorn" in the sport, will be difficult to replace, but she feels there's an opportunity to spread the ball around more and become even more dangerous as a collective team.

"Our perimeter players are as good as anybody in the country," Roberts said. "So do we replace Alissa Pili? No. It's not zero sum where she goes out, this guy comes in. But you can replace what she brings, you can kind of spread it around. And if we're able to do that, then I think we're actually harder to beat, because we still have a tremendous playmaker in (Kneepkens)."

The savvy and dynamic sharpshooter in Kneepkens will, no doubt, be the focal point for teams as they prepare to disrupt Utah. But she will have a compliment of players around her, including McQueen and Maty Wilke, who will help carry the load — both took on new roles and improved their games as the season developed.

Pair that with the high-energy play of Ines Vieira at point guard and Jenna Johnson in the post, and Utah has a strong stable of talent ready to take the floor without missing too much of a beat in the starting unit.

Transfer forwards Chyra Evans (Michigan) and Maye Toure (Rhode Island) will add depth alongside promising players Reese Ross and Sam Crispe — both are expected to take on larger roles with the team moving forward — while adding three freshmen guards (Brooke Walker, Grace Foster and Kylie Ray) to the lineup.

It's a team that will likely have a more diverse look — maybe more guard oriented, Roberts posited — but it's one that has Roberts potentially more optimistic than in years past.

"I'm as motivated as I've ever been to keep pushing," she said. "And I think our program's in a great spot — like zero staff turnover, retention of players, bringing in good ones. I love our freshmen that are coming in. My expectation is to make as deep a run as we can. Is that Sweet 16? Hopefully. Is it the Elite Eight? Maybe, you know, like, who knows?

"I'm actually really excited about going into next season; I really am. I know that sounds cliche and every coach says that, but I feel a new sense of rejuvenation — like, OK, this is gonna be fun."

Whatever the makeup of the team, Roberts is ready for a new conference and the challenges it will present as the Utes hope for another deep run in March.

"It's like playing 29 nonconference games where you're not used to playing these guys, and that's kind of the fun of it," she said. "So it'll be hard, it'll be challenging. But the other side of that is those teams have to do the same thing for us. We're new to them, too. So there's no disadvantage; I'm not buying into that. They've got to adjust to us just like we've got to learn about them. So I'm excited about the new challenge."

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