The Colorado game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks and the Utah game will be streamed live by the Pac-12 Networks. Both games will be broadcast by KZSU.
Jos soared high in Boulder last season
The Buffs are riding high in their second season in the Pac-12. They begin conference play as one of just four three undefeated Division I teams in the nation. They've moved up to No. 20/25 in the national polls, and Charlie Creme has them as a #7 seed in his latest bracket.
However, the Buffs may find conference play to be more of a challenge. Although one of their wins was against then-No. 8 Louisville, the rest of their schedule has been quite weak. Collegiate Basketball News ranks their schedule strength at 175, barely into the top half of all Division I teams. Eight of their eleven non-conference games were played at home in front of an average of 2500 devoted Buff fans.
They'll need all their skill to avoid what happened last year, when they also began conference play undefeated, but ended at 10th in the Pac-12.
That said, they're a better team than they were last year. Head coach Linda Lappe says, “A lot of different players are stepping up and making plays. We have a lot of versatility. Last year, we were one-dimensional for a lot of the season. We didn’t have the depth we have this year.”
They still rely heavily on senior guard Chucky Jeffery, but she's getting lots of help from redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson and much-improved sophomore forward Jen Reese. All three of them score in double digits.
The Buffs probable starters are:
- #23, 5'10" senior guard Chucky Jeffery is still the Buffs' star player — a dynamic point guard who leads the team in rebounds (8.2 rpg), steals (2.6 spg) and assists (4.7 apg). She's shooting a bit better than last year (42%), but not as much, and is now the second-best scorer with 12.2 ppg. She has greatly improved her ball-handling over last season when she had more turnovers than assists. Her current A/TO ratio is 1.6 — close to twice as many assists as turnovers.
- #32, 6'1" redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson sat out last season with a hip injury. She learned a lot as she watched from the bench, and is having a stellar freshman season. She's the Buff's top scorer (15.7 ppg) and second-best rebounder (6.1 rpg)
- #11, 4'7" junior guard Brittany Wilson is averaging 9.5 points and 2.6 assists per game. She takes almost half her shots from beyond the arc and makes 36% of them.
- #40, 6'4" junior center Rachel Hargis is averaging 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
- #1, 5'11"sophomore guard Lexy Kresl came off the bench as the Buffs' 3-point specialist for the first seven games of the season, but is now in the starting lineup.She takes 73% of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 31% of them. She's averaging 6.3 points per game.
The Buffs' most productive reserve is sophomore forward Jen Reese, who plays 20 minutes per game and is the Buffs' third-best scorer (10.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.9 rpg).
Injury has hit the Buffs, but not too severely. Junior guard Brenna Malcolm-Peck missed most of last season due to chronic knee trouble and has not played yet this season. Freshman guard Lauren Huggins has missed the last six games due to a stress fracture in her leg, but is expected to return soon. Junior guard Ashley Wilson (Brittany's twin sister) had arthroscopic knee surgery late in November. She returned for the Buffs' most recent game on December 29 and played limited minutes. Sophomore guard Jasmine Sborov was in the starting lineup, then missed several games while what turned out to be a mild heart condition was being diagnosed. She returned for the Buffs' most recent game on December 29 and played limited minutes as a reserve.
Colorado's win-loss record (11-0) places it 1st in the Pac-12, its RPI (20) places it 4th, and its strength of schedule rank (175) places it 9th.
Here are Colorado's 2012-13 statistics and roster.
The Utes have had a good, although not too demanding, non-conference season. They've played eight of 11 games at home in Salt Lake City, where they suffered their only two losses.
They begin the conference season in the top tier of the Pac-12, tied for fourth with UCLA, but Collegiate Basketball News ranks their schedule strength at a very weak 301.
The Utes are a mature team. They've returned four of the five starters from the squad that advanced to the WNIT last season. They've lost just one key player, graduated point guard Janita Badon.
The Utes pound the ball inside to junior forwards Michelle Plouffe and Taryn Wicijowski, who do most of the scoring and rebounding.
The probable starters for the Utes are:
- #11, 6'3" redshirt junior forward Taryn Wicijowski leads the Utes in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (8/0 rpg). She also blocks 1.2 shots per game.
- #15, 6'4" junior forward Michelle Plouffe was a reserve on the Canadian Olympic team last summer. She's a close second to Wicijowski in scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg). She scores from the outside as well as in the paint. She takes about ⅓ of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 37% of them. She also averages 2.9 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
- #3, 5'9" redshirt senior guard Iwalani Rodrigues suffered from a shoulder injury all last season and hasn't yet regained the great promise she showed as a sophomore when she set records for 3-point shooting. She is, however, the Utes' third-best scorer (11.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 rpg).
- #13, 5'9" senior guard Rachel Messer is a dependable combo guard who averages 4.8 points, 1.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game.
- #22, 5'10" freshman guard Danielle Rodriguez plays the point for the Utes. She takes good care of the ball. Her A/TO ratio is a very good 2.9. She average 4.1 points, 2.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game.
The Utes have a deep bench — seven healthy reserves who account for about 20% of the scoring and 22% of the rebounding.
Utah's win-loss record (9-2) places it 4th (tie) in the Pac-12, its RPI (132) places it 9th, and its strength of schedule rank (301) places it 12th.
Here are Utah's 2012-13 statistics and roster.
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