Next up: Utes and Bulldogs

The Cardinal heads out to Salt Lake City and Spokane this week for games against the University of Utah and Gonzaga. If you're not going with them, here are your options for seeing and/or hearing the games:

Update: KZSU will not be broadcasting these games

Utah

The Utah game will be televised on TheMtn (Mountain West Sports Network), which is available on DirecTV. Click here to find the channel in your area.

Note: There will not be a viewing party organized by Stanford WBB, but Cardinal fan André Lalana is trying to arrange a viewing at the Old Pro. Check the "Upcoming Events" section of the FBC home page tomorrow or Friday for additional information.

You can listen to the game on KZSU Live and follow the action on Gametracker.

Gonzaga

The Gonzaga game will be televised on SWX (Sports & Weather Right Now), which is available only in Eastern Washington and North Idaho – detailed access information here.

The game will be webcast on Gonzaga All*Access. You'll need to pay a minimum of $9.95 for a monthly subscription to this service unless you already have a CBSSports ULive subscription.

You can listen to the game on KZSU Live and follow the action on Gametracker.

Note: You can find the links to coverage options for these games and for subsequent games in the "Prior & Upcoming Games" section of the FBC home page.

  Utah Utes

Utah is in the Mountain West Conference (MWC), but will join us in the Pac-12 next season. They went 23-12 last season and finished with a 64-54 loss to Cal in the second round of the WNIT. In a preseason media poll, they were picked to finish fourth in the MWC this season.

Although three starters return from last season, the Utes have one of the youngest teams in the nation with just one junior and two seniors on the roster. In addition, Anthony Levrets enters his first season as interim head coach for Utah, taking over for longtime head coach Elaine Elliott while she is on a leave of absence and considering retirement.

One of the seniors – Michelle Harrison – is of particular interest to Cardinal fans. She returned to her home state after graduating from Stanford and is studying for a master's degree at the University of Utah. Michelle, who sat out her sophomore year at Stanford after tearing her ACL, was granted a waiver from the NCAA that gave her eligibility for the 2010-11 season at Utah.

Stanford has played and defeated Utah eleven times. Mel should have fond memories of the 2007 game – she sank the first 3-pointer of her career to take the game into overtime and an eventual 81-77 victory for the Cardinal.

Utah's probable starters are:

• #1, 5'7" junior guard Janita Badon enters her third season as the starting point guard. Last season she finished third in the MWC in both assists (4.5) and steals (2.3). Badon was third on the team with 9.2 points per game while pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures in 18 games and her 79 assists ranked second all-time in a season at Utah. She was named the MWC Player of the Week last week.


• #3, 5'9" redshirt sophomore guard Iwalani Rodrigues came off the bench last year. She averaged 3.5 points per game and 1.3 rebounds per game.


• #11, 6'3" sophomore forward Taryn Wicijowski was the MWC Freshman of the Year last season. She led the MWC and ranked 10th in the nation in field-goal percentage (57.8). Her 14.8 scoring average ranked fifth in the MWC. She pulled down 6.3 rebounds per game and her 105 offensive rebounds ranked third in a season at Utah.


• #5, 6'3" senior forward Michelle Harrison can play inside and out. Her combination of size and perimeter skills is expected to create matchup problems for Utah's opponents.


• #15, 6'4" freshman forward Michelle Plouffe has played with the Canadian Junior National Team. She was among the tournament leaders at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship with 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

Here is Utah's roster.

  Gonzaga Bulldogs

Gonzaga was undefeated in West Coast Conference (WCC) play last season and made it to the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to Xavier. They are the preseason favorite to win the WCC for the third straight time this season.

Eleventh-year head coach Kelly Graves welcomes back 10 letterwinners, including two starters and five of the Bulldogs' top eight scorers from last year's Sweet Sixteen team, including two-time WCC player of the Year Courtney Vandersloot and Newcomer of the Year Katelan Redmon. Gone are Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer Heather Bowman, do-everything wing Vivian Frieson and three-point threat Tiffany Shrives.

The Bulldogs began the 2010-11 season just four spots out of the AP Top 25, receiving 64 votes. Since then they have lost a close game (79-73) against USC in Los Angeles.

Sunday's game will be just the second one between Stanford and Gonzaga. Stanford won big last season.

Gonazaga's probable starters are:

• #21, 5'8" senior guard Courtney Vandersloot is Gonzaga's floor leader and the "heart and soul of the team," says coach Graves. She was the second best scorer last season (14.2 ppg). She led the team in steals (3.6 per game) and assists (9.5 per game) and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.21. She has been named a 2010-11 preseason candidate for the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.


• #23, 6'1"junior guard/forward Katelan Redmon was fourth on the team in points (11.1 ppg) and rebounds (4.1 rpg) last season and had the best shooting percentage (53.1%). She was named WCC Player of the Week after Gonzaga's first two [exhibition] games this season, where she averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists and made 76.2% of her shots.


• #11, 6'0" senior guard/forward Janelle Bekkering was hampered by injury last season, but finished with averages of 4.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. She participated in the FIBA World Championships last summer as a member of the Canadian Women's National Team.


• #32, 6'2" junior forward Kayla Standish is Gonzaga's best shot blocker and the potential to be their best rebounder and defensive stopper. She had the third-most rebounds last season (4.4 per game) and the most blocks (49).


• #44, 6'0" junior forward Kelly Bowen was a key reserve for Gonzaga last season with averages of 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Here is Gonzaga's roster.