This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

San Francisco • As he was reminded of his team's troubled injury history, Anthony Levrets forced a smile.

He knows as well as anybody: Just when things have seemed to line up for the Utah women's basketball team, torn ACLs strike.

Senior forward Taryn Wicijowski also knows this well, with scars etched on each knee. Last year when she sought to team up with then-senior Michelle Plouffe for a dream season, injury confined her to the bench. It seems to be happening again, after sophomore post Emily Potter was lost for the year earlier this month.

But Utah, picked to finish 11th in the conference by Pac-12 coaches, will use the players it has. And even low expectations haven't cooled Levret's enthusiasm for a team he said is already having as much fun as any he's coached.

"When we walk in the gym," he said. "We like what we see."

The Utes are coming off a disappointing 12-19 season that saw them take a big step back in Pac-12 play. Apparently Levret's fellow coaches expect the Utes to stay near the rear of what is expected to be a deep and competitive conference.

Utah's fifth-year coach didn't take that judgement too well.

"How did it feel to get picked [11th]? It pissed us off," Levrets said. "I think we have the ability to do something cool with this group that no one sees coming."

The case against Utah: Without Plouffe and Potter, the Utes are thin on experience in the front court. The team's top two leading scorers and top two rebounders are gone, which isn't a good sign for a team that was 11th in Pac-12 scoring and eight in rebounding margin. The Utes also struggled with shooting percentage and turnover margin, ranking near the bottom of both categories.

But the Utes would prefer to dwell on the positives. For one thing, three-time all-conference player Wicijowski is healthy and extremely motivated for a big senior year.

Wicijowski said she recently told a non-athlete about her personal struggles with knee injuries and the tedious rehab process. She was posed an obvious question: Why go through all the trouble?

"Having last year taken away from me and going through that a second time showed how much I love basketball," Wicijowski said. "We have an opportunity to do something special this year, but we will have some growing pains."

The team does have five players returning who have started before, with Paige Crozon also coming back from injury and Danielle Rodriguez and Cheyenne Wilson coming back. But the Utes may lead heavily on its five newcomers, including transfer guard Katie Kuklok who lit them up last year at UVU.

Pac-12 women's poll

1 • Stanford 116 (7)

2 • Cal 111 (3)

3 • Oregon State 105 (2)

4 • UCLA 84

5 • Washington 72

6 • USC 65

7 • Arizona State 64

8 • Washington State 56

9 • Oregon 48

10 • Colorado 31

11 • Utah 28

12 • Arizona 12

Note • First-place votes in parantheses