Seattle • After a 66-56 loss to Colorado in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament, Utah’s hopes of postseason play probably rest with the Women’s NIT.
“We’ve had a good season. 17 wins,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said after Thursday’s disappointing loss. “You know, just kind of a bad day to have a bad day. But, I do love my team, and we’ll regroup and get ready for postseason.”
The Utes (17-13, 8-10) probably would have had to win the conference tournament for their first NCAA bid since 2011. From 1995-2011, Utah appeared in the NCAA tournament 12 times. During that span, they were in the WNIT five times, the last in 2016 when they were an at-large bid.
Utah defeated Montana State 95-61 in the 2016 WNIT opener. The Utes then defeated Gonzaga 92-77 before losing to Oregon 73-63 in the third round.
This year’s 64-team WNIT field will be announced Monday, March 12 following NCAA tournament selections. WNIT First-round games are scheduled for March 14-16, hosted by one of the participating schools.
Utah was short-handed against Colorado. All-conference forward Megan Huff,who missed the last two regular season games with an ankle injury, played 18 minutes off the bench, managing nine points and four rebounds,far below her season averages of 14.5 and 7.9.
Swing player Daneesha Provo did not play against the Buffaloes after missing the final three regular season games with an injury. Provo averages 13.0points and 3.5 rebounds.
The ninth-seeded Buffaloes, 5-13 in conference play, advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals against sixth-ranked Oregon (27-4, 16-2), the top seed in the tournament and regular season conference champion.
“We’re thrilled for another opportunity to play and very proud of how we played today,” Colorado coach JR Payne said.