SALT LAKE CITY – Utah women’s basketball raked in the Pac-12 post-season awards Tuesday morning after finishing the regular season as co-Pac-12 Champions with Stanford.

The Utes took down the Cardinal to win a piece of the regular season Pac-12 Title for the first time in program history in front of a record crowd of 9,611 over the weekend. This was only the second time the Utes have ever beat Stanford who also happened to be the highest ranked opponent Utah women’s basketball has ever beat.

With that monumental accomplishment under their belts, the Pac-12 Conference recognized head coach Lynne Roberts as their John R. Wooden Coach of the Year, Alissa Pili as their Player of the Year, Gianna Kneepkens as All-Pac-12, and Kennady McQueen and Jenna Johnson has honorable mentions.

Lots of well-deserved kudos heading @UTAHWBB’s way. Congrats to @UtesCoachRob, @giannakneepkens, @alissa_pili and the entire team on an inspiring season that’s not quite over yet 🙌🏽🏀#GoUtes #UteProud

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 28, 2023

Hard Work Pays Off For Utah

The Utes now sit with a 25-3 record (15-3 in the Pac-12) and will enjoy a first-round BYE in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament as the two-seed which is the program’s highest placement to date (used to be the six-seed). Utah will also look forward to hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament later in the month and very likely could be a one-seed according to a projection put out last week. 

#Pac12WBB John R. Wooden Coach of the Year: Lynne Roberts 🙌

Full release ➡️ https://t.co/KjPFPPJjOH#GoUtes | @UTAHWBB pic.twitter.com/gYE27xd3lc

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) February 28, 2023

Yesterday, the Utes received their highest ranking in program history after the latest AP Top 25 Poll was released Monday morning. Utah came in at No. 3 beating their highest spot at No. 4 which was also earned earlier this season.

Roberts joined DJ and PK Monday morning to talk about her team’s successes and the importance of sticking with your dreams and visions.

“I think to do things that have never been done, you have to be a little crazy,” Roberts said. “To do things that people say you can’t do, you’ve got to have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. This is the third program I’ve taken over and we’ve done things that have never been done at those programs too. It’s just kind of how I am. When you have a vision and a dream, you’ve got to believe in it so strongly because it’s hard.”

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports

 

Follow @bodkinkslsports