The BYU women’s basketball team goes up against the University of Utah on Saturday at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
The Cougars and the Utes are known for their fierce rivalry with one another so it’s projected to be an intense game.
“We know Utah,” Coach Jeff Judkins said. “We recruit against them. We’re 40 miles south of them. We run into each other a lot. It’s a thick rivalry.”
Judkins played at Utah and also coached though earlier in his career and respects what Utah’s program produces.
“I have a lot of respect for their program,” Judkins said. “(Utah Head Coach Anthony Levrets’) got a really good team this year. He’s got two bigs that are as good as any two bigs we’ve played so far, and they run a lot of good stuff. It’ll be a good matchup.”
BYU’s game Tuesday was a bitter-sweet moment as it pulled out a win against Utah State, but lost one of its key players, sophomore guard Lexi Eaton to a knee injury.
“Our win Tuesday was awesome,” sophomore guard Xojian Harry said. “It was just good to feel like we’re getting back on track. We’re hoping to get on a winning streak and just build from that win.”
With Eaton out for the season due to an ACL injury in her right knee, some other players are going to step up to fill that void.
“You can never replace an All-League player, lead scorer, and a kid that gets to the basket better than anybody I’ve ever coached,” Judkins said. “The committee effort will come from Xojian (Harry), Stephanie (Seaborn), Kylie (Maeda), and Ashley (Garfield). Those four kids will have to do some things to make us better.”
As for what things the team is doing as a whole to make themselves better, Judkins and the Cougars are always looking to play a better defense.
“We’re always looking to get our defense better,” Harry said. “We look to work as a collective unit because Coach Judkins is a very defensive-minded coach and he teaches the best defense in the country.”
The Cougars take on the Utes at the Huntsman Center on Saturday at 3 p.m.
