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Utah WBB Ready To Bounce Back Against Arizona State

After getting blown out by Colorado on the road earlier in the week, Utah looks to bounce back when it starts a four-game homestand, beginning with Arizona State on Friday afternoon

Ryan Kostecka

What a difference a week makes.

Nearly two weeks ago, the Utes took down No. 15 Oregon State in Corvallis 85-79 behind a breakout, 34-point performance by Brynna Maxwell and a smothering defense that made shot selection difficult for the Beavers.

Fast forward a week later and the Utes looked like a team that hadn't played basketball inn a long time. They turned the ball over 25 times en route to being blasted 80-50 by host Colorado. 

Utah will have a chance to reverse those fortunes when it begins a four-game homestand over the next two weeks. They'll start a home series against Arizona State and No. 6 Arizona, beginning with the Sun Devils on Friday at 3 p.m.

Kemery Martin, Utah WBB
Kemery Martin, Utah WBB — Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Returning to the comfortable confines of the Jon M. Huntsman Center has to be a pleasant site for the Utes. Utah is 507-117 (81%) when playing in Salt Lake City.

After a phenomenal freshman season, Maxwell has continued to tear it up on the court.

She finished with a career-high 34 points and led the Utes to an 85-79 victory over No. 15 Oregon State on Dec. 8, shooting 10-of-15 from the floor and 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. She followed that performance up with an 11-point, 6-assist, 4-steal and 3-rebound game against Montana State three days later.

Due to those two games, she was named the College Sports Madness National and Pac-12 player of the week.

Kemery Martin is second on the team by averaging 9.0 points per game while point guard Dru Gylten is averaging 6.5 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Arizona State (5-2, 1-2 Pac-12)
After a good start in the nonconference portion of their schedule, Arizona State has come back down to reality once Pac-12 play has begun. 

The Sun Devils are in 2-2 in their past four games, three of which came against conference opponents. They started things with a 63-58 victory over USC, but then struggled in losses against UCLA (59-63) and Arizona (37-65) before notching a 64-55 victory over USD.

Arizona State struggles on offense, knocking down just 34.7% (138-for-398) from the floor and 27% (31-for-115) from beyond the arc. However they do make it up on the other end of court as they're giving up just 54.4 points per game.

Notable Stats (PPG)
*Taya Hanson: 11.3 points, 4.4 rebounds
*Eboni Walker: 10.4 points, 7.4 rebounds
*Jaddan Simmons: 10.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists
*Katelyn Levings: 50% from three-point territory

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Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Arizona (4-0, 3-0 Pac-12)
One of the top teams in the country, Arizona is looking to break into the top-3 of the Pac-12, which is typically occupied by Oregon, Stanford and Oregon State. 

Despite being undefeated on the season, the Wildcats haven't looked as sharp as you'd expect from the No. 6 team in the country. Apart from their blowout victory over Arizona State last week, Arizona has wins narrow wins over Northern Arizona (76-63), UCLA (68-65) and USC (78-77).

I think the Wildcats were hoping to more of their depth to come through but that doesn't seem to be the case. The team is led by perennial all-American Aari McDonald and her battery mate Cate Reese, but no other player has stepped up to be that dependable third option.

Notable Stats (PPG)
*Aari McDonald: 21.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.3 steals
*Cate Reese: 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds
*Trinity Baptiste: 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds
*Lauren Ware: 6.5 points, 6.0 rebounds

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Ryan Kostecka
RYAN KOSTECKA

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