Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Utah
GAME NOTES: Wildcats Host #12 Utes in Non-Conference Finale
12/19/2022 1:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Tuesday, December 20 | 5:30 PM
Ogden, UT | Dee Events Center
TV Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats:Â https://bit.ly/3YwdkyI
Â
• Weber State women's basketball returns to the Dee Events Center this week for its fourth and final in-state game of the 2022-23 season. The undefeated and twelfth-ranked Utah Utes come to Ogden to play Weber State for the first time since 2019.
• Weber State finished last season with 11 wins, including a win in the first round of the Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise. The 11 wins were a nine-win increase from the 2020-21 season - the highest increase in the Big Sky Conference.
• With the recent upward trajectory in the program, the Wildcats have high hopes for the '22-'23 season. WSU is eager to prove the doubters wrong after being picked seventh and ninth, respectively, in the Big Sky Conference preseason media and coaches polls.
• The 'Cats are amazingly returning 12 players from last year's team that catapulted the team in the right direction. The only other teams in the nation returning at least 12 other players are Columbia (13), Western Michigan (13), Liberty (12), and Rider (12).
• Among the returning players is 2021-22 all-conference performer Daryn Hickok. "Monka", as her family and teammates call her, averaged 15.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg last season. Her performance in the '21-'22 season earned her a spot on the '22-'23 Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team. Hickok is averaging 17.9 ppg this season to lead Weber State, and currently sits in third on the Big Sky Conference leaderboard.
• With a running floater against Omaha, Hickok became the 22nd Wildcat to join the exclusive 1,000-point club.
• With 28 points scored against Tarleton State this season, Hickok had one of the best offensive games of her storied career and fell just shy of tying her career high of 30 points. Her 28 points scored set a new season high.
• Jadyn Matthews was named to the all-tournament team in the Friar Thanksgiving Classic over Thanksgiving weekend.. She averaged over 13 points and seven rebounds per game in the tournament, and Weber State won two of its three games in Providence, Rhode Island.
• Laura Taylor scored a career-high 18 points in Weber State's game against Providence over Thanksgiving weekend. She also had a career high of four three pointers made in the same game. She led the Wildcats in scoring and shooting against the Friars.
• This is the 54th time that the Wildcats and Utes have played each other in the history of this in-state rivalry. Weber State last played Utah in Salt Lake City in 2019 - a game that Utah ended up winning. The last time these two teams met in Ogden was in the historic 2017 season when Weber State won 21 games and advanced to the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational.
