Brooke Hale: Hi and welcome back to the Home Stretch, the Daily Utah Chronicle sports podcast. My name is Brooke Hale and I'll be your host today. Today, Christian will be talking about the basketball teams and how they've done so far this season, just starting off the season. So Hi Christian, and welcome to the podcast.
Christian Stringer: Hey, Brooke, it's good to be back!
Brooke Hale: Absolutely. So just to start us off, what have you seen from the men's basketball team so far this season?
Christian Stringer: Well so far, we are three and one in non conference play. It's not too bad of a start to the season. The most recent loss to Mississippi State was a really close game, and honestly, it came down to free throws. They are a very aggressive team, and got to the line a lot making 24 free throws compared to our number of eight. I think that just has to do with our offensive identity, kind of more of a three point shooting team. With that being said, we are shooting great from the three point line, with this being our only game under 35% from behind the arc. This is largely thanks to Gabe Madison's hot start to the season. He is averaging over 20 points per game on great shooting splits, including a red hot 40% from three. He is without a doubt, our offense, our offensive anchor on this team, and who knows, maybe it's because he's got his brother out there on the court with him now. We may have lost the Carlson's, but the Madison's are ready to step up. Is what it looks like. So younger brother and Boston College Transfer Mason Madsen is averaging just over 12 points per game, with even more efficient shooting stats than his brother somehow. This flurry of perimeter shooting on this team is definitely something to keep an eye on as we continue throughout the season and hopefully continue to get healthier. Our big men are a little banged up, specifically our seven foot one senior, Lawson lovern, and who's been out with an ankle ankle injury this entire season and is yet to play. We are looking forward to the addition of him to see his growth in both role and production from last year. Right now, Keanu Dawes is one of our forwards who has stepped up, coming off of a double double performance last game, and that was his second double digit rebound game of this season. The transfer from rice is alongside East Carolina transfer Ezra osser in our front court, with sophomore Jake Wallen coming off the bench. Our depth has been showing off and it appears that we are beginning to find our identity about a month out from Big 12 conference play. So here's hoping that the Utes can stay hot over the next month so we can have a nice start and a nice coast into our nitty gritty basketball season.
Brooke Hale: That's awesome. Well, I hope the basketball team just keeps rolling and it sounds like it's a good team so far. So kind of switching roles now and switching to other side. What have you seen from the women's team so far?
Christian Stringer: Well, we'll talk about the women's team. We have to address the elephant in the room. Head Coach Lynn Roberts, who has coached this team for nine plus seasons, has led the use to three consecutive NCAA Tournament births and also winning the 2023 PAC 12, coach of the year has just been hired to be the WNBA Los Angeles sparks head coach effective immediately. This is fantastic news for Coach Roberts, obviously, and we're all very happy for here at the U as this is a big step in her career. It's 100% deserved. She's a fantastic coach. However, she will be missed as her presence has clearly led to something special happening here with the Utah women's basketball squad recent success. Gavin Peterson is set to take over, effective immediately, and I've been told he has a great rapport with the team and will bring a lot of energy to this new look team. As for the players, they have also started off three and one with one narrow loss to Northwestern Junior Gianna neekins is off to an incredible start, averaging just under 18 points per game with some of the craziest shooting splits I've ever seen. She's shooting 56% from three point land and 55% total from the field. Both are fantastic. Let's hope she can stay this hot all season long. Rhode Island transfer may Torrey has also been shining this season, averaging 16 points per game on over 60% shooting, very efficient with several returning players such as forward Jenna Johnson and guards Kennedy McQueen and the Nashville era, this team has maintained a lot of that winning culture from used past and with the new head coach, we definitely need all the stability we can get. However, this team undoubtedly has a bright future in the Big 12, and I'm really looking forward to following their season.
Brooke Hale: Yeah, absolutely. Good luck to the women's team again, great roster this year, and exciting to see what they can do this year. And thank you for sharing your thoughts Christian and thank you for listening to the Home Stretch, the Daily Utah Chronicle sports podcast. Stay tuned for new episodes coming every other week.
