Utah campus briefs

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Utes hit the road for the first time in over a month this weekend, taking their five-game winning streak into Texas to face TCU to begin Mountain West Conference action today.

TCU is ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press poll. Tip is at 11 a.m. MST.

Utah (9-4) closed out its non-conference schedule on Wednesday with a 65-30 win over Utah Valley. Taryn Wicijowski led the Utes with 16 points while Kalee Whipple had 11. Iwalani Rodrigues tallied a career-best 10 points. Janita Badon had a team-high nine rebounds and five steals.

The last time that Utah held an opponent to 30 points in a game was in the NCAA Tournament last year against Villanova in a 60-30 Ute win.

TCU moved into the AP Top 25 this week for the first time since Dec., 2008. The Horned Frogs played a very strong non-conference schedule, with wins over No. 18 23 Kansas (74-69), No. 10/5 Texas A&M (56-54) with a narrow loss to No. 20/16 Oklahoma (74-70). TCU opened the MWC campaign with a 72-35 win over Air Force on Wednesday.

Helena Sverrisdottir is the unquestioned leader of the TCU team with 13.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and a conference-leading 5.4 assists per game. Emily Carter (13.9 ppg) and Starr Crawford (9.3 rpg) are also solid performers for the Horned Frogs.

The Utes lead the all-time series against TCU, 8-5. The two teams split their two meetings last year, with Utah winning 73-63 in Salt Lake City and TCU taking a 53-47 win in Texas.

Utah has faced two ranked teams this year and, although 0-2, played well in both games despite playing on the road. No. 2 Stanford downed Utah, 60-41, back on Nov. 27. The Utes played well against the Cardinal, holding them to their lowest point total since scoring 58 in a win over Cal in February, 2009. Senior All-American center Jane Appel was held to just two points and six rebounds in the contest.

Utah held as much as a six-point lead against Louisville before falling by five, 60-55. SMU was receiving votes in the coaches poll when it played Utah on Jan. 2, with the Utes winning 72-58.