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First-year Utah women's basketball coach Lynne Roberts saw a photo in the Huntsman Center from Jeff Judkins' playing days, and joked with him that she didn't realize he was such a good player at the U.

He was OK, he told her modestly.

BYU's coach went 3-2 against Roberts when she coached West Coast Conference foe Pacific: Roberts describes BYU as "familiar," but facing BYU is a little different when you're Utah.

"I remember Coach [Rick] Majerus didn't understand it when he got to Utah," said Judkins, a former Majerus assistant. "Once he lost one of those games, he realized that it was a big rivalry."

Both teams appear to be improving. BYU (7-3) enters Saturday's showdown as a winner of five straight, after toppling No. 11 Texas A&M last week. Utah (5-2) hasn't yet won away from the Huntsman Center but rallied to beat Creighton behind 28 points and 19 rebounds from 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Emily Potter.

Potter was sidelined by an ACL tear last December against BYU at the Huntsman Center, and the Cougars no longer have forward Morgan Bailey, who totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds in her final rivalry game before graduating.

"We're going to have our hands full," Judkins said, adding that BYU has faced solid post players at Oklahoma, Georgia and Utah Valley, but not "as good as Potter."

BYU counters in the post with 6-foot-2 forward Kalani Purcell, a New Zealander who transferred this year from junior college and is averaging more than 10 points and 12 rebounds, as well as freshman Jasmine Moody and sophomore Amanda Wayment, who Judkins believes are improving.

Meanwhile, Utah must slow senior guard Lexi Eaton Rydalch, who is averaging nearly 23 points per game and "playing some of her best basketball right now," Judkins said.

Judkins expects a style more akin to what he saw from Roberts at Pacific: a spread-out offense with drives and cuts, and fewer screens than Utah ran under Anthony Levrets. It's also more akin to how BYU plays, though the Cougars screen a tad more frequently.

"It's hard to guard," Judkins said of the new approach. "It really is. You have to be on your toes."

Utah senior point guard Dani Rodriguez, who Judkins believes has improved dramatically, expects that the rivalry game is unique in that ultimately "it's just going to be who's going to come out and compete the most."

Kyle Goon contributed reporting.

mpiper@sltrib.com

Twitter: @matthew_piper —

Utah at BYU

P 2 p.m. at the Marriott Center

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