WBB: Utah Tech Trailblazers 2024-25 Team Preview
WBB: Utah Tech Trailblazers 2024-25 Team Preview
Trailblazers look to build on prior success in first full year of NCAA tournament eligibility.
The 2023-24 season was a test of resolve for Utah Tech women’s basketball as the Trailblazers endured several injuries which saw key players miss time at various points of the year.
Emily Isaacson suffered a torn ACL in the second game of the season. The Warren twins both suffered ACL injuries late in the season.
In addition, impact freshman Kastyn Young never entered a game.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” head coach JD Gustin said after the WAC Tournament quarterfinal loss to end the 2023-24 season.
Despite it all, the Trailblazers kept finding ways to win, until a late surge from UT Arlington in a WAC tournament quarterfinal game ended their season.
Now, the Trailblazers prepare for life without a pair of program legends who completed their eligibility.
This will be Utah Tech’s first season as a full member at the NCAA Division I level.
Let’s take a look at the 2024-25 edition of the Trailblazers.
Head Coach:
JD Gustin (9th Season, 98-106 overall, 28-28 WAC)
Last Year:
18-14 overall, 12-8 WAC (Fourth Place regular season, reached WAC tournament quarterfinals)
Key Losses:
Breaunna Gillen (Eligibility Completed)
Maggie McCord (Eligibility Completed)
Catelyn Deaver (Portal-Idaho)
Alyson Deaver (Portal-Unsigned)
Amber Kartchner (Portal-Unsigned)
Key Returners:
Maddie Warren
Macie Warren
Emily Issacson
Calyn Dallas
Kastyn Young
Portal Additions:
Chardonnay Hartley (Niagra)
Brie Crittendon (Eastern Kentucky)
Mattie Olson (Montana State)
Lauren Crocker (Utah State)
If there was a team that embodied the word resilient last year it was Utah Tech. JD Gustin’s team took as many punches due to injury as a team could take.
However, the Trailblazers still found a way to earn a top-four regular season finish.
As the calendar turns towards 2024-25, the Trailblazers will have to turn the page to prepare for life after Breaunna Gillen and Maggie McCord, who both completed their eligibility.
Maddie and Macie Warren, along with Emily Issacson, are all working their way back from knee injuries and will be counted on to provide a majority of the offense, combining to average 35 points per game a year ago.
Gustin also gets Kastyn Young back after using her medical redshirt to recover from a torn labrum.
Young hit 10 shots from beyond the arc in a game during their foreign tour to Greece in 2023 but is being asked to add to her game this year.
“She can flat shoot it,” Gustin said about the redshirt freshman. “But this year we’re asking her to work on being better off the bounce, finishing around the rim, and adding more to her game.”
Incoming sophomore Calyn Dallas caught fire down the stretch, averaging 17 points and almost six rebounds in her final three games, including a 21-point performance in the WAC quarterfinals against UT Arlington.
“I think Calyn has a little bit of Emily in her,” Gustin said. “She’s a great leader who serves her teammates the way that we ask her to and is very cerebral.”
Gustin has made some intriguing additions in the portal with Brie Crittendon (Eastern Kentucky), and Chardonnay Hartley (Niagara).
Crittendon appeared in all 33 games at Eastern Kentucky, starting 16 and averaging just under six points per game while hitting 22 of 84 3-point shots.
Meanwhile, Hartley started 17 of the Purple Eagles 34 games while averaging just under nine points per game and hitting 27 of 90 shots from beyond the arc.
Scheduling Tidbits:
The Trailblazers non-conference schedule is as ambitious as any released by a WAC team so far with four games against Power Conference opponents with two of those being played at Burns Arena.
Utah Tech welcomes Colorado, an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 team last year, on November 27 along with Pitt on December 21. They’ll make visits to Baylor on December 18 and Rice on December 4.
They’ll make a visit to New Mexico State as part of the WAC/CUSA scheduling initiative on November 9 and host UTEP on December 16.
The Trailblazers conference schedule does not have a three-game road trip on it. However, it is loaded with short gaps between first and second meetings, perhaps more than any other team.
They’ll play UT Arlington twice in a 23-day span, including the conference opener on January 9, Tarleton twice in 19 days, ACU twice in 16 days, Southern Utah twice in 14 days, and CBU twice in 14 days.
Outlook:
Even after losing Breaunna Gillen and Maggie McCord to graduation, the Trailblazers do return a lot from last year’s fourth place team.
The biggest question is will Utah Tech have Maddie and Macie Warren this season?
The Warren twins accounted for nearly 31 points per game (41.6 percent of their total offense). Macie missed the final nine games while Maddie had to sit out the WAC tournament loss to UT Arlington, both as a result of recurring ACL injuries.
Isaacson is expected to return at some point in non-conference action and will add an upperclassman presence. She averaged 11.7 points per game in 2022-2023 and shot nearly 39 percent from 3-point range that year.
The other question is how big a jump will Dallas and fellow sophomore post Nicole Willardson make in their second seasons in St. George? Both showed flashes last year but will be counted on in a bigger way offensively this season.
“I’ve really been encouraged with our fours and fives this summer,” Gustin said. “If that group can be good for us, I think we can be really competitive.”