The Utes landed in Seattle earlier this week in hopes of gaining ground on the Huskies, but it was not to be as Utah fell to Washington 73-60 on Thursday night, despite a double-double from Emily Potter and a near double-double from Paige Crozon.
Washington, who lost its previous matchup with Utah this season, hosted the Utes on its home court and made a statement of a team ready for serious run in next week’s Pac-12 tournament. Junior guard Kelsey Plum, who leads the Pac-12 in scoring, put up 26 against Utah; but she had to work for her points, shooting just 6-of-18 from the floor.
On the other end, Utah’s leading scorer, Potter, carried the bulk of the offense with a team-high 17 points on 15 shot attempts. Potter also snagged 11 rebounds for her Utes, totaling her 14th double-double on the season.
After one quarter of play, Utah was feeling good about itself, leading the Huskies 17-14 at the end of the period. But the Huskies were quick to quell the Utes’ enthusiasm, opening the second quarter on a 12-2 run, in which frontcourt mates Chantel Osahor and Talia Walton combined for the entire 12-point run. Utah’s offense was able to bounce back and begin answering the Huskies’ barrage, but not before UW earned a seven-point lead over the Utes.
Washington had a five-point lead over Utah heading into halftime, behind 10 points from Plum in the half and a 10-point quarter from Walton. It was a deficit the Utes ultimately weren’t feeling too bad about, given the contest on the road and their ability to answer the hefty Husky run in the second quarter.
But the third period was all Washington, as the Huskies came out swinging against Utah in the second half. Washington outscored the Utes 18-7 in the third period and held Utah to a stifling 3-of-15 shooting from the floor. On the other end, Plum found a rhythm, scoring nine of her 26 points in the quarter.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Washington owned a 54-38 lead over the Utes. Plum had it going, as well as Walton, who both had 19 points as fourth quarter play began. Utah battled in the fourth, even stringing together an 11-5 run, but it was too little too late for the Utes, as Washington rode out the hot hands of Plum and Walton to seal the victory.
With Thursday night’s loss, the Utes fall to 15-13 on the season, 7-10 in conference play. The Utes also fall securely into the seventh seed of the Pac-12, meaning they would face Cal if the tournament started tomorrow, a team Utah swept in the regular season this year.
The Utes play their final regular season game against Washington State this Saturday in Pullman.
@westinjay