Losing close games is always tough, but it’s especially difficult when an upset is in reach.
Such was the case Friday night at the Huntsman Center as the Utes took on No. 15 Nebraska. Utah led for most of the first half before relinquishing the lead early in the second. The Utes stayed close though and were within two points on two separate occasions inside 40 seconds to play but couldn’t quite get over the hump and fell 75-69.
“Really proud of our effort,” said Utah head coach Anthony Levrets. “But like I told our team, there are only W and L columns, there are no E columns, and we are going to have to figure out how to finish off a game like this and be able to play and maintain our energy and focus for 40 minutes.”

In the early going, the Utes held their own as they forced the Cornhuskers to shoot just 39 percent from the field in the first half. Led by Michelle Plouffe’s 17 points in the first frame, Utah made half of its shots in the first 20 minutes and led 41-36 at the break.
That quickly changed as the teams came out of the locker room. Nebraska opened the second half on a 9-0 run that spanned nearly four minutes and led 45-41 before a Plouffe bucket stopped the bleeding. The Utes tied things up at 49 with just over 12 minutes to play, but the Cornhuskers scored on their next possession and that was as close as Utah would get. The Utes didn’t go down without a fight, though. Trailing 59-67 with 1:03 to play, they went on a 6-0 run to cut Nebraska’s lead to two with 36 seconds left. Utah had to foul to extend the game, but the Cornhuskers made all eight of their free throws in the final seconds to seal the deal.

“I thought the start of the second half was a really critical time in the game for us,” Levrets said. “In that little stretch, they outscored us to start, then we were sort of playing catch up the rest of the way. A lot was really good playing the 15th-ranked team in the country to a tight game here in the Huntsman Center, but there are a lot of things to get better.”
Plouffe led the Utes with 27 points, and she added 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. Danielle Rodriguez scored 16 points and dished five assists to add to the offensive production. Cheyenne Wilson chipped in nine points, three assists and a steal. Nebraska’s Rachel Theriot led all scorers with 28 points.

“We have a bunch of talent,” Plouffe said. “But it is not going to be only talent. We are not going to win very many basketball games off our talent. It is going to be through playing hard, being scrappy, playing defense and all those things that come along with it. If we can put all those things together, we can win a lot of basketball games.”
Utah will travel to Logan to play Utah State on Tuesday.
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