A hot shooting start helped Utah get out to a comfortable lead against UNLV, and the Utes sustained that lead throughout the game to get their second straight win 62-49.
“It wasn’t the prettiest performance that we ever had, but there’s no pictures in the win-loss column. There’s just W’s and L’s,” said head coach Anthony Levrets.
The Utes were led by senior Cheyenne Wilson’s 14 points in the victory on Saturday to keep Utah undefeated in the Huntsman Center on the season.
Utah found itself down 4-0 after a pair of free throws and a layup by the Rebels but countered with three straight three-point makes, the first by freshman Joeseta Fatuesi and the last two by Wilson.
Wilson’s scorching first-half shooting from deep continued as she hit another three with 11:11 left in the first half to push the Utes lead to 16-9 and force a UNLV timeout.
Utah was 6-for-15 on three-point field goals in the first half on its way to a 26-20 lead at the half.
“In warm-ups, I was hitting everything,” Wilson said. “I had a lot of confidence tonight, and it showed.”
The second half opened up with a 10-3 run by Utah and the lead was at a comfortable 13 points. The closest UNLV would get the rest of the way was within eight with a little over 10 minutes left in the contest.
The Utes were solid down the stretch, even against the pressure that has haunted them all season.
“We’ve seen it all now, and we’re not gonna be perfect, but you can’t be perfect against that sort of random trap stuff,” Levrets said.
Levrets was proud of the defensive effort against the Rebels, especially their leading scorer Danielle Miller.
“We did a great job defending their best player,” Levrets said. “The others did a really good job of helping both Cheyenne [Wilson] and Tanaeya [Boclair] guard her. Great individual defense and great team defense.”
Walk-on Valerie Nawahine saw more playing time in this game due to injury to backup point guards Devri Owens and Gabrielle Bowie. Levrets confirmed after the game that Owens is out for the year with a knee injury.
With the latest injury, Utah is down to 10 healthy players. Despite the bench being made up of a lot of inexperienced players, the Utes didn’t miss a beat against the Rebels as the bench scored 25 points.
“We don’t have a bench right now. We have 10 players, and everybody is gonna play, and everybody is gonna get an opportunity,” Levrets said. “When it’s your turn, you gotta be ready.”
Utah will compete in its third game of a six-game homestand on Wednesday against Idaho State at 7 p.m MT.
 
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