A high-scoring affair in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament did not end well for Utah, dropping the contest to five-seed Washington 75-64.
Utah head coach Anthony Levrets said that despite the outcome, he is proud of his team.
“Obviously the result is disappointing, but I’m not going to let some numbers on the scoreboard define who we are,” Levrets said.
The two teams split the regular-season series, but Washington had the final say after Jazmine Davis single-handedly controlled much of the second half. Davis finished the game with a season-high 29 points.
“She’s very difficult to contain,” Levrets said. “She made big shots. She made tough shots. She made a couple plays for other people. She’s just a really talented guard and you’re not going to shut her down.”
Three players finished in double figures for the Utes,Joseta Fatuesi had 16 points and nine rebounds, Taneya Boclair had 14 points and Dani Rodriguez recorded 12 points and five assists.
In the first 20 minutes, Dani Rodriguez had a hand in every scoring play, as she helped the team jump to an early 9-3 start by scoring or dishing. Washington got back into the game and went on a 12-0 run midway through the second half, but Utah was soon regained control and led the Huskies 34-28 at halftime.
The Utes were hot from three-point range early thanks to Cheyenne Wilson, who hit three from behind the arc. Paige Crozon also added two three-pointers.
“We just were fresh,” Levrets said. “We got the ball inside more. In the second half, we took more threes, and missed threes lead to transition. We missed 15 of them, which my guess is most of those turned into some sort of positive possession for them at the other end.”
The Utes were committed to not letting Plum attack the basket and were double-teaming her every time she got the ball. Although the Utes only let her score six points in the first half, she finished the game with 23 points total.
In the second half, momentum shifted in favor of the Huskies who were able to start the slate on a 13-2 run, sparked by six straight points from Davis.
Wicijowski was then called for a technical foul after slamming the ball down on the floor after being called for an offensive foul. This was when the Huskies built on to their lead and started to speed up the tempo, something they were not able to do in the first half.
Utah appeared to get into a rhythm when Wicijowski got a steal at midcourt and made a layup, her first points of the game coming with under 13 minutes left to play. However, Davis responded by finding two of her teammates sprinting down the floor, hitting them for layups.
Levrets said the Huskies made just the right amount of adjustments coming in from halftime.
“We were going to live with them getting to the rim a little bit,” Levrets said. “We just didn’t want to give up some threes. To their credit, every time they’re open, they knocked down a three.”
This was the Utes’ last game of their season and are looking to recover from this injury-plagued season.
“We’ve been through an unbelievable up and down here with all the stuff that’s happened to our group injury-wise over the last six months, and figuring out a way to fight and compete night in and night out after you’ve gone through what we’ve gone through is incredibly difficult,” Levrets said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our efforts.”
@kbrenneisen