They say basketball is a game of runs. It was certainly that for the Utes as they pulled away late to beat George Mason 74-62 on Friday night at the Huntsman Center.
Utah came out sluggish against the Patriots in the first half, shooting just 38 percent from the field and 2-for-13 from the three-point line.
George Mason landed the first punch against the Utes, squeezing the paint and turning Utah’s missed threes into fast breaks. The Patriots led the Utes 34-29 going into the break, when head coach Lynne Roberts rallied her Utes to battle back in the second half.
“I challenged them at halftime. I didn’t think we were competitive,” Roberts said.
Utah wing Katie Kuklok said the adjustments were more about effort than Xs and Os.
“We didn’t make too many adjustments to the gameplan — we just had to tweak the energy level and really dig in,” Kuklok said. “Coach asked us to play to beat George Mason and not just play to lose.”
Kuklok was a bright spark off the bench for the Utes in their win tonight, pouring in nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from behind the arc.
“We really needed a little bit of fire, so I just went out there and tried my best,” said Kuklok.
Emily Potter was at her best for the Utes again tonight, posting a mammoth stat-line of 25 points and two blocked shots. Coming into tonight’s game, Potter sat in third place in the NCAA block leaders, just four blocked shots behind Chattanooga forward Jasmine Joyner. With tonight’s performance she should move into the second place spot on that list.
While both teams were near even in the free-throw game tonight — Utah shooting 15-of-19 and George Mason shooting 16-of-18 — George Mason head coach Nyla Milleson was heard saying, “That’s why they’ve got the eighth-best home winning percentage in the country!” in reference to the referees.
“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” Roberts said when asked about the comment post-game.
Utah struggled through the second quarter as Potter went out midway through the period due to foul trouble. Kristi Mokube gave the Utes fits in the paint coming off of a career-best 22 points against Towson in the Patriots’ previous game. She finished with a double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds.
As both teams struggled shooting from the three-point line in the first half, Utah’s improved shooting behind the arc helped them pull away in the second. Roberts was proud of the way her team battled against the George Mason zone.
“Against a zone you’re going to have to shoot it,” she said. “If Potter keeps putting up numbers like these, we’re going to see a lot of zone so we’ve got to be able to shoot confidently.”
Kuklok and Paige Crozon battled through tough shooting stretches in the first half but went on to shoot with confidence in the second, combining for a 6-for-14 effort from deep.
“Shooting three-pointers is definitely my role,” Kuklok said. “It was great of my teammates to find me when I was open this game. We moved the ball really well in the second half.”
Utah improved to 3-0 on the season before hitting the road to Bahamas where it will face 17th-ranked Oklahoma and Boston College over the holiday weekend.
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