It was not meant to be for Utah as the team traveled to the Marriott Center in Provo this Saturday to take on the Cougars in its 102nd all-time meeting with BYU. The Utes couldn’t keep pace with their in-state rival, falling to BYU 73-59.
Utah came into the game with one goal: make BYU guard Lexi Rydalch work. Rydalch came into the game averaging 23 points per contest, good for 10th in the nation. Rydalch came out gunning, scoring 15 of the Cougar’s 29 first-quarter points on 5-for-7 shooting.
“We wanted to limit [No. 21’s] touches, [and] we wanted to be in attack mode,” said post player Emily Potter of Utah’s keys to the game matching up against the Cougars.
Guarding Rydalch was a team effort, with each of Utah’s guards and wings taking a turn throughout the game, but Rydalch proved to be too much to handle. She finished with 29 points shooting, 12-for-25 from the field, including a 4-for-7 effort from deep.
Between Rydalch and BYU wing Kalani Purcell, who finished with nine points and 12 rebounds, Utah struggled to limit BYU’s electric offense.
“They’re tough guards, I’m glad I don’t have to prepare for them,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins.
While Utah still holds the edge over BYU with its 63-39 all-time record over the Cougars, BYU has controlled the matchup of late, winning six of the two teams’ last eight contests.
In an emotionally-charged matchup, Potter lamented Utah’s play, citing execution as its ultimate pitfall.
“We didn’t play to the best of our abilities today,” she said. “We are a much better team than we showed today. We did good in transition, I think, but we didn’t execute the way that I know we can.”
BYU controlled the game through the first three quarters, pushing the pace and neutering Utah’s offense by playing the passing lanes. Despite BYU’s dominance through the first three quarters, Utah made a run late, cutting the BYU lead to single digits at one point, following a pair of made free throws by Utah forward Paige Crozon.
Crozon finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, posting her second double-double in Utah’s last three games.
“Potter had a monster first half,” Crozon said. “And then in the second half, BYU made some adjustments and were double, if not triple-teaming [Potter], so that opened up lanes for myself and my teammates to get some points”.
Most of Crozon’s points came in the paint following offensive rebounds and cuts to the basket, as the outside shot was not falling for her against the Cougars. In fact, the three-point shot wasn’t falling for anyone wearing red in Saturday’s matchup. Utah went just 2-for-24 from beyond the arc against the Cougars, who shot a scorching 6-of-12 from deep.
Despite a raucous home crowd in the Marriott Center, a glaring 20-point deficit and an opposing guard in Rydalch, who seemed to make everything she shot in her 36 minutes of play, Utah showed resilience in Provo in their late-game flurry.
“I’m proud of how we fought back at the end of the game,” Potter said. “We just wanted to show what Utah is, how we play. The first and the third quarter, that’s not us. The second and the fourth quarter, that’s how we play, and that’s the image we want to leave to our opponents.”
Utah returns to Salt Lake 5-3 and will have a week to rest and prepare for its matchup with Fresno State on Dec. 19.
@westinjay