Foul trouble plagued Utah for 40 minutes on Friday night against the visiting USC Trojans. The Utes were coming off three straight losses and looked poised to right the ship against USC.
But a 23-12 free-throw attempt margin in favor of the Trojans and 24 points from USC sophomore guard Sadie Edwards proved too much for the Utes as they fell 70-59.
“That is what the game came down to, was just fouls,” said Utah head coach Lynne Roberts.
Following a rash of poor first-quarter performances, Utah was focused on coming out with energy and setting the tone early. The Utes executed their gameplan for the most part, scoring 17 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the floor. But the Trojans won the opening period 20-17 behind six early points from forward Temi Fagbenle and 5-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe.
Despite losing the opening quarter, Utah looked calm and in control in the second, rattling off a 10-2 run midway through the period. At the break, Utah trailed just 39-37 after an all-offense first half of play in which both teams shot 50 percent from the floor.
After Utah controlled the second quarter and appeared to be putting its stamp on the game, USC came out in the third quarter juiced, ripping off a 7-2 run to open the period.
“That third quarter just kind of crushed us,” Roberts said. “I thought they kind of stole momentum.”
And then came the sequence that would hinder Utah for the rest of the night.
In just over half a minute of game play, Utah center Emily Potter picked up her third and fourth foul, the latter coming on inadvertant contact diving for a loose ball. With four fouls early in the third period, Roberts was forced to send her star to the bench.
And just like that, USC cobbled together an 11-1 run from which Utah would never recover.
With just under eight minutes remaining in the final period of play, Potter checked back into the game with the Utes down by 12. In less than a minute of game play, Potter picked up her fifth and final foul and was forced to watch the rest of the game from the bench.
Down 12, their star watching from the sidelines, the Utes fed off the energy of the frenetic Friday night crowd, putting together an 8-0 run and trimming the Trojan lead to just four. Malia Nawahine spurred the Utah run, earning trips to the free throw line, digging out loose balls and pushing the tempo for Utah.
But it was too little, too late for the Utes, and the Trojans promptly responded, closing the final period of play on a 10-2 run.
USC was carried all night by Edwards, who had 24 points on an efficient shooting night — 9-of-15 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three.
After a disappointing start to their five-game homestand, dropping their first three, the Utes look to shake off their frustration and bounce back this Sunday against UCLA.
“We gotta look forward to the next game. UCLA coming in here, that’s a great chance for us to get the W,” said Utah guard Dani Rodriguez.
The Utes will host the Bruins Sunday at 2 p.m. MST in the Huntsman Center.
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