After falling to Oregon on Friday in an emotional matchup, Utah came out with fire against Oregon State on its homecourt. But foul trouble plagued the Utes’ leading scorer Emily Potter, who finished with just two points for the game. Meanwhile, OSU was carried all afternoon by senior guard Jamie Weisner, who led all scorers with 27, as the Beavers defeated the Utes, 72-53.
Utah looked good early on, carried by Paige Crozon, who scored seven points in the opening period. But before Utah could reach the five-minute mark of the first quarter, Potter picked up her second personal foul on a ticky-tack call on fellow Canadian Ruth Hamblin under the basket.
Following the foul call, which would send Potter to the bench for the remaining of the period, head coach Lynne Roberts picked up her first technical foul as head coach at Utah. The Beavers converted the absence of Utah’s scoring threat, piecing together an 11-0 run midway through the period.
Heading into the second quarter with their leading scorer on the bench, down eight on the road against the best team in the Pac-12, the Utes had every excuse in the book to fold.
But they didn’t. Utah battled the Beavers coming out of the gates in the second quarter of play, opening the period on a 6-2 run. While the offense struggled without Potter on the floor, Utah found a defensive rhythm, holding the Beavers scoreless for an entire four-and-a-half minute stretch. While Weisner scrapped together some offense for Oregon State through the period, Utah managed to hold the Beavers to just a 12-point quarter.
Heading into halftime, the Utes still trailed by 10 points while the Beavers rode the shoulders of Weisner. Through the first half of play, she put up 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She pressured the Utah defense, scoring in transition and coming off screens. Weisner was perfect from deep through the first half, sinking three from downtown.
The Utes put up a strong effort in the third quarter with their offensive focal point, Potter, back in the game. In a game that had theretofore been a defensive slugfest, Utah found offense in the third, putting up its highest scoring quarter of the game.
But the Utes couldn’t answer as the Beavers followed suit. Riding the momentum of their home crowd of over 4,000, Oregon State outscored Utah 20-17 in the period.
A 13-point deficit on the road against the Pac 12’s best team proved to be too much for Utah heading into the fourth quarter. While a three-pointer from Crozon to open the final period of play appeared to breathe some life into Utah, the momentum was quickly snuffed out by the Beavers as they went on to control the quarter 18-12, capping off a dominant performance and their 12th-straight victory.
For Utah, it was a disappointing outcome, but the Utes’ effort against a superior team on its homecourt has to make Roberts proud. After falling to the Ducks on Friday, a game the Utes were taking personally after losing to Oregon in the Huntsman Center last month, Utah came out with fire against the No. 8-ranked team in the nation and put together some defensive stretches they can be proud of moving forward.
Next up, Utah returns home for its final homestand of the regular season, hosting Cal on Friday and Stanford on Sunday.
@westinjay