A hopeful crowd and a lively energy filled the Huntsman Center Sunday afternoon as Utah hosted No. 15 Stanford for its final home game of the regular season. Utah seniors Nakia Arquette, Katie Kuklok and Dani Rodriguez were all honored pregame with framed jerseys and plaques, but Stanford came to play. The Cardinal defeated the Utes 72-54, bolstered by junior forward Erica McCall, who tallied 18 points and nine rebounds through 27 minutes of play.
The Utes knew it was going to be a slugfest coming in to Sunday’s matchup, as Stanford currently holds the second best field goal percentage defense in the Pac-12. But through the first quarter Utah matched the Cardinal’s defensive intensity, holding Stanford to just 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting from the floor.
Sophomore center Emily Potter anchored the Utah defense, blocking two of her game high seven in the opening period. Freshman point guard Erika Bean ran the offense for most of the first quarter as Rodriguez took an elbow to the face and had to be evaluated for a concussion.
Through the second period, both teams went back and forth before Stanford began to string together defensive stops and pull away from Utah. Midway through the period, Rodriguez emerged from the tunnel to rejoin her team on the floor.
As the Cardinal began to add on to its lead, Rodriguez singlehandedly stole the Stanford momentum. In one sequence Rodriguez worked a high pick and roll with backup forward Joeseta Fatuesi, got to the basket and scored, blocked a Stanford layup and took the ball coast to coast before spotting up behind the three point line.
Junior Paige Crozon, who finished with a team high 15 points and 10 rebounds, really admires Rodriguez for what she brings to each and every game.
“She’s the toughest player out there without a doubt,” Crozon said.
Stanford held a 31-27 lead heading into the second half, but after the late-quarter heroics of Rodriguez, the momentum appeared to be in the hands of the Utes. As play began in the second half, the officials tightened up their calls, forcing both teams to adjust. In the first four minutes of the second half there were a combined nine fouls called on both teams.
Utah was able to string together impressive possessions both on the offensive and defensive end, but in the end Stanford controlled the quarter en route to a handy victory over the Utes.
All in all, the Utes walked off the Huntsman Center floor with their heads held high. Stanford was the better team Sunday afternoon, but the Utes, playing their last game in front of their home fans, took their time to enjoy the moment.
“Before the game was a really special moment to share with [my] parents and whole family,” Kuklok said. “I’m just bummed we couldn’t get a win for that.”
Up next the Utes will travel to Washington for the weekend where they will face the Huskies on Thursday followed by the final regular season game of the year against the Washington State Cougars on Saturday.
@WestinJay