The Utah women’s basketball team had high hopes coming into this past weekend after a successful road trip to southern California saw the team split games against UCLA and USC. The team picked up its first conference win of the season against USC and was prepared to host two tough games against Arizona State and Arizona.
Against the Sun Devils, the Utes struggled mightily in the first quarter getting outscored 22-5.
“We just had a bad night and I don’t know why,” said head coach Lynne Roberts right after the game. “We were prepared and the team wanted to compete and we were just off. We were missing shots we don’t normally miss.”
At halftime, Arizona State led the Utes 34-15. In the third quarter, the Utes rallied back behind 13 points from junior wing Tanaeya Boclair. The Utes scored their highest output to that point in the game, notching 17 points in the quarter on 58 percent shooting.
But that burst of offense wasn’t enough to help the Utes power back and they suffered their first home loss of the season against Arizona State.
On Saturday Jan. 8, the Utes looked to avenge the loss to the Sun Devils as they battled against the Arizona Wildcats.
The game started fast as Malia Nawahine scored the first points of the game within the first minute. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the first quarter and Utah took a 20-19 lead. The Utes looked primed to continue the good play, shooting 43 percent from the field and 50 percent from downtown.
In the second quarter, the Sun Devils turned up the defensive intensity, forcing the Utes into short possessions and bad shots. Utah had two separate sequences where the team didn’t score for two minutes. Toward the end of the quarter, the Utes started making shots, but the Wildcats still took a 39-31 lead at halftime.
During the second, the Wildcats found their offensive rhythm, hitting over 56 percent of their shots, while holding the Utes to just 31 percent shooting on 13 shots.
After the second quarter, the Utes never found a way to come back as they dropped their second straight home game and third conference matchup.
“Our attention to detail is poor right now and if you want to win in this conference it has to be great,” Roberts said. “We’re not shooting the ball well — we missed 10 free throws- and to me that’s mental toughness. We need to toughen up. The cohesion, whether it’s on offense or defense is missing. These are good teams that we’re playing in the Pac-12 and we have to pay attention to the details.”
Roberts also described her team’s effort as “reactionary the whole game,” and she said the team needs to be prepared for future Pac-12 games.
Senior wing Paige Crozon led the Utes with 19 points and knocked down three triples. Junior forwards Boclair and Emily Potter both hit double figures as well for the home team, putting up 13 and 12 points, respectively.
@JaredWalch