The University of Utah Women’s Basketball team went up against the Colorado Buffaloes Friday, Jan. 18 at the Huntsman Center. Utah would come out on top for their second victory over the Buffaloes this season, winning 78-59.
Throughout the game, Utah held Colorado’s shooting percentage to 39 percent and 5-of-15 from three-point territory. Utah shot a high 48 percent overall.
In the first quarter, the Utes started off strong, taking a 13-3 run and shooting 60 percent.
Even though the Utes continued pushing forward in the second half with guard Sarah Porter making two three-point shots, and the Utes improving to 36-21, Colorado responded with a 13-2 run.
Throughout the entire second half, the Utes had to play with only seven players, due to Dre’Una Edwards leaving the game with an injury on the court.
After losing Edwards in the first half, the Utes turned themselves around and continued to push and conquer during the last two quarters of the game. They eventually took the win at 78-59.
“I thought defensively we were good with forcing turnovers, didn’t foul, but offensively we were good and bad,” said head coach Lynne Roberts. “It is hard to play the entire second half without a starter. Offensively we shot the ball great, particularly on the boards in the second half. We had 20 assists to 13 turnovers and I thought everybody did their job.”
The Utes did not hesitate to step up throughout the second half due to Edwards injury. Megan Huff led the Utes with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Following Huff was Kiana Moore with 14 points and three steals, Andrea Torres with 14 points while also setting a career-high of seven rebounds, and Erika Bean finished with 11 points, four rebounds and six assists.
“I thought Erika Bean did a good job in the first half with being aggressive and we needed it,” Roberts said. “Kiana Moore was great and I thought she really set the tone for us in the first half. Megan Huff had that look in her eye. They were so physical with her, trying to limit her, but she fought through it. The bench did a good job with Andrea Torres having a great game and Niyah Becker hitting some big buckets in the third quarter. Everyone stepped up and did their job.”
Utah finished off the game against the Buffaloes at 78-59. The Utes have now moved to 16-1 overall and 5-1 in Pac-12 play.
The Utes will be back in the Jon M. Huntsman Center next weekend starting Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 p.m. against California. They will then move forward for another game on Sunday, Jan. 27 against Stanford at 12 p.m.