Utah is finally back on track after taking their second win of the weekend on Sunday, Feb. 24 against Washington State, defeating the Cougars 75-67. This game was also Utah’s Senior day, where they honored seniors Megan Huff, Daneesha Provo, Sarah Porter and Erika Bean.
The Utes took their 20th win of the season Sunday afternoon — the first time the Utah women’s basketball team has reached 20 wins under the direction of head coach Lynne Roberts. After Sunday’s game, the Utes improved to 20-7 overall and 9-7 in Pac-12 play. The Utes made program history reaching the most amount of wins (nine) in Pac-12 play in school history.
“Washington State did a nice job and they have some potent scorers,” Roberts said. “We shot the ball well though and I am so proud of our team. Huff was great down the stretch and hit some key basketball and Kiana Moore shot the ball great. We got our 20th win and I couldn’t be prouder of this team and the resiliency that they have shown.”
Sunday’s game was filled with excitement and great plays from each player. The Utes were led by junior Moore who reached a career high of 26 points that evening, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the arc. Right behind Moore was senior Huff, who reached her 16th double-double of the year. Huff pitched in another 25 points and 12 rebounds.
The game was one where fans were left on the edge of their seats. With only 3:16 left in the game, the Cougars were within one point of the Utes at 66-65. Freshman Andrea Torres stepped up in the last few minutes to add five more points on Utah’s side, making it a 71-65 game with only 1:25 left in the game.
The Utes continued to play hard, and only allowed Washington State to make one more basket in the game while the Utes added four more points to their score. The Utes finished off taking down the Cougars 75-67 on Utah’s home court.
The Utes will travel to Los Angeles, California next weekend for a variety of games starting with UCLA on Friday, March 1 and finishing off the weekend on Sunday, March 3 against USC. The last time the Utes were paired up with these teams they took two devastating losses. The Utes lost to USC by four points, 80-84 on February 8, and lost to UCLA by 10 points 90-100 on February 10.
This will be the Utes last regular season games of the season. Following next weekend the Pac-12 tournament will kick off starting Thursday, March 7.