After heading to California for their last regular season games this past weekend, Utah ended up taking two losses against UCLA on Friday, March 1 and USC on Sunday, March 3. Utah moved to 20-9 overall and 9-9 in Pac-12 play.
The University of Utah women’s basketball team lost their first game of the weekend, 60-76, against the No. 25 UCLA Bruins Friday night. Even after shooting 41 percent from the floor and holding the UCLA Bruins to only 18 percent shooting from the arc, Utah had a record of 18 turnovers this season and were out-rebounded throughout the game.
Leading the team Friday night was senior forward, Megan Huff, who had 21 points and three steals. Following Huff was guard Sarah Porter, who had 11 points and three rebounds.
The Utes went into the second half of the game only down by three points at 30-27. The Bruins took control right away in the third and fourth quarters with 10 and 12 points runs in order to take the lead. The Utes tried to respond but could not catch up to the Bruins. Utah ended up taking their first loss of the weekend against the UCLA Bruins 60-76.
“UCLA is a very good team,” said head coach Lynne Roberts. “They are so athletic and they just expose you, so you have to give them credit. It’s not like they didn’t play well, they did. We were just missing some fire power.”
The Utes had one day to recover before they had their last regular season game against Southern California on March 3. The Utes were ready to take the win when Southern California came back responding to Utah during overtime, not letting them take the win on their home court.
Once again, the Utes were led by Huff with a 30 point game on 8-of-20 shooting and 13-of-13 from the free throw line. The Utes had multiple double digit scores that followed behind Huff, consisting of junior guard Kiana Moore, who added 13 points, and redshirt freshman guard, Dru Gylten, who contributed 12 points.
The game stayed close the entire time and the Utes were ready to take the win with only 24 seconds left on the clock. During those last 24 seconds, the Trojans did not allow the Utes to feel comfortable with their six-point lead. Southern California responded with a three pointer and were given two fouls by Utah in order for them to take the game into overtime.
During overtime both team continuously fouled, yet the Utes ended up getting out-scored by the Trojans 15-9 during the extra period. The Southern California Trojans ended up coming back and taking the win against the University of Utah Utes 83-77.
After completing their regular season the Utes have been placed as No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament and will start off the first round of the tournament this Thursday, March 7 at 9:30 p.m. MT against Washington in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The game will be broadcast by Pac-12 Networks for fans to watch.