Utah women’s basketball suffered its sixth loss of the season to No. 24 Oklahoma State, snapping Utah’s seven-game winning streak. The Lady Runnin’ Utes have some work to do as the end of Big 12 play approaches.
First Half
Oklahoma State came to play in the first quarter, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. A flagrant foul on Inês Vieira and some sloppy turnovers gave the Cowgirls all the momentum early on.
Mayé Touré came up big for the Utes, however, delivering back-to-back buckets in the paint. A hard-fought defensive first quarter had Utah up 19-16 with 30 minutes to play.
Both teams started finding their groove offensively in the second quarter, but Utah couldn’t seem to find an answer for Oklahoma State’s rebounding. Twenty of the Cowgirls’ 35 first-half points came off second-chance buckets and turnovers.
Despite their struggles on the boards, Utah’s shooting kept them ahead, as they took a 39-35 lead into the half.
Second Half
Coach Petersen’s team has been known for their second-half performances this season, and the third quarter was no outlier. After back-to-back threes by Jenna Johnson and Vieira, the Utes stretched their lead to nine with 47 seconds to play in the third.
But Oklahoma State refused to go away, as a 12-2 run gave the Cowgirls their first lead since the second quarter. Oklahoma State’s offensive momentum not only kickstarted a comeback but it carried to the defensive end of the floor.
Utah’s offense went ice-cold in the fourth quarter. An over-four-minute scoring drought allowed Oklahoma State to build on their lead and take home the win 68-64.
Post Game
After the game, head coach Gavin Petersen gave credit to Oklahoma State’s aggression.
“It was a weird up-and-down game for us. Credit to Oklahoma State. They were the tougher team tonight. They dominated the boards,” Petersen said. “I can’t remember the last time a team dominated us on the boards like that. Credit to them for that will to win and not letting a game like that slip through their fingers. They won that game.”
He also addressed what he thinks Utah needed to do better.
“I think we had some decent looks at the basket, but we started settling for 3-point shots way too much and too early into our possessions,” he said. “We have to be able to take advantage of our size, and we didn’t do that as much. We started playing disjointed and didn’t play connected. We didn’t move the ball the way we normally do, and we didn’t control some of the things we should have.”
Looking Ahead
Utah has three remaining Big 12 games before they head to Kansas City for the conference tournament. Two road games against Cincinnati and West Virginia are up next before Senior Day against BYU at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday, March 1.
