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SALT LAKE CITY — The Pac-12's co-champions of the regular season last season battled like another championship was on the line Friday night.
In a back-and-forth affair, No. 19 Utah controlled a 2-point lead at the end of the first quarter before No. 8 Stanford went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to set the tone for the remainder of the game.
Utah continued to fight and went on an 8-0 run of their own in the third quarter to make it a game, but it was the Cardinal that held on at the end to come away with a 66-64 road victory against a Utah team that shot 39% from the field.
"I thought both teams played their guts out," Utah head coach Lynne Roberts said. "I'm incredibly proud of my team. I thought that we left it all out there and played together, played connected, played super hard. And, again, it didn't happen in the last couple of minutes, but very proud of my team."
Though Stanford got the victory, it didn't come without some controversy at the end.
In a one-possession game and Stanford up 65-64, the Cardinal appeared to have a shot clock violation with 24 seconds left to play in regulation, but the refs didn't see it and let the game play on before Utah eventually fouled Stanford, ringing down boos — one of many Friday night — from the Huntsman Center crowd.
Roberts said the refs never gave an explanation for not reviewing the call despite reviewing one from Utah earlier in the game.
"No, but they reviewed last week at Arizona the jump ball foul, which was interesting," Roberts said, speaking to another cost in which she felt the refs impacted the last minute of the game. "But they didn't review this one, and no explanation. No eye contact in fact."
Utah eventually got the ball back with 13.9 seconds left to play on a held ball on an inbounds pass to Stanford's Cameron Brink. But on the ensuing Utah possession, as Alissa Pili drove to the basket, she was held by two Stanford defenders, sending her to the ground.
The refs, however, called a held ball and gave the Cardinal the ball back with 4.4 seconds left in regulation.
"Jump ball"
— lynne roberts (@UtesCoachRob) January 13, 2024
Go Utes https://t.co/yE4YidzxR8
That set off an even louder chorus of boos from the crowd, and an incensed Roberts, who was already hot with rage from multiple calls previously that went against her team.
Utah elected to foul Stanford's Talana Lepolo, who drained one of two free-throw attempts, and gave Utah a chance to win the game with 1.9 seconds left to play.
The Utes were able to inbound the ball to Pili behind the arc, but she didn't get a clean shot, and the ball fell short to give Stanford the win.
"I mean, it's hard and I think — it's hard," a frustrated Roberts said about the final minute of regulation. "I don't think I have any power to make any changes to that. It isn't in my control. We talk about you can't control what you can't control, so don't focus on it, and we've got to be tough. I think everyone here and on TV saw what happened, so you don't need me to say it. But I think for the level of play in this league, I do think it deserves to be better."
An emotional Pili said it was a game that "definitely hurt."
"I think it's just frustrating when — we play our asses off out there, we put it all out there, and it just doesn't go our way," Pili said, amid wiping away tears. "I just feel for this team and for our coaches that put so much into it, and then we get the short end of the stick time after time. But, you know, it's not gonna stop us, we're gonna keep swinging, we're gonna keep fighting, and we're gonna eventually come out on top."
Though the refs had an impact late in the game, Utah had areas where it could be better, specifically on the offensive end where Utah shot 39% from the field and was outrebounded 40-32. Roberts said Kennady McQueen, who only had two shot attempts, needed to get more looks, while Dasia Young needed less.
It was a valiant effort, Roberts said for a team that she felt played more connected, but there are still areas of improvement as the team continues to find an answer without Gianna Kneepkens and Issy Palmer in the lineup.
"I believe firmly that if you just keep showing up and swinging, they will bounce your way, and so that's my job to get these guys to continue to show up and play like that," Roberts said. "And if we do that, then we'll be fine. And we're going to win these games down the stretch and we're going to come out on top. Doing great things is hard and we're close. We're right there."
Utah paid close attention on defense to Cameron Brink and Hannah Jump, the team's leading scorers, but Kiki Iriafen went to work and scored a team-high 25 points to keep the Cardinal ahead. Brink and Jump combined for 21 points in an otherwise solid defensive effort by the Utes.
Pili led Utah with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Jenna Johnson added 15 points, and Maty Wilke and Ines Vieira, who played all 40 minutes, finished with 11 points apiece in the loss.
"I do think these situations will make you better in March," Roberts said. "It sucks now, but you don't win conference championships in January. This is gonna make us better, it's gonna make us tougher, it's gonna make us — make me a better coach — and I'm all for that.
"It's a loss in the loss column, but, I mean, in my mind, in terms of how we played and what happened down the stretch, we won."
