No. 16 Utah women force OT, go on to upset No. 2 UCLA in 94-81 win

SALT LAKE CITY — Alissa Pili only had 2 points in the first half.

And though that would traditionally spell trouble against the No. 2 team in the country, 16th-ranked Utah controlled a 35-32 to lead over UCLA at the halftime break.

Instead of relying on Pili, Utah got it done as a collaborative effort behind seven made 3-pointers on 47% shooting from deep, including three from Kennady McQueen, to hold a narrow lead at halftime.

Utah then used that first-half momentum to build up a 10-point lead with 4:01 left in the third quarter, and then held on to the bitter end against a Bruins team that refused to go down without a fight.

It was anything but easy for the home team, though.

UCLA erased a 9-point Utah lead in the fourth quarter to eventually take a 1-point lead before getting sent to the free-throw line with 4.5 seconds left to play in regulation. The Bruins made the first but missed the second, and Pili got the rebound and called a timeout to give Utah a final chance with 4.2 seconds left to play.

On the ensuing inbounds play at midcourt, Ines Vieira recognized an opening and immediately drove to the hoop for a wide open layup and to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, Utah took control of the game and pulled away for a 94-81 victory, including going 15-of-16 from the free-throw line in the extra period. With the win, UCLA suffered its second loss of the season, and Utah (14-5, 4-3 Pac-12) secured another top-25 win over the weekend.

It was also the first time Utah women's basketball has defeated a No. 2 seed in program history.

"It would have been easy to just kind of fold," Utah head coach Lynne Roberts said. "But the execution at the end — Ines made a great shot, great read. And then in overtime, I thought we were the aggressor, and we knocked down our free throws, did a great job defensively.

"What a great atmosphere," she added. "That crowd has made such a difference for us. It's just an unbelievable win for our program. I have so much respect for UCLA; they're well coached and they run such a great program, and they're good. They have what it takes to be certainly at the end of the season last man standing; and I think we do, too."

Though Pili was limited in her role, especially with a UCLA defense that sent two or three defenders on her each touch, she finished with 16 points and six rebounds. More importantly, though, Pili found ways to help her team win in other ways.

"I think everyone knows how good Alissa is, and, of course, she's going to be a focus for the opposing team," McQueen said. "So with that, we just know we have to be ready to step up and make those reads when nights like tonight happen. But everyone stepped up tonight, and it was awesome to see. I mean, that's a team full of firepower, and you got to see that tonight. I was so proud to see everyone step up and fulfill their role and exceed; it was awesome."

"Obviously, Pili is really good and we know that, but she doesn't care how many points she scores," added Maty Wilke, who made four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points. "She wasn't mad, she wasn't upset, she wasn't telling us, 'Guys, I need the ball.' She kept passing it when we were open, and it just shows, like, we love each other and we're gonna do anything we can to win."

McQueen finished with a game-high 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists as the leading charge for the Utes. McQueen got hot early and then found ways to continually keep the Bruins at distance, including an 8-point effort in the overtime period.

Dasia Young also added 16 points and seven rebounds in the win. Her four made 3-pointers gave Utah much-needed versatility in a game where the Utes shot 48% from the field and 46% from 3-point range on 28 attempts.

"Alissa is tremendous, and she garners so much attention, but Kennedy stepped up, Maty stepped up, Ines stepped up, Dasia Young hitting those threes in the first half — I mean, everybody did their part. ... So just total team win," Roberts said. "I couldn't be more proud of these guys, what they just showed — the toughness and the grittiness — and what a weekend for us."

The Bruins (15-2, 4-2 Pac-12) were led in scoring by Gabriela Jaquez, who finished with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds in the loss. Three other UCLA players finished in double-digit scoring.

Utah started out the game hot on offense, making three 3-pointers to take an early 11-6 lead, before building up an 8-point lead with 1:12 left in the first quarter. The Utes used a tough defense to limit clean looks by UCLA, especially in the post with Jenna Johnson patrolling around the rim.

But UCLA settled in and used a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter to take a 1-point lead before Wilke and McQueen hit back-to-back triples to give the Utes a lead it never relinquished for the remainder of the half amid a three minute scoring drought by the Bruins.

Outside a tough stretch in the fourth quarter in which Utah added to its 18 total turnovers on the night and allowed UCLA to cut into the deficit, the Utes answered the call for the duration of the game to sweep the Los Angeles schools and secure two top-25 wins in a four-day period.

Related topics