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LOS ANGELES — Ines Vieira fouled out of the game with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter, with No. 18 Utah nursing a 5-point lead against No. 7 USC on the road.
But the Utes didn't blink — even after the Utes suffered a blowout loss Friday night in the first part of the team's two-game Los Angeles trip against top-15 teams.
Alissa Pili scored 14 points, including 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, in the final quarter to help the Utes stave off a Trojans comeback and claim a 74-68 win at the Galen Center to end USC's seven-game winning streak.
Pili finished with a team-high 23 points and nine rebounds against her former team to sweep USC (21-5, 11-5 Pac-12) this season.
And though Pili was instrumental in pacing Utah (20-8, 10-6 Pac-12) to a win down the stretch, it was Kennedy McQueen that came up big on both ends of the floor. The starting guard finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, five rebounds and four assists, but it was her defense on expected Pac-12 Freshman of the Year JuJu Watkins that helped Utah to a win.
Watkins finished with a game-high 30 points, but McQueen made the freshman work by holding her to 10-of-30 shooting. It wasn't a matter of stopping Watkins, but making it difficult on her to get what she wanted.
Dasia Young scored 12 of her 13 points in the second half — a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from behind the perimeter — to also give the Utes meaningful minutes to help maintain a lead against a Trojans team that narrowly outscored Utah in the two middle quarters.
USC utilized a press defense to put immediate pressure on Utah, but the Utes handled the physical battle well to stay ahead of a dominant Trojans team this season.
The Trojans suffered a blow to its comeback hopes, though, when senior Kaitlyn Davis fouled out of the game with just over three minutes left to play in regulation. The senior had 13 points and eight rebounds and was a key asset to making it more difficult on the Utes.
Utah opened up the game outscoring USC 14-6 in a low-scoring affair in the opening frame before the two teams battled the final three quarters to the bitter end. Outside of the first quarter, neither team outscored the other by more than 2 points each quarter.
Despite the close battle, Utah never trailed after USC's McKenzie Forbes made the first bucket of the game and gave USC the early 2-0 lead. The Trojans managed to tie the game up three different times throughout the duration of the game, but the Utes held strong and maintained the advantage.
Utah finished the game shooting 49% from the floor and 41% from the 3-point line on 11 made triples, while USC shot 40% from the floor and 20% from behind the arc. USC did most of its damage in the post, outscoring the Utes 40-24 in the post.
Utah, though, got 15 points from its bench (compared to 4 from USC) and had 21 assists on 23 made shots on the day.
