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SALT LAKE CITY — It was a forgettable first half of basketball Wednesday night at the Huntsman Center.
The Utah women's basketball team shot 35% from the field, 27% from the free-throw line on 15 attempts, and had 15 turnovers that a two-win UC Riverside converted into 13 points on the other end.
Add to it that Utah ended the half on a three-minute scoring drought and hit only one shot on the team's last eight attempts, and it was no surprise that UC Riverside held a 24-23 lead at the halftime break, even while shooting just 32% from the field.
It could only get better in the second half.
Utah used a 21-4 run in the third quarter to build up a game-high 20-point lead, and then held on to beat UC Riverside 61-52 in the last game of the nonconference schedule.
The Utes (9-finished the night shooting 46% from the field but struggled for much of the night to put together a consistent style of play in what Utah head coach Gavin Petersen described as an "ugly win."
"They came out and played hard and just kind of set the tone," Petersen said. "Made it a very scrappy, ugly game early on, and we kind of followed their lead. And that's something we cannot do.
"It was our offense that was just out of whack," he added. "For whatever reason, the ball was getting sticky, we were over dribbling. They iced the ball screens on the wing, and it's like we've never seen that, or never practiced against it. It just was just bad rhythm altogether."
Reese Ross, who led Utah with a double-double performance of 17 points and 13 rebounds, said the team looked like it was "going through the motions" and was "not coming in ready to play."
"Sometimes we lose sight of things, because we were expecting a blowout," Ross said. "But every game's just as important. It doesn't matter if you're playing UConn or if you're playing a lower mid-major team."
One of the highlights of the night, though, was Utah's defensive performance that forced UC Riverside (2-8) into poor shot attempts and an overall 35% shooting from the floor. Additionally, Utah outrebounded UC Riverside 43-29.
But outside of Utah's third-quarter run, the remaining three quarters lacked a rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. Utah managed only 5 points in the opening frame on 29% shooting, and closed out the final quarter with only 7 points and a 2:30 scoring drought that also featured three turnovers over that period.
It was enough in the end, but not exactly a strong way to end the nonconference schedule, especially after a blowout win against Northwestern on Sunday.
Freshman Avery Hjelmstad added 10 points — including a pair of 3-pointers — and was the only other Utah player to finish in double figures on a night where the team only made four 3-pointers.
The Highlanders had only one player finish in double figures, with Seneca Hackley scoring 19 points — including a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range — and four rebounds in the loss.
UC Riverside outscored Utah in the fourth quarter 16-7 and pulled the game within single digits behind four of the team's five made 3-pointers on the night.
