LAWRENCE, Kan. — For about 15 minutes of game time, the Utah women's basketball team was the best on the court, hitting multiple 3-pointers to build up a 12-point lead over Kansas.
That double-digit lead worked to Utah's advantage in what turned out to be a nail-biting 62-59 win on the road.
Utah failed to score — from the field or from the free-throw line — over the final 4:30 of the game, and Kansas (11-5, 1-3 Big 12) slowly cut into Utah's lead to make it a one-possession game with 39.3 seconds left in the game off a corner 3-pointer.
The Utes (12-4, 3-1 Big 12) continued to work the clock amid several good looks for a shot that rimmed out, but nothing dropped for Utah. That left Kansas with a chance to tie the game with 7.9 seconds left to play, but a missed 3-pointer at the top of the key went short and Reese Ross secured the rebound before immediately being fouled.
With a 3-point lead and just 1.2 seconds left in regulation, Ross simply needed to make a free throw to secure the win without any end-of-game dramatics.
Ross, though, missed both free throws — she went 0-of-4 from the line Wednesday — and Kansas secured the rebound and a timeout to give the home team one final opportunity in an improbable finish.
The ensuing attempt went short and Utah held on to win the game, though head coach Gavin Petersen will have plenty to pick apart for his team's effort Wednesday night.
Lani White led the team with 17 points and five rebounds as Utah finished the game shooting 41% from the field. Utah had 17 turnovers that led to 14 Kansas points, but the team outrebounded the Jayhawks 42-30 to stay in the game.
Ross added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Chyra Evans supplied an additional 10 points and six rebounds in the win.
For about 25 minutes of game time, including almost the entirety of the first half, Utah was out of sync, turned over the ball with regularity and struggled to connect from the field as Kansas built up an early 10-point lead.
Utah weathered the storm and went on a 10-0 run midway through the second quarter to tie up the game, largely on the back of White, who had 8 of the team's 10 points during the run.
The Utes used the end-of-half momentum to slowly build up a lead against Kansas in the third quarter that eventually swelled to 12 points before the team went 1-of-9 over the final five minutes.
Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis led the team with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, while adding four rebounds and two assists in the loss.
S'Mya Nichols added 19 points, five rebounds and five assists for Kansas, who shot 41% from the field and just 19% from 3-point range.
