Utah 67, Montana 49
A quick glance at the final score looks like just another in a long line of easy wins for the Utah women's basketball team this season.
Actually, the Utes' 67-49 victory over Montana Thursday night at the Huntsman Center may be the most deceiving score in sports this year.
The 18-point win was the closest of the year for the Utes, who won their previous six games by an average of 30 points. This time, the Utes trailed 46-41 with nine minutes left.
That's when backup point guard Whitney Sutak decided enough was enough and led the Utes on a 26-3 run the rest of the game.
"Sometimes we pass it around too much and settle for 3-pointers and need to attack more," said Sutak, who scored 11 of her 16 points in the final nine minutes. "I just tried to push the ball more in the second half."
Ute coach Elaine Elliott was thrilled with the play of Sutak, saying it was "her turn" to shine Thursday night for the well-balanced Ute squad.
"Whitney changes the tempo when she comes in the game, and she got our transition game going," Elliott said. "She's playing with a great deal of confidence right now. She was not afraid to attack the zone."
After trailing by five at halftime, the Utes still trailed by five when Sutak started the rally with an inside basket at the 8:40 mark. After Amy Ewert scored and Montana turned the ball over, Sutak penetrated the zone and pulled up for a 10-footer in the lane to put the Utes ahead to stay at the 7:05 mark.
Next Sutak drained a 3-pointer from the left angle, and after another Montana miss, found Lauren Beckman with a long pass that resulted in a layup. Suddenly the Utes led 52-47 with 5:21 left.
It only got worse for the Grizzlies as Lindsay Herbert made back-to-back baskets and Lori Red-Castagnetto sank a 3-pointer. Then, in one of the strangest plays of the night, Sutak sank four straight foul shots because the officials had failed to give her foul shots on the seventh Montana foul. Instead they made up for it by giving her four foul shots on the eighth foul, much to the chagrin of Montana coach Robin Selvig.
Herbert led the Utes with 19 points and also pulled down eight rebounds, while Beckman finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Linda Cummings led Montana (4-2) with 15 points, and Lauren Cooper added 11 points. The Lady Griz only managed 21.4 percent field goal shooting in the second half and 27.5 percent for the game.
The 7-0 Utes get a day off before facing Nevada at 3 p.m. Saturday, prior to the Ute men's game against Weber State in the evening.
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