BYU learned the hard way just how difficult it is to defend the No. 12 Utah women’s basketball team.
The Utes, the nation’s top scoring team, shot 53.4% from the field in blowing past their rival Cougars 87-68 at the Huntsman Center on Saturday night.
It’s Utah’s second straight win in the series and its fourth in the past five matchups.
“I grew up in a big Utah house, absolutely love that rivalry,” said Utah junior guard Kennady McQueen, a Henefer native.
“Just playing in it now is pretty crazy — it’s a full-circle moment for sure.”
The biggest factor
The Utes were the aggressors from the opening moments.
That tone was set when Utah star forward Alissa Pili emphatically blocked a Lauren Gustin shot on BYU’s first possession, which led to a turnover on a travel call against the Cougars.
After a few minutes of relatively close back-and-forth play, Utah broke the game open by going on a 10-0 run to build a 20-6 lead.
During that span, Pili and fellow front court player Jenna Johnson each hit a 3. Four of Utah’s first five made field goals were 3-pointers, including two from McQueen in the game’s first five minutes.
“It’s a big game, we were stoked for it. To see that first one go in gives you a little extra confidence boost for sure,” McQueen said.
Utah led by 10 points (27-17) after one quarter and pushed that to 20 at halftime (52-32) in cruising to the win.
That dominant effort was set early.
“We were moving the ball well especially that first half, finding the open man,” McQueen said. “It felt good all game.”
Even though BYU kept the contest even in the second half until the final few minutes when Utah again asserted its dominance, the Cougars were put in a large hole early by Utah.
“I thought both teams played their tails off. You can see why this game means more,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. “Even though it’s just another game in your 30-game schedule, it does seem to bring out the emotion.”
Other key takeaways
Stars of the night: Utah had several standouts, led by Pili. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year had 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.
McQueen added 18 points while shooting 6 of 10 and also had two assists and a blocked shot, while Gianna Kneepkens (17) and Johnson (13) also scored in double-figures.
Gustin paced BYU with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three assists before fouling out late, while freshman guard Kailey Woolston put up 17 points, two steals and an assist.
Scary moment for the Utes: Kneepkens fell to the floor on a non-contact injury with 1:39 remaining. She wasn’t putting much weight on her right leg as she was helped off the floor.
Immediately after the game, Roberts said she didn’t have any information on the severity of the injury but that Kneepkens was going to get an x-ray.
The coach said it was a foot-ankle injury — “she just kinda rolled it, and it scared her, so we’ll see,” Roberts added.
3-point shooting on display for Utah: The Utes entered the game making an average of 14.3 3-pointers per game, tops in the nation by three more than the team in second place.
Utah started Saturday strong, hitting 10 of 22 from 3-point range in the first half, and finished the game making 17 of 34 from 3. Pili hit a career-high five 3-pointers, followed by McQueen with four and Johnson and Kneepkens with three apiece.
“Our bigs got a lot of them — Pili, Johnson (had) open looks — because they weren’t pressuring on the 3-point line and our players are programmed to let it fly,” Roberts said.
BYU, meanwhile, made 6 of 16 3-pointers, led by two from Lauren Davenport.
Cougars fight back in third quarter: After initially falling behind by 22 early in the third quarter, BYU eventually whittled its deficit down to 12 points for the first time with four minutes left in the quarter.
At one point, the Cougars went on a 9-0 run over a three-minute stretch to make it 59-47.
While BYU coach Amber Whiting didn’t answer any questions from reporters after the game, Roberts shared her thoughts on how the Cougars captured some momentum in the third quarter.
“We were taking rushed shots. When you have a 20-point lead, you don’t need to rush anything,” Roberts said. “I just thought we were a little sloppy, our execution was poor. When we’re turning it over, they’re able to get high-percentage shots.”
Utah stopped the run with a McQueen layup, followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Pili and freshman Reese Ross sandwiched around a BYU bucket.
The Utes pushed the lead back to 19 by the end of the quarter.
“We answered and hit some big shots when we needed to. Even when they would make a push, we would always answer,” Roberts said.
Assists like clockwork: Utah is known for its ability to create open looks with its superior ball movement, and that translated well again Saturday night, as the Utes finished with 26 assists on 31 made field goals.
Inês Vieira had nearly half of those assists, finishing with 12 for Utah.
“I think they trust me a lot, so I find them everywhere. I feel like one of my biggest goals is to make the team go and play, and just keep them going,” Vieira said.
BYU, in its own right, did well in sharing the ball, as the Cougars had 19 assists on 28 made field goals.
Utes do enough to slow down BYU’s top player: Gustin, like Pili is for the Utes, is the Cougars’ go-to star in key moments.
For the most part on Saturday, though, the Utes were able to contain BYU’s standout forward, even though some late stat-padding got Gustin right around her season averages.
Part of the reason Gustin didn’t have as big an impact came because she picked up her second foul early in the second quarter. She eventually fouled out in the fourth quarter.
“Her getting the two fouls in the first half helped us,” Roberts said. “We just kept sending people to her and trying to be physical, so that can lead to some fouls, too.
“I thought we did a pretty good job on her. We contained her. I don’t know if you ever really stop her.”
A strong crowd showed its support: An announced crowd of 6,182 — most clad in red — filled the Huntsman Center on Saturday night for the first of back-to-back weekend games between the Utes and Cougars — the Utah men will host BYU in Salt Lake City next Saturday.
“I thought we had an incredible crowd. I appreciate everyone that came out, that was just amazing. It felt like the end of last year in terms of energy and crowd engagement,” Roberts said.
Highlights
What’s next?
Utah (7-1) will hit the road for a pair of games out of state.
The first is a game in Philadelphia against unbeaten St. Joseph’s next Thursday, followed by a neutral-site contest against No. 1 South Carolina in Uncasville, Connecticut, two days later.
The Gamecocks already have three wins over top 25 programs in their 6-0 start, including blowout victories over Notre Dame and Maryland in the season’s opening week — wins that vaulted them to No. 1 in the rankings.
BYU (6-2), meanwhile, returns home for a pair of games against Utah State on Tuesday and Boise State on Saturday.
The Aggies are 3-4 on the season, while the Broncos sit at 6-1 with two games on the schedule before visiting Provo.