No. 7 Utah women’s basketball avoids potential trap, cruises past Wazzu

SALT LAKE CITY – Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the seventh-ranked Utah Utes and Washington State Cougars had all the makings of a potential upset at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

The Utes were coming off a convincing win in which almost everything went right, they were also playing a team they had already defeated once, they could have been looking forward to the upcoming Pac-12 homestretch run and the Super Bowl was approaching later in the afternoon, which might have limited some fans.

Instead, coach Lynne Roberts didn’t have to worry as Alissa Pili scored 15 points and Gianna Kneepkens added 14 points and 13 rebounds to lift the Utes to a 73-59 win to remain tied for first place in the league standings.

“That was a hard-fought win; we knew it would be. It was a complete game again,” said Roberts. “Winning in February in this league on a Sunday is really hard. Everybody is tired and it’s just an emotional mental drain through the season because every weekend is really hard.

“We found a way and I’m proud of our group. We protected our own court.”

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The Utes improved to 22-2 overall and 12-2 in league play with four games remaining before the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

They also stayed undefeated at home (12-0) and kept their hopes alive to play host in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in mid-March.

First, though, they had to dispatch WSU (16-8, 6-9), which nearly beat the Utes in Pullman in late December even without its top player, Charlisse Leger-Walker.

An 8-0 run early in Sunday’s game gave the Utes the lead, however, and they never lost it. Jenna Johnson stepped up with 14 points, Kennady McQueen had 12 and Dasia Young 11, including a pair of 3-pointers late in the first half when the Cougars closed the gap.

“Dasia Young was huge, especially, keeping us in that first half with her energy,” said Roberts. “She was a difference-maker, for sure, and Jenna, too, with her offensive rebounds.”

WSU coach Kamie Ethridge felt her team had a chance, just like last time.

“We played unbelievably hard,” she said. “We competed great but had some bad quarters where we didn’t score enough points. We made mistakes and Utah is a team that will make you pay for mistakes. Utah is a very hard place to win.”

Despite the Utes’ two wins this weekend, the games were complete opposites. On Friday, they shot over 50 percent from the field (and 3-point range) and nearly everything went right in a fast-paced win over Washington.

This time, they missed their first four treys to start each half and momentum bursts were few, so they searched for other options to break away.

Kneepkens, for instance, shook off a 0-for-5 night from long range to be the team’s rebounding leader. She had eight in the fourth quarter alone to help prevent a WSU rally.

“At the start of the game, they were playing harder than us,” Kneepkens said. “I was just finding ways to get the boards and then also attacking (the rim).”

Young took over and her 3-point effort keyed a 12-3 run at the end of the second quarter that secured a 41-32 lead.

Then the Utes avoided a second-half letdown with a big effort on the offensive boards. WSU got as close as five points, but Johnson nailed a pair of baskets to regain the momentum and Utah eventually built its lead to 19 points.

WSU’s athletic 6-foot-3 center, Bella Murekatete, led the visitors with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and helped limit Pili near the basket. Leger-Walker had 17 points but was also off-target from 3-point range.