Beavers’ defensive play puts the lid on Utes’ basket

SALT LAKE CITY — After a 25-point loss at Oregon State two weeks ago, Utah head coach Lynne Roberts expected a different result when the Utes took on the Beavers in a matchup of nationally ranked Pac-12 opponents Friday night at home.

The Beavers had one of their best-shooting nights of the season in that first game, but this time they showed the Utes their size and physicality and rolled to a 58-44 win in front of 6,288 fans at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Raegan Beers scored 17 points and Donovyn Hunter and Timea Gardner added 10 apiece, but the key to OSU’s success was how it frustrated the Utes defensively, holding them to less then 30% shooting from the field and anemic 6 of 33 from 3-point range.

Alissa Pili had 12 points for Utah, including a rare layup with 8:45 left in the second quarter to give the Utes a 16-14 lead. However, Oregon State went on a 5-0 run and then Gardiner, the former Fremont High standout, added a pair of 3-pointers to give OSU a 30-22 advantage at intermission.

For the game, OSU shot much better (41%) and made 7 of 17 3-pointers. Beers, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, had her way inside. She made 7-10 shots and grabbed eight rebounds.

More importantly, she and former Ute Kelsey Rees frustrated Pili all night and forced her into mostly low-percentage shots.

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“Not a great performance,” said Roberts. “I didn’t anticipate that. We had a good week of practice and I thought we were ready to roll. We missed some shots, some of them badly.”

Roberts spent much of the game trying to find someone to create a spark, and a few players did, but only briefly.

Kennady McQueen led with 14 points, and was 4 for 8 from 3-point range. Maty Wilke had a couple of good moments and point guard Ines Vieira grabbed six rebounds, had five assists and frequently tormented her opponents on the perimeter.

But Oregon State always seemed in control. Pili, who came in as the Pac-12’s leading scorer at 22.0 points per game, made just 4 of 17 shots and was visibly tired afterward after having to battle bigger, more athletic players on both ends of the court.

“We’re going to get everyone’s best (effort) no matter who we play,” she said. “It’s on me. We have to be ready to play.”

Roberts tried to share the blame, and noted there were other factors that keyed the team’s lowest-scoring output of the season.

While the Utes are averaging 81.9 points per game this season, they’ve been held under 70 six times already against Pac-12 competition.

“Alissa is going to get doubled every time she gets the ball,” Roberts said. “The key for us is to shoot the ball better. We have to make our 3s.”

And they didn’t this time. Outside of McQueen, the Utes made just 2 of 25 from beyond the arc and that led to just six points scored in the final (10-minute) quarter, which prevented a comeback.

While the crowd waited to erupt in anticipation of a big basket, they couldn’t, and OSU’s margin only grew.

The Utes hope to recover quickly in time for their next game, a noon encounter at home Sunday against Oregon.

But with just six games left in the regular season and the team in sixth place in the conference, a near-miracle is required for a second straight Pac-12 regular-season championship.

Utah, now 17-7 overall and 7-5 in conference, came into Friday night’s game ranked No. 20 and could see its streak of 12 consecutive weeks in the Top 25 come to an end without a better performance.

The Utes have also not been playing at full strength. They lost their second-leading scorer, Gianna Kneepkens, for the season in their early December win over Brigham Young, and guard Issy Palmer was out for nearly two months.

On Friday, senior Dasia Young sat on the bench, and she has shown the ability to be one of team’s spark plugs.

Oregon State improved to 19-3 overall and is challenging for the league crown with an 8-3 mark. The Beavers have won seven of their last eight games and have proven to be the Utes’ biggest league nemesis so far.