Utah opens Big 12 play with convincing win over Arizona State

The Utah Utes women’s basketball team opened its Big 12 docket Saturday afternoon, hosting Arizona State in the Huntsman Center with 3,787 fans cheering them on.

The two teams are familiar with each other after battling for years in the Pac-12 before making the move to the new conference. Utah coach Gavin Petersen joked that it’s like “getting the band back together” with Utah’s three-game stretch that included a win over non-conference opponent but former Pac-12 foe Washington last week before Saturday’s 102-82 victory over ASU.

Capping the stretch will be a battle with Arizona, also a former Pac-12 foe and now Big 12 rival, on December 31.

The familiarity seemed to favor ASU though in the first period Saturday, as the Sun Devils kept things at bay and took their first lead (25-23) of the game off a 3-pointer with one second left.

They also held Utah to 1-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc early, a place where the Utes rank as one of the best teams nationally.

“You know in guarding this team it’s either a 3 or a layup,” said ASU coach Natasha Adair of Utah. “They want to get you in space and make you either help or get all the way to the rim for the layup. I thought we did a good job early contesting it, switching out when we needed to.”

While the Utes struggled from distance early, they found their rhythm inside, outscoring the Sun Devils 52-32 in the paint. They also dominated the boards, outrebounding ASU 43-28.

“If we stay on the 3-point line, like windshield wipers, nothing comes with that,” said Petersen. “You have to be able to put pressure on the rim, and we’ve been focusing on it for quite some time and maybe they’ll start to believe me now.”

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A smiling Petersen was happy with Utah’s play overall, give or take a few defensive lapses. The effort included another strong performance from Utah’s bench. The subs tallied 38 points on the afternoon, led by 19 from Reese Ross, while Sam Crispe added eight.

“I’m really lucky to have a bench that can come in and we don’t drop off,” said Petersen.

Utah didn’t have its leading scorer off the bench in Maty Wilke, opting to hold the junior out for precautionary reasons. That meant more minutes for other players including freshmen Brooke Walker and Grace Foster.

Petersen credited Walker for being a “band aid” of sorts for Utah this season, coming in wherever and whenever she’s been needed. For Foster, it was her first appearance of the year, and her effort included two 3-pointers.

Foster and the rest of the Utah team did settle in from deep, finishing up with nine total in the game. The combination of dominating the paint, finding the 3 and a 10-0 run to start the second period proved too much for ASU’s defense.

Ginna Kneepkens led all scorers in the game with 24, tying her season high for a third time, and she added six assists and six rebounds. Maye Toure finished with 14 points and nine boards while Kennady McQueen added 11 points in the win.

Jalyn Brown led ASU with 22 points.

Utah will have some time off for the holiday break before the Arizona game at the end of the month. Sitting over the break after starting the conference season is something the Utes aren’t as familiar with because they traditionally face a non-conference schedule before the time off.

But Utah isn’t complaining even a little bit after recording its first checkmark in Big 12 play.

“It’s always fun to go into break with a win because you can sit and enjoy Christmas a little more off that win,” Kneepkens said.