The Utah women’s basketball team finished off its three-game Pac-12 reunion tour with a perfect 3-0 mark, beating Arizona 69-48 on Tuesday afternoon at the McKale Center.
Tuesday’s result came after Utah beat Washington, now in the Big Ten, in its final nonconference game back in mid-December, followed by a Big 12 opening win over Arizona State, another former Pac-12 opponent of the Utes.
The latest win for Utah (11-2, 2-0 Big 12) is its first win at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson since 2018, and it kept the Utes unbeaten in Big 12 play.
“I think when you haven’t won in a place, it kind of puts a little extra chip on your shoulder. Arizona is a great environment, and as a basketball player, that’s what you want to play in,” Utah’s Gianna Kneepkens said in a postgame interview on the ESPN+ broadcast.
3 takeaways
Another stellar day from Gianna Kneepkens. Utah’s sharpshooting guard, Kneepkens, stood out on a solid overall day for the Utes.
The junior scored a team-high 18 points and added nine rebounds and three assists. She made 4 of 6 3-pointers and finished with a team-high plus/minus of +31.
Kneepkens’ first points of the game, a 3-pointer with 1:24 left in the first quarter, gave Utah a 13-7 advantage, and from then on, the Utes never led by less than two possessions.
Kneepkens also scored the first five points of the second half, as Utah pushed a 12-point halftime lead out to 42-19 with an 11-0 run.
The Utes did well what they normally do well. This one had the feel of a typical Utah victory.
The Utes shot over 50% from the field, finishing at 52.2%, and made 9 of 23 3-point attempts. Kennady McQueen (11 points) and Maye Toure (10) also scored in double-figures, as both shot 4 of 7 from the field.
Utah outshot Arizona from the free-throw line as well, making 12 of 16 while the Wildcats were 1 of 4.
“I think just the way we were moving the ball,” Kneepkens said, when asked about what was going right for Utah against the Wildcats. “Arizona likes to put a lot of pressure on us, so finding that open person and we were making our shots today.”
Utah had 19 assists on 24 made field goals — or 79.2% of the time — as Ines Vieira put up her first double-digit assist game of the season, with 11.
The Utes dominated the boards, too, securing a 40-22 edge in rebounding, led by a season-high 11 from sophomore Reese Ross.
Utah also owned a 28-16 points in the paint advantage.
Utah shut down Arizona’s offense. The Wildcats couldn’t get much going until the fourth quarter, when the game was well out of reach.
Over the first three quarters, Arizona scored 28 points — the Wildcats had 20 in the final period.
Arizona ended up shooting 34.5% for the game, and that was at 27.2% before the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats’ leading scorer, Breya Cunningham, was held to 2 points and fouled out after shooting 1 of 6 from the field and 0 of 2 from the free-throw line.
While true freshman Lauryn Swann scored a career-high 22 points while hitting six 3-pointers, it wasn’t nearly enough for a Wildcats team that shot 1 of 12 from 3-point range outside of Swann.
What’s next
The Utes will stay on the road for their next game, though for the first time, they’ll face a legacy Big 12 member.
Utah will play at Iowa State on Sunday, with tip off at 4:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and can be heard on 700 AM.
The Cyclones (9-5, 0-1 Big 12) have lost two straight and will host Kansas on New Year’s Day.