The Utah women’s basketball team faced a level up in competition on Saturday, with No. 25 Washington coming to town.
The Utes were able to keep pace early on before the Huskies took over and followed their veteran leaders to a 72-61 win at the Huntsman Center.
“Washington’s a great program. They’re going to be in the NCAA Tournament. They’re going to get a great seed. They’re going to do really well in the Big Ten, so it’s a great test for us early,” Utah coach Gavin Petersen said.
“They’re a type of team where, that’s where we want to get to, and we have, we have the potential to be able to do that, but it just requires us to play hard for 40 minutes.”
How the game transpired
The Utes got off to a great start, leading 10-2 in the early going as Reese Ross hit an early 3.
Utah carried that momentum through much of the first quarter and led 20-12 before the Huskies made it a 20-16 game through one period.
Utah built its lead in the second quarter to as much as six before a 6-0 Husky run tied the game at 31-31. That turned into an 11-2 run for Washington to go up 36-33.
Then Lani White hit the most thrilling shot of the game. After Washington’s Sayvia Sellers missed a 3-pointer that would have doubled the Huskies’ lead, White rebounded the ball with four seconds until halftime, then quickly dribbled the ball upcourt before launching a shot from just past midcourt.
Swish.
With that, it was a tie game at halftime, and even though Utah had only scored two points over the previous five and a half minutes, the Utes went into halftime tied at 36-36.
The second half, though, was controlled by Washington.
The Huskies seemingly had the game on lock when they pushed their lead to eight with five minutes left in the third quarter at 47-39, but Utah had an answer and eventually cut that deficit to two before Washington scored the final four points of the quarter.
The Utes were held to 28.6% shooting in the third.
Washington kept its momentum going in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 14 points on its way to earning the road win over a younger Utah squad.
The Huskies shot 45.6%, while Utah finished at 41.5%, and just 38.5% after halftime.
Washington, in particular, burned Utah in transition, finishing with a 20-0 edge in fast break points.
The Huskies also had a 38-31 rebounding edge, including 12-5 on the offensive end.
“Really proud of our fight, how we started the game today. We were very dialed in, focused, played with intensity,” Petersen said. “You know, they made their run in the second quarter, and we answered that.
“But then that third quarter, for whatever reason, we just let the game get away from us. We kept battling, fighting to the bitter end, but I expect nothing else from our team.”
It was a learning experience for a younger Utah team
One of the most impressive aspects of Saturday’s matchup from the Utes’ perspective was the team’s ability to come out and take the fight to Washington to start the game.
With players like White, Maty Wilke and Ross, who all have played for multiple NCAA tournament teams in their time at Utah, facing another top 25 team wasn’t a brand new experience.
White, who spent her first two years at Utah then transferred to Virginia Tech last season before returning to Salt Lake City for her senior season, has a different look to her, and she helped set the tone early for Utah in the game.
At halftime, she had 10 points, including 7 of 8 from the free throw line, and eight rebounds. She finished with a double-double, with 12 points and 12 assists.
Ross also brought her usual competitive energy, as she finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Wilke was one of four Utah players in double-figures, as she had 13 points and made three 3-pointers while shooting 5 of 13 from the field.
At times, particularly in the second half, the Utes got away from their winning Utah basketball formula, though. The Utes had 11 assists, an unusually low number for a program that’s found itself among the nation’s leaders in that category over the past few years.
Utah also had some defensive breakdowns, and while it kept fighting until the end, it was clear that a Utes team with a large portion of younger players — mixed in with veterans who are learning in their leadership roles — is still coming together.
That’s why games like this matter.
“I think there were a lot of things that were good. We gave them only five (offensive) boards at halftime, seven in the second half. But again, we made that a point of emphasis,” Petersen said.
“Being able to execute and look for what we’re trying to get out of our offense, it’s still early in the season so we’re lacking, but there was some great execution. There was some great cuts movement off the ball and those are the type things that we’re going to need to continue to build on.”
Washington’s veteran leadership took over
Before Saturday’s matchup, Petersen talked about how the roles had reversed between Utah and Washington since their meeting last year, when Utah won 67-57 in Seattle.
Last year, the Utes had the veteran squad and the Huskies the younger up-and-comers.
It was one of those previously up-and-comers who has turned into a veteran star, Washington junior guard Sellers, who especially shined in this game.
Sellers scored a game-high 30 points, hitting 12 of 23 shots from the field. She added four rebounds, two blocks and two steals while consistently being a thorn in Utah’s side, as well as an example of Utah’s talented group could become.
“We worked our tail off to try to get her into Utah uniform, and it didn’t happen, but she shows how good she is,” Petersen said of Sellers.
“She’s so strong. She has great balance and strength and always is in a position where she can get a shot off.”
Senior Hannah Stines added 14 points and eight rebounds for Washington, which improved to 4-0 on the year with its first big test of the season.
What this loss means for Utah in the immediate future
The Utes hadn’t met a lot of resistance over their first three games, as they beat Sioux Falls, Utah State and Utah Valley.
Washington provided the Utes with their first big test of the year, one that Petersen embraced.
“It’s a great chance for us early in the year to get a home game against a great program and test ourselves,” he said before the matchup.
Those tests will keep coming.
“We’ve got to get used to playing in these type of games, these type of environments, so we’ve got to stick together. The tendency is to go into your own silo and self-diagnose — why I didn’t play bad, or why I didn’t get to play these minutes, and it’s like, ‘No, it’s about the team, we are earning the right to play,’” Petersen said.
“And you do that in practice, you have to earn trust. You have to be able to do things on a consistent level and a consistent basis, so a lot of that stuff, we’re going to have to just, you know, circle up, regroup and get ready for the next game.”
Up next for Utah is a road trip next week to Connecticut for the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase, where the Utes will take on Syracuse and defending national champion UConn.
The Orange are off to a 3-0 start and will play Wagner on Sunday before facing Utah at the Mohegan Sun Arena next Thursday.
Top-ranked UConn is also off to a 3-0 start to the year, and that includes a season-opening win over then-No. 20 Louisville.
The Huskies play Michigan on Thursday before facing Utah next Saturday.
“It (was) great opportunity for our team to be able to play Washington. I mean, they’ve always been a great program, and like Gavin said, they’re going to be in the tournament,” Wilke said.
“And then leading into Connecticut, we’re going to face teams that give us pressure, that can score offensively, so I think it was just a good test for us. ... We have a lot of season left. We have a very high ceiling.”