Things got tense in the fourth quarter Saturday yet again for the Utah women’s basketball team after it held a double-digit lead earlier in the game.
This time, the Utes had seen a 23-point lead whittled down to four as Kansas State used a 22-5 run over a six-minute span to make it 67-63 at Bramlage Coliseum with just over three minutes to play.
In two of Utah’s three previous Big 12 wins, it had to weather blowing a double-digit lead before hanging on in the end.
This time, at least, the Utes were able to put the game away with a run of their own.
Utah responded to Kanas State’s run with a three-point play from Maty Wilke and a Grace Foster 3-pointer over the next minute-plus of play, and the lead was back to double-digits.
The Utes’ eventual 13-5 run put the game away as they won 80-73 to wrap up a two-game road swing.
A couple career days sparked Utah (13-4, 4-1 Big 12) to its third straight win.
The sophomore Foster finished with a career-best 17 points while hitting four 3-pointers, and she also had three rebounds and a steal.
Reese Ross ended up with a double-double for Utah, putting up a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Ross had 15 of her points in the first half, while Foster had 10. That helped Utah take a 41-29 lead into the break, and the Utes extended that to a 19-point advantage through three quarters.
Kansas State (9-9, 2-3 Big 12), though, forced Utah into 19 turnovers while the Wildcats had 10. The home team ultimately finished with a 23-16 edge in points off turnovers.
The Wildcats also held the advantage in points in the paint (40-28) and bench points (39-27), and Tess Heal scored 16 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter.
For much of the day, though, Utah was able to dictate gameplay and ended up with an efficient 20 assists on 27 made field goals, while also hitting 11 3-pointers.
The Utes won the free-throw battle, too, making 15 of 16 while Kansas State was just 5 of 9.
Wilke also came up big for Utah, scoring 14 points and adding three rebounds, an assist and a steal. She scored eight of her points in the fourth quarter.
The win vaults the Utes into second place in the Big 12 standings. Up next for Utah is a home game next Wednesday against No. 16 Baylor (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+).