PROVO — For several years, the Utah women’s basketball team has made the 3-pointer the central point of its success, and that has led to four straight 20-win seasons.
BYU turned the tables on the Utes Saturday afternoon, as Brinley Cannon scored 21 points and led four Cougar players in double figures to help BYU rally to a 77-65 Big 12 Conference victory in front of a boisterous crowd of 4,622 at the Marriott Center.
“Tremendous game; just fun to be a part of,” said Cougars coach Lee Cummard. “I’ve been a part of many of these, and it felt just like all of them. It’s back and forth, there’s emotion and energy that’s different from other games. It’s so fun to be a part of this rivalry.
“I shared this with the girls; it’s the same game, and you approach it the same way. You have to execute and impose our game plan on them. When you win in the rivalry, it just tastes sweeter than most wins. We did that today.”
Utah led for much of the game. The score was 18-14 after the first quarter and 35-25 at halftime. However, Cannon nailed a 3-pointer 30 seconds into the third period, and followed it with a steal that resulted in a basket by freshman Sydney Benally that cut the margin in half.
Utah didn’t lose its composure, though, but never regained the momentum. The Utes, who shoot 35.4% from 3-point range and average 9.1 treys per game, pride themselves on long-range shots to fuel their defense and ignite scoring bursts. Lani White and Maty Wilke each had their moments Saturday but were never able to connect on consecutive shots.
Cannon, a sophomore from Shelley, Idaho, who came into the game making just 27% of her 3s, changed the outcome when she tied her career-high on this day.
“Every game is different, every day is different,” she said. ”I’m just trying to stay consistent. I’m grateful to be at a place that has a lot of confidence in me, even when shots aren’t going in.”
Cannon made 6 of 11 shots overall, including 6 of 9 3-pointers. Olivia Hamlin added 16 points, Marya Hudgins 14 and Lara Rohkohl 11.
Their efforts were needed to pick up the slack for leading scorer Delaney Gibb, who suffered through a 3 of 14 shooting night and eight points.
BYU finally took the lead with 8:45 left in the game on another Cannon 3. Utah responded on a basket by LA Sneed but then Gibb also began to get involved.
She snared an offensive rebound and fed Cannon again, who fired successfully from long range. The basket ignited the crowd, and the motivated Cougars hustled like never before.
BYU ended the game on a 9-0 run over the final 1:02 for its first win in this rivalry series since Dec. 4, 2021.
BYU also ended two-game losing streak and improved to 16-6 overall and 5-5 in Big 12 play. Utah fell to 15-7 and 6-4.
The Utes could have moved into fourth place but now find themselves in a long, drawn-out battle with as many as 11 other Big 12 schools fighting to stay in contention for a decent seed in the postseason tournament, which is just over four weeks away.
Utah coach Gavin Petersen said his squad must focus on one game at a time and try to find a solution to its recent second-half woes.
The Utes were outscored 52-30 after intermission by BYU and have been outplayed after halftime in their last five games.
White led Utah with 20 points. Wilke added 18 and Chyra Evans 11, including making 6 of 6 pressure-filled free throws. Reese Ross had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Utah, however, made just 6-27 (22.2%) 3-pointers.
“You’ve got to stay hungry and want to get better,” Petersen said. “You can only hang your hat on your last performance. This game was fun; it was a great atmosphere. I’m sure this game will sting for a while, but we’ll get back at them.”
The Utes will play host to BYU Feb. 21 at the Huntsman Center, where they needed a halfcourt heave at the buzzer by Wilke to win last year.