Utah Women's Basketball Defeated at Washington, 63-51
1/25/2015 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SEATTLE - Freshman Tanaeya Boclair scored 14 points, her highest output against a Pac-12 Conference opponent this season, but the University of Utah women's basketball team could not avoid a 63-51 loss to Washington on Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Utah (6-13, 0-8 Pac-12) had three players hit double-figures, led by a team-high 14 points by Boclair, 13 points by senior guard Cheyenne Wilson, and a game-high 11 rebounds by senior forward Taryn Wicijowski.
Boclair registered her Pac-12 season high with 14 points to go with four rebounds. This was the eighth time in double-figures during her freshman season with the Utes.
Wilson turned in her second straight game in double digits in points with 13 points and her fourth game in double digits in 2014-15. The Seattle native also grabbed a pair of rebounds.
Wicijowski just missed her seventh double-double of the season as she collected a game-high 11 rebounds, her eighth game with 10 or more rebounds. She also scored nine points and blocked a game-high two shots.
Freshman center Joeseta Fatuesi scored eight points and corralled seven rebounds to go with two assists. She was 4-of-5 from the floor.
Junior guard Valerie Nawahine tied her career high by scoring five points and grabbed a career-high four rebounds. In her first career start, freshman guard Gabrielle Bowie played eight minutes and grabbed a rebound.
The Huskies jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Fatuesi pinned a Washington defender in the post for a lay-in. Washington led by as many as 15 (19-4) before a 15-0 run cut Utah's deficit to two (19-17), while holding Washington scoreless for a 5:02 stretch. The Huskies were able to launch a run of their own, 8-0, to push their advantage back to double-digits (27-17) before Wilson connected on her first 3-pointer of the contest (27-20). Unfortunately, the Huskies were able to take a 10-point lead (31-21) into halftime. The Utes held the Huskies to a 33.3 (9-27) shooting percentage in the first half. Boclair scored seven points and Wicijowski had a game-high eight boards to go with five points in the first 20 minutes.
Two quick lay-ins within the first 90 seconds of the second half by Fatuesi brought Utah back within eight (33-25) and a breakaway steal and pull-up jumper by Wilson cut Utah's deficit to six (33-27). The Huskies then increased their lead to as many as 13 (57-44) before Utah used a 7-0 stretch to close within six (57-51). Unfortunately, the Utes could not get any closer as the Huskies came away with the 63-51 victory.
Washington (16-4, 5-3 Pac-12) received a game-high 26 points and six rebounds by Kelsey Plum.
The Utes return to the friendly confines of the Jon M. Huntsman Center to host Arizona on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. MT with a live video stream at pac-12.com and Rick Bouillon will have the radio call on ESPN 700 AM.