Defense, Bench Key In 74-63 Victory Over SMC

Saturday, December 2

Salt Lake City, Utah

2:30 PM

University of Utah

6-1

Saint Mary's (California)

5-2

Saint Mary's

UTAH

12/2/2017 5:48 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah women's basketball team forced 27 turnovers against the Saint Mary's Gaels on the way to a 74-63 victory, improving to 6-1 on the season.

Utah struggled offensively throughout the game, but with 17 steals and the Gaels' 27 turnovers, the Utes were able to come away with the win. The Utes shot over 40-percent from the field and scored 70-plus points for the fifth game in a row, led by three players in double-figures.

"At halftime I said we weren't really playing to our potential and we weren't really getting after it," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "We were a little flat footed. I thought we had a much better second half. Offensively we sputtered a little at times. The number we talked about was 20. So we wanted to force them into 20 or more turnovers and keep them under 20 free throws attempted, and we did both of those things."

Daneesha Provo was a spark for the Utes off the bench as usual, leading the team with 17 points (7-for-13), adding three rebounds. Emily Potter chipped in 15 points, five rebounds and a block, giving her 226 career blocks to become the all-time leader in Utah history. Tori Williams rounded out Utah's double-digit scorers with 14 points, tying for a game-high five steals with Tilar Clark.

#ICYMI Senior @empotter10 recorded her 226th career block and officially became Utah's All-Time block leader during Saturday's 74-63 win over Saint Mary's! #GoUtes #Elevate pic.twitter.com/IW3OwDIXQ6
— Utah WBasketball (@UTAHWBB) December 4, 2017

"This was a good win for us," Roberts said. "I don't think either team played their best today, but I thought both teams played really hard. For us, we have some things to clean up offensively, but we can hang our hat on our defense. We know that we can shoot 23-percent from the three and still score 74 points because we are getting out and running. Once again, showing that we don't have to shoot great to score a lot and get a win against a really good team."

The Utes had trouble from deep in the first quarter, going just 1-for-11 from the arc, trailing Saint Mary's 13-11. Despite the low shooting percentage, Utah forced eight turnovers, scoring seven points off those mistakes. Utah had four players score at least a point in the first quarter, displaying a balanced offense with Megan Huff leading with four points.

Utah got its rhythm back in the second quarter when Provo scored four straight points to cut the SMC lead to one-point with 6:58 left to play. After Saint Mary's hit a jumper to answer, Provo and Williams hit back-to-back threes to give Utah a 25-22 advantage. The Utes led by as many as eight points in the second quarter after hitting six straight shots and despite a late five unanswered points from SMC, the Utes went into halftime up 34-29.

The Ute defense continued to be stingy in the third quarter, holding Saint Mary's scoreless for over three minutes to take a 43-31 lead on a 6-0 run. The Gaels answered with a run of their own, cutting Utah's lead to seven before Potter went in strong under the basket for two to put Utah up 45-36 with 3:36 left to play in the third.

Utah held a 56-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter after the Utes shot 57-percent to end the third. Provo was all over the court in the final quarter, including five straight points on a three-pointer and then a fast break layup on her own steal to put the Utes up 63-49 with 7:19 on the clock.

Saint Mary's rallied back to cut the lead to seven points with just 3:42 remaining in the game, but composure continued to be a mainstay for the Utes this season as they went on a 9-3 run sparked by five straight points from Williams to eventually come away with the 74-63 win.

Utah has a quick turnaround as they return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 5 when they host Pepperdine in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The game is set for a 6 p.m. tip.