Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Western Colorado (EXHIBITION) on October 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Sunday, December 31
Salt Lake City, Utah
12:00 PM
University of Utah
10-3, 1-1
81
vs
83
Arizona State
11-3, 2-0
1
2
3
4
F
Arizona State
34
9
19
21
83
UTAH
19
17
19
26
81
Photo by: Steve C. Wilson
Utah Rally Falls Short Against Arizona State, Falls 83-81
12/31/2017 3:12 PM | Women's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY – It was a battle from start to finish today in the Jon M. Huntsman Center between the Utah women's basketball team and the Arizona State Sun Devils, but despite an amazing rally by the Utes, ASU was able to come away with an 83-81 win in the end. Utah is 10-3 overall this season and 1-1 in Pac-12 play.
Utah trailed by as many as 17 points against the Sun Devils, but with persistence and toughness the Utes were able to claw back and hold a one-point lead with 22 seconds remaining in the game. Arizona State had an answer though, scoring with 12 seconds on the clock, forcing Utah to foul and eventually fall by two points.
"I'm proud of our team for fighting back when we were down by 17 at one point," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "The start of the game just crushed us. Every time we play Arizona State it seems to be the story where we get down early and then have to scrap and claw our way back. We had a chance to win it there at the end with momentum in our favor, but they made a good play."
The Utes finished the game with five players in double-figures with the team shooting 48-percent from the floor as a whole. Megan Huff led Utah with 22 points with Daneesha Provo turning in 18 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Erika Bean and Tilar Clark chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively with Bean dishing out a team-high tying five assists. Coming off the bench with a strong performance was Tanaeya BoClair who finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists to round out Utah's double-digit scorers.
"Us being in this situation just shows the toughness of this team," Roberts said. "It is a learning game for us. Arizona State did a nice job answering and executing down the stretch, but so did we. They just made the last play."
Arizona State came out in the first quarter shooting 77-percent from the field to quickly put Utah in a hole, taking an early 13-2 lead on an 11-0 run. Huff scored seven of her 22 points in the first quarter, allowing Utah to stay in the game and head into the second quarter down 34-19.
The offensive rhythm began to swing for the Utes early in the second quarter when Bean and Huff hit back-to-back threes to make it 36-25 with 8:38 on the clock. The Utes didn't stop there, cutting it to an eight-point game with 5:26 left to play when Clark hit a huge three, making it 38-30.
Utah outscored the Sun Devils 17-9 in the second quarter, even making it a six-point game when Bean dished a beautiful pass to BoClair for two to cut the ASU lead to 42-36. Utah headed into halftime down 36-42 after holding Arizona State to just 26-percent shooting in the second quarter.
The fight continued as Utah whittled away at Arizona State's lead, making it a four-point game with Provo hitting an integral three-pointer with 8:42 on the clock in the third to make it 45-41. The Sun Devils countered with an 8-2 run to push back out to a 10-point lead, but Utah kept pushing back with Bean, Huff and BoClair scoring late third quarter points to send Utah into the fourth down only seven points.
It was Provo again to start the fourth quarter as she knocked down a three-pointer to make it 66-61 with 7:26 remaining in the game. Arizona State was able to hold on to a seven-point lead heading into the second half of the fourth quarter, but Huff came up with a key block followed by an assist to Provo for three with 3:42 on the clock to cut the ASU lead to 75-71.
Utah's free throw shooting came into play with Provo getting fouled on a made layup and converting the extra point to tie the score 77-77 with 1:11 left to play, but Arizona State regained the lead quickly, hitting a three-pointer with 46 seconds on the clock to make it 80-77.
It was not in Utah to give up, getting aggressive in the lane with Huff drawing a foul with 22 seconds left, converting both of her free throws and giving Utah its first lead of the game (81-80). Arizona State yet again had an answer, scoring with 12 seconds left and adding a free throw with just three seconds on the clock, but Utah's last second attempt rimmed off, giving them their first conference loss of the season.
Utah returns to action on Friday, Jan. 5 when they head to Seattle, Wash. to take on the Washington Huskies. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Utah trailed by as many as 17 points against the Sun Devils, but with persistence and toughness the Utes were able to claw back and hold a one-point lead with 22 seconds remaining in the game. Arizona State had an answer though, scoring with 12 seconds on the clock, forcing Utah to foul and eventually fall by two points.
"I'm proud of our team for fighting back when we were down by 17 at one point," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "The start of the game just crushed us. Every time we play Arizona State it seems to be the story where we get down early and then have to scrap and claw our way back. We had a chance to win it there at the end with momentum in our favor, but they made a good play."
The Utes finished the game with five players in double-figures with the team shooting 48-percent from the floor as a whole. Megan Huff led Utah with 22 points with Daneesha Provo turning in 18 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Erika Bean and Tilar Clark chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively with Bean dishing out a team-high tying five assists. Coming off the bench with a strong performance was Tanaeya BoClair who finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists to round out Utah's double-digit scorers.
"Us being in this situation just shows the toughness of this team," Roberts said. "It is a learning game for us. Arizona State did a nice job answering and executing down the stretch, but so did we. They just made the last play."
Arizona State came out in the first quarter shooting 77-percent from the field to quickly put Utah in a hole, taking an early 13-2 lead on an 11-0 run. Huff scored seven of her 22 points in the first quarter, allowing Utah to stay in the game and head into the second quarter down 34-19.
The offensive rhythm began to swing for the Utes early in the second quarter when Bean and Huff hit back-to-back threes to make it 36-25 with 8:38 on the clock. The Utes didn't stop there, cutting it to an eight-point game with 5:26 left to play when Clark hit a huge three, making it 38-30.
Utah outscored the Sun Devils 17-9 in the second quarter, even making it a six-point game when Bean dished a beautiful pass to BoClair for two to cut the ASU lead to 42-36. Utah headed into halftime down 36-42 after holding Arizona State to just 26-percent shooting in the second quarter.
The fight continued as Utah whittled away at Arizona State's lead, making it a four-point game with Provo hitting an integral three-pointer with 8:42 on the clock in the third to make it 45-41. The Sun Devils countered with an 8-2 run to push back out to a 10-point lead, but Utah kept pushing back with Bean, Huff and BoClair scoring late third quarter points to send Utah into the fourth down only seven points.
It was Provo again to start the fourth quarter as she knocked down a three-pointer to make it 66-61 with 7:26 remaining in the game. Arizona State was able to hold on to a seven-point lead heading into the second half of the fourth quarter, but Huff came up with a key block followed by an assist to Provo for three with 3:42 on the clock to cut the ASU lead to 75-71.
Utah's free throw shooting came into play with Provo getting fouled on a made layup and converting the extra point to tie the score 77-77 with 1:11 left to play, but Arizona State regained the lead quickly, hitting a three-pointer with 46 seconds on the clock to make it 80-77.
It was not in Utah to give up, getting aggressive in the lane with Huff drawing a foul with 22 seconds left, converting both of her free throws and giving Utah its first lead of the game (81-80). Arizona State yet again had an answer, scoring with 12 seconds left and adding a free throw with just three seconds on the clock, but Utah's last second attempt rimmed off, giving them their first conference loss of the season.
Utah returns to action on Friday, Jan. 5 when they head to Seattle, Wash. to take on the Washington Huskies. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
ASU
UTAHW
FG%
.478
.481
3FG%
.462
.333
FT%
.765
.793
RB
35
34
TO
9
14
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
W
/ Women's BasketballW
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballW
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