No. 17 Women's Basketball Rally Falls Short in 84-80 Loss vs. USC

Friday, February 8

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

USC

Southern California

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

No. 17 Women's Basketball Rally Falls Short in 84-80 Loss vs. USC

2/8/2019 10:19 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of Utah women's basketball team scored 80 points against the USC Trojans on Friday night, but defensive woes slowed down the Utes with the Trojans claiming an 84-80 win. The Utes are 18-4 overall this season and 7-4 in Pac-12 play.

The Utes trailed by as much as 14 points in the third quarter, but the Utes rallied back in the fourth to tie the game 68-68 with 6:30 remaining in the game. After USC stretched its lead late in the game, the Utes once again battle back as Niyah Becker hit a key three-pointer with 15 seconds left in the game, followed by a steal by Erika Bean on the in-bounds play to get the ball back.

With two seconds left on the clock, Becker attempted another three-pointer off a screen, but it was blocked with USC getting the rebound. After converting two free throws with just one second on the clock, the two-possession score was too much for the Utes to overcome, suffering its third straight loss.

"We couldn't keep them in front of us in the first quarter and the beginning of the third, so we went to that zone and it worked," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "We caught up, but we couldn't capitalize. I felt like momentum was on our side and things were working our way but we just missed a lot of shots when we had every opportunity to take the lead and take control of the game."

"We scored 42 points in the first half and that should be good enough. The problem wasn't our offense, it was our defense. We couldn't get stops and so that puts pressure on your offense. Any empty possessions because you aren't getting stops makes it feel like you haven't scored in forever. So, you think if we score 80 points we should win with how we've defended all year, but we gave up 84 tonight. We haven't given that much up at home this season. Second half defensively we did a much better job, but 50 in the first half crushes you and you can't do that in this league."

Utah had five players reach double-digits, led by redshirt freshman Dru Gylten, who scored 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting and going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Megan Huff added 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with Kiana Moore also putting up 11 points.

Dre'Una Edwards and Andrea Torres chipped in 10 points each with Edwards adding seven rebounds and two assists along with Torres's three boards.

The Utes shot 50-percent from the floor in the first quarter with Huff knocking down two early threes to give Utah the lead, eventually jumping out to a 19-14 lead with 2:05 on the clock. Unfortunately for the Utes, the Trojans were able to end the quarter on a 9-0 run while holding the Utes scoreless for the final two minutes to take a 21-19 advantage into the second quarter.

Utah fought back early in the second quarter, making three straight shots that included two great drives from Bean and a three from Gylten to retake a 29-26 lead with 7:21 left to play, but it was another run by the Trojans that proved costly. USC took off on a 9-0 run to take an eight-point lead with less than five minutes to go, ending the half with a 50-42 lead.

It was another run by the Trojans that got the Utes in trouble as they went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-point lead with 5:53 on the clock in the third quarter. Moore was able to hit a huge three with 2:56 remaining in the quarter to make it a nine-point game, but the Trojans were able to survive the third with a 68-59 lead heading into the fourth.

Utah outscored USC 21-16 in the fourth quarter, taking off on a 9-0 run to tie the score 68-68 with 6:30 left in the game. USC once again pulled away to a six-point advantage with less than three minutes to go, but the Utes answered, cutting away at the Trojan lead as Gylten converted two free throws with 34 seconds on the clock to make it a two-point game.

After being forced to foul, USC took a five-point lead with 24 seconds left in the game, but Becker came up huge for the Utes as she hit a contested three near the angle of the arc to once again make it a two-point game. Bean's steal with just 15 seconds left gave the Utes a surge of energy, but the final shot attempt would be blocked, eventually sending the Utes to its fourth loss of the season.

Utah will look to bounce back as they host UCLA on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 12 p.m. MT. The game will air on Pac-12 Networks.