Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Western Colorado (EXHIBITION) on October 27, 2025 at TBD
TBD
Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Saturday, November 30
Georgetown, Grand Cayman Islands
3:00 PM (MT)
University of Utah
6-2,0-0Big 12
78
vs
67
Notre Dame
5-2,0-0ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Utah
19
13
21
25
78
Notre Dame
18
19
11
19
67
Utah Earns Highest Ranked Travel Win with 78-67 Win over No. 3 Notre Dame
11/30/2024 6:44 PM | Women's Basketball
GEORGE TOWN, CAYMAN ISLANDS — The Utah women's basketball team picked up their highest ranked win outside of the Huntsman Center in school history by taking down No. 3 Notre Dame, 78-67, in the final game of the Cayman Island Classic.
Utah took the lead early in the second half thanks to an 11-0 run to start the third quarter. The Utes never lost the lead in the second half and pulled away for a 78-67 win over the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Utah had four people score in double figures and were led by Gianna Kneepkens' 16 points. Jenna Johnson also had a big game with 14 points and eight total rebounds.
GAME SUMMARY
Notre Dame got an early 13-4 jump over the Utes, but Utah quickly answered with an 8-0 run that was sparked by an NBA range made three from Kneepkens. Utah was able to take the lead for the first time in the game with 3:12 left in the first quarter thanks to a driving layup by Matyson Wilke. The Utes had a 19-18 lead over the Fighting Irish at the end of the first quarter.
The Utes stayed tough in the second quarter and never let Notre Dame run away with the momentum. The Fighting Irish had a 37-28 lead with one minute left in the half. Reese Ross drove up the lane and laid it in for two before Utah's defense locked in with a steal by Kennady McQueen. McQueen then drove baseline with one second left in the half to bring the score to 37-32 in favor of Notre Dame.
Utah began the second half on an 11-0 run that started thanks to a hook shot from Johnson. The Utes' defense locked in and held the Fighting Irish to just a pair of free throws for the first five minutes of the second half. Utah ended the third quarter with back-to-back made three pointers from McQueen and Mayé Touré to help give the Utes a 53-48 lead over Notre Dame going into the final quarter of play.
The Utes were firing on all cylinders to start the final quarter, jumping out to an 11-point lead over Notre Dame. Utah controlled the rest of the fourth quarter only letting Notre Dame score on consecutive possessions once. The Utes maintained a double digit lead over the Fighting Irish the majority of the fourth quarter to take down the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame with a final score of 78-67.
LEADERS
Utah had four players score in double figures and were led by Kneepkens' 16 points. McQueen rocked 15 points for the Utes while Johnson and Wilke each added 14. Touré was just shy of double digit scoring as she posted nine on the night.
Johnson and Ross also combined for 16 rebounds, pulling down eight each for the game high. Inês Vieira helped Utah's offensive efforts with five assists.
COMPARISON
Utah shot 45.9-percent from the court while Notre Dame shot 40.3-percent. Utah went 37.5-percent from deep, making 9-of-24, while Notre Dame went 35.7-percent shooting 5-of-14. The Utes shot for 81.3-percent from the free throw line going 13-of-14 while the Fighting Irish shot for 92.3-percent going 12-of-13 from the line.
Utah had 17 assists on 28 made field goals while Notre Dame had 12 assists on 25 made field goals. Notre Dame pulled down 37 rebounds to Utah's 32.
NOTABLES
Defeating No. 3 Notre Dame marks Utah's highest ranked win while traveling in program history. Previously, the record for the highest ranked neutral site game was during the 2002-03 season where Utah defeated No. 14 Mississippi State 69-65. The record for highest ranked win outside of Salt Lake City was last season when Utah defeated No. 6 USC with a 74-68 score in Los Angeles (2/25/24). This is back-to-back seasons the Utes have taken down top-10 teams away from the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Head Coach Gavin Petersen has become the fastest head coach in Utah history to pick up a win over a top-10 team accomplishing the feat in just four games.
Utah is now 6-2 overall on the season.
Inês Vieira was named to the Cayman Island Classic All-Tournament team for her impressive defensive efforts.
Utah is currently 4-1 on the season when Kennady McQueen hits three or more three pointers.
Gianna Kneepkens has posted double figure scoring in eight consecutive games this season.
Hear from Head Coach Gavin Petersen
Overall thoughts . . .
"I am extremely proud of our team. They showed resilience tonight. They were dialed in today and executed. They are starting to buy into our circle. What I mean by that is that we are starting to pick people up when they're having down days and celebrating every small victory. At half time, they told me they were having fun and I responded 'Absolutely, it sure looks like it.' That's the energy we have to continue to build upon."
On the team's performance on the weekend . . .
"Inês [Vieira] is our engine. Since day one she has continued to improve. She has contagious energy and her personality is our heartbeat. We have our anchor in Jenna Johnson who just continued to show up consistently for team in tough moments. We have the super stars in Kennady McQueen and Matyson Wilke who splash when we need them to. Reese Ross is really starting to find her stride and excel in her role and Mayé [Touré] keeps striving to be better and constantly pushing on ways to best contribute to our team. We are really starting to gel together as one unit."
OFFICIAL MOBILE APP OF UTAH ATHLETICS – UTAH 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today to unlock exclusive video content, news and information, schedules, rosters, stats, and access to buy and manage tickets. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2024-25 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
Utah took the lead early in the second half thanks to an 11-0 run to start the third quarter. The Utes never lost the lead in the second half and pulled away for a 78-67 win over the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Utah had four people score in double figures and were led by Gianna Kneepkens' 16 points. Jenna Johnson also had a big game with 14 points and eight total rebounds.
GAME SUMMARY
Notre Dame got an early 13-4 jump over the Utes, but Utah quickly answered with an 8-0 run that was sparked by an NBA range made three from Kneepkens. Utah was able to take the lead for the first time in the game with 3:12 left in the first quarter thanks to a driving layup by Matyson Wilke. The Utes had a 19-18 lead over the Fighting Irish at the end of the first quarter.
The Utes stayed tough in the second quarter and never let Notre Dame run away with the momentum. The Fighting Irish had a 37-28 lead with one minute left in the half. Reese Ross drove up the lane and laid it in for two before Utah's defense locked in with a steal by Kennady McQueen. McQueen then drove baseline with one second left in the half to bring the score to 37-32 in favor of Notre Dame.
Utah began the second half on an 11-0 run that started thanks to a hook shot from Johnson. The Utes' defense locked in and held the Fighting Irish to just a pair of free throws for the first five minutes of the second half. Utah ended the third quarter with back-to-back made three pointers from McQueen and Mayé Touré to help give the Utes a 53-48 lead over Notre Dame going into the final quarter of play.
The Utes were firing on all cylinders to start the final quarter, jumping out to an 11-point lead over Notre Dame. Utah controlled the rest of the fourth quarter only letting Notre Dame score on consecutive possessions once. The Utes maintained a double digit lead over the Fighting Irish the majority of the fourth quarter to take down the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame with a final score of 78-67.
LEADERS
Utah had four players score in double figures and were led by Kneepkens' 16 points. McQueen rocked 15 points for the Utes while Johnson and Wilke each added 14. Touré was just shy of double digit scoring as she posted nine on the night.
Johnson and Ross also combined for 16 rebounds, pulling down eight each for the game high. Inês Vieira helped Utah's offensive efforts with five assists.
COMPARISON
Utah shot 45.9-percent from the court while Notre Dame shot 40.3-percent. Utah went 37.5-percent from deep, making 9-of-24, while Notre Dame went 35.7-percent shooting 5-of-14. The Utes shot for 81.3-percent from the free throw line going 13-of-14 while the Fighting Irish shot for 92.3-percent going 12-of-13 from the line.
Utah had 17 assists on 28 made field goals while Notre Dame had 12 assists on 25 made field goals. Notre Dame pulled down 37 rebounds to Utah's 32.
NOTABLES
Defeating No. 3 Notre Dame marks Utah's highest ranked win while traveling in program history. Previously, the record for the highest ranked neutral site game was during the 2002-03 season where Utah defeated No. 14 Mississippi State 69-65. The record for highest ranked win outside of Salt Lake City was last season when Utah defeated No. 6 USC with a 74-68 score in Los Angeles (2/25/24). This is back-to-back seasons the Utes have taken down top-10 teams away from the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Head Coach Gavin Petersen has become the fastest head coach in Utah history to pick up a win over a top-10 team accomplishing the feat in just four games.
Utah is now 6-2 overall on the season.
Inês Vieira was named to the Cayman Island Classic All-Tournament team for her impressive defensive efforts.
Utah is currently 4-1 on the season when Kennady McQueen hits three or more three pointers.
Gianna Kneepkens has posted double figure scoring in eight consecutive games this season.
Hear from Head Coach Gavin Petersen
Overall thoughts . . .
"I am extremely proud of our team. They showed resilience tonight. They were dialed in today and executed. They are starting to buy into our circle. What I mean by that is that we are starting to pick people up when they're having down days and celebrating every small victory. At half time, they told me they were having fun and I responded 'Absolutely, it sure looks like it.' That's the energy we have to continue to build upon."
On the team's performance on the weekend . . .
"Inês [Vieira] is our engine. Since day one she has continued to improve. She has contagious energy and her personality is our heartbeat. We have our anchor in Jenna Johnson who just continued to show up consistently for team in tough moments. We have the super stars in Kennady McQueen and Matyson Wilke who splash when we need them to. Reese Ross is really starting to find her stride and excel in her role and Mayé [Touré] keeps striving to be better and constantly pushing on ways to best contribute to our team. We are really starting to gel together as one unit."
OFFICIAL MOBILE APP OF UTAH ATHLETICS – UTAH 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today to unlock exclusive video content, news and information, schedules, rosters, stats, and access to buy and manage tickets. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2024-25 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
Team Stats
Utah
ND
FG%
.459
.403
3FG%
.375
.357
FT%
.813
.923
RB
32
37
TO
19
22
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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