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)
Saturday, March 23
Spokane, WA
8:00 PM
University of Utah
23-10,11-7Pac-12
68
vs
54
South Dakota State
27-6,16-0Summit League
1
2
3
4
F
South Dakota St.
3
21
17
13
54
Utah
20
7
26
15
68
No. 5 Utah downs No. 12 South Dakota State in First Round
3/24/2024 1:03 AM | Women's Basketball
SPOKANE, Wash. – The No. 5 seeded Utah Utes battled with the No. 12 seeded South Dakota State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament and picked up a 68-54 win to advance to the Second Round.
This is the third consecutive year Utah has picked up a First Round win to advance into the Second Round. Utah is set to take on No. 4 seeded Gonzaga on Monday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. (MT).
The Utes were led by Alissa Pili who had 26 points and Kennady McQueen who had 17. Jenna Johnson was a force on the boards pulling down 10 for the Utes.
GAME SUMMARY
The Utes didn't waste any time getting a jump on the Jackrabbits. SDSU was put on the free throw line, sinking one free throw to get on the board first. The Utes then went on a 12-0 run and held the Jackrabbits scoreless for over five minutes. Utah continued to surge and pushed out for a 17-3 lead in the final minute of the initial quarter.
Kennady McQueen drained a step back three pointer with just four seconds on the clock to end the first quarter pushing the score 20-3. Utah allowed South Dakota State just one field goal the entire first quarter.
South Dakota State found some momentum in the second quarter. Ines Vieria drained a three from the left corner with 7:43 on the clock. The next possession, Alissa Pili worked low in the paint for two. Those were the final points Utah scored in the first half as SDSU went on a 17-0 run and held Utah to a seven minute scoring drought.
Utah stayed just ahead with a 27-24 score at the end of the first half.
Both teams started out the second half on a two minute scoring drought. Utah broke the drought first thanks to a made bucket down low by Pili. Matyson Wilke followed it up with a driving layup. The Utes locked in on defense and didn't allow the Jackrabbits any field goals for over five minutes.
Late in the third quarter, Utah put together a 6-0 run that helped propel them to a 53-41 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Utes had their biggest scoring quarter in the third putting up 26 points.
Utah finished the game strong and pulled out for a 16 point lead. Never letting up in the final minutes, the Utes pulled ahead for a 68-54 victory to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
LEADERS
Utah had two Utes score in double figures and were led by Alissa Pili who had 26 points. Kennady McQueen had 17 points including three made from beyond the arc. McQueen also had six assists for the game high to contribute to Utah's offensive efforts. Ines Vieira added five assists. Jenna Johnson had a great night on the boards pulling down 10 for Utah and was just shy of a double-double with eight points. .
Both Matyson Wilke and Pili recorded three steals to help with Utah's defensive efforts.
COMPARISON
Utah ended the game shooting 48.1 percent from the field while South Dakota State shot 32.1. Utah knocked down eight from beyond the arc for 30.8 percent while the Jackrabbits hit three from deep for 25.0 percent. Utah shot 75 percent from the free throw line while SDSU shot 65.5 percent.
Utah had just 12 turnovers while South Dakota State had 19. The boards were nearly matched as Utah had 33 to SDSU's 34. Utah ended the game with 20 assists while South Dakota State had just nine. Utah had a big game in the paint scoring 36 points while SDSU had just 26 points in the paint.
HEAR FROM THE UTES
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
Opening statements
"I do want to say South Dakota State is good, impressively good. And so much respect for them. It is so hard to win your league year in and year out and go the way that they do it, undefeated in conference and then to roll through your conference tournament. That's hard. So hats off to them. I think they're a tremendous program, not just a good team this year, but just a great program. I thought they battled hard. We went up big in the first quarter, and they never quit. They never hung their heads. And that's a sign of a good team. So congratulations to them on a good season.
I'm proud of our team. It is never easy in the NCAA Tournament to get a win. Tonight was not easy. We never could get very comfortable. They had us scouted pretty well and I think we just made plays when we needed to. That second quarter was less than impressive on our part offensively, but what a great third quarter out of halftime to score 26 and take control.
I thought Kennady McQueen was phenomenal tonight. Six assists, no turnovers, 17 points. Just tremendous. Alissa [Pili], you know, it's hard, the amount of pressure she has, not just off the court, which there is that, too, but the way she gets swarmed and the physicality of it all. She garners so much attention, and she handles it. Jenna Johnson did her job tonight. She always does. She defended. Brooklyn Meyer is tough. She's tough to guard and Jenna took two or three charges on her. So, overall great team win. It's not easy. And I'm happy to be moving on."
On Jenna Johnson's performance . . .
"She has a knack for sliding her feet, getting in front, and taking the hit. That was big for us tonight. I think Meyer got her second foul like seven minutes to go in the first quarter. Jenna has -- I don't know how many charges she's taken on the year, probably close to 40 or something. That is a skill, and it's a talent, and it is such a value add to a team. And it doesn't really show up in the stats, and it's huge, a huge component to winning."
On bouncing back after halftime . . .
"I mean, at halftime it wasn't like we were screaming and yelling or anything. We just talked about getting back to our game. We have to move the ball. Our offense is predicated on pace and space and tempo. We kind of got away from that. We had to go back to what we talked about and what we prepared for. We made a couple of adjustments with what they were doing defensively. With Alissa [Pili], it's really hard, you have to give it to her where she can catch it and just go right up because anytime she has to do a move, it's just a swarm. Right? So we tried to run some stuff where there was more space for her, and it was just kind of catch, bang, bang, finish. Which was helpful. I think Kennady also brought some swagger out there confidence-wise in scoring."
#35, Alissa Pili, forward
On how she handled SDSU's defense . . .
"I think throughout the whole season a lot of teams have guarded me in different ways. I think the main thing for me was to stay poised and take what the defense gives me. I've gotten better at that over time and as we've played more games and had different looks with defenses. I think it comes with experience to know how to handle that."
On South Dakota State's performance . . .
They play very hard. And like Coach was saying, we threw punches, and they weren't going away. They didn't hang their heads or anything. They just kept coming back. That's just a mentality thing I think and a tough team. When teams are mentally tough, I think it makes them a good team and a hard team to play."
#24, Kennady McQueen, guard
On coming out strong from halftime . . .
"We talked at halftime about throwing the first punch. Coach said once you get to the NCAA Tournament, no game is easy. Whether you're the higher seed or not, everybody is going to keep playing until that final buzzer goes off. It was throwing the first punch and getting back to Utah basketball in that second half. I think in the second quarter we got away from what we're good at. So it was just getting back on track, and that just makes things easy for us on offense. "
On South Dakota State's performance . . .
"What impressed me the most was how consistently hard they work. Every possession they made us work for things. They tried to take away what we were good at. And then on offense, you just have to pick your poison. They have shooters. They have a great inside presence. So just props to them. They played excellent."
NOTABLES
Utah is now heading to the second round for the third consecutive year. This is the first time in Utah history the Utes have picked up three consecutive First Round wins.
Utah now has a 12-19 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Utah now has a 3-1 overall record against South Dakota State. This was the first meeting with the two teams in the postseason.
Alissa Pili now has 692 points on the season to break the record for most points scored in a single season in school history.
Kennady McQueen has scored double figures in six of her last seven games.
Utah is now 23-10 overall on the season.
UP NEXT
No. 5 seeded Utah will take on No. 4 seeded Gonzaga in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament Monday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. (MT) on ESPN2.
FOLLOW THE UTES
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
This is the third consecutive year Utah has picked up a First Round win to advance into the Second Round. Utah is set to take on No. 4 seeded Gonzaga on Monday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. (MT).
The Utes were led by Alissa Pili who had 26 points and Kennady McQueen who had 17. Jenna Johnson was a force on the boards pulling down 10 for the Utes.
GAME SUMMARY
The Utes didn't waste any time getting a jump on the Jackrabbits. SDSU was put on the free throw line, sinking one free throw to get on the board first. The Utes then went on a 12-0 run and held the Jackrabbits scoreless for over five minutes. Utah continued to surge and pushed out for a 17-3 lead in the final minute of the initial quarter.
Kennady McQueen drained a step back three pointer with just four seconds on the clock to end the first quarter pushing the score 20-3. Utah allowed South Dakota State just one field goal the entire first quarter.
South Dakota State found some momentum in the second quarter. Ines Vieria drained a three from the left corner with 7:43 on the clock. The next possession, Alissa Pili worked low in the paint for two. Those were the final points Utah scored in the first half as SDSU went on a 17-0 run and held Utah to a seven minute scoring drought.
Utah stayed just ahead with a 27-24 score at the end of the first half.
Both teams started out the second half on a two minute scoring drought. Utah broke the drought first thanks to a made bucket down low by Pili. Matyson Wilke followed it up with a driving layup. The Utes locked in on defense and didn't allow the Jackrabbits any field goals for over five minutes.
Late in the third quarter, Utah put together a 6-0 run that helped propel them to a 53-41 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Utes had their biggest scoring quarter in the third putting up 26 points.
Utah finished the game strong and pulled out for a 16 point lead. Never letting up in the final minutes, the Utes pulled ahead for a 68-54 victory to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
LEADERS
Utah had two Utes score in double figures and were led by Alissa Pili who had 26 points. Kennady McQueen had 17 points including three made from beyond the arc. McQueen also had six assists for the game high to contribute to Utah's offensive efforts. Ines Vieira added five assists. Jenna Johnson had a great night on the boards pulling down 10 for Utah and was just shy of a double-double with eight points. .
Both Matyson Wilke and Pili recorded three steals to help with Utah's defensive efforts.
COMPARISON
Utah ended the game shooting 48.1 percent from the field while South Dakota State shot 32.1. Utah knocked down eight from beyond the arc for 30.8 percent while the Jackrabbits hit three from deep for 25.0 percent. Utah shot 75 percent from the free throw line while SDSU shot 65.5 percent.
Utah had just 12 turnovers while South Dakota State had 19. The boards were nearly matched as Utah had 33 to SDSU's 34. Utah ended the game with 20 assists while South Dakota State had just nine. Utah had a big game in the paint scoring 36 points while SDSU had just 26 points in the paint.
HEAR FROM THE UTES
Head Coach Lynne Roberts
Opening statements
"I do want to say South Dakota State is good, impressively good. And so much respect for them. It is so hard to win your league year in and year out and go the way that they do it, undefeated in conference and then to roll through your conference tournament. That's hard. So hats off to them. I think they're a tremendous program, not just a good team this year, but just a great program. I thought they battled hard. We went up big in the first quarter, and they never quit. They never hung their heads. And that's a sign of a good team. So congratulations to them on a good season.
I'm proud of our team. It is never easy in the NCAA Tournament to get a win. Tonight was not easy. We never could get very comfortable. They had us scouted pretty well and I think we just made plays when we needed to. That second quarter was less than impressive on our part offensively, but what a great third quarter out of halftime to score 26 and take control.
I thought Kennady McQueen was phenomenal tonight. Six assists, no turnovers, 17 points. Just tremendous. Alissa [Pili], you know, it's hard, the amount of pressure she has, not just off the court, which there is that, too, but the way she gets swarmed and the physicality of it all. She garners so much attention, and she handles it. Jenna Johnson did her job tonight. She always does. She defended. Brooklyn Meyer is tough. She's tough to guard and Jenna took two or three charges on her. So, overall great team win. It's not easy. And I'm happy to be moving on."
On Jenna Johnson's performance . . .
"She has a knack for sliding her feet, getting in front, and taking the hit. That was big for us tonight. I think Meyer got her second foul like seven minutes to go in the first quarter. Jenna has -- I don't know how many charges she's taken on the year, probably close to 40 or something. That is a skill, and it's a talent, and it is such a value add to a team. And it doesn't really show up in the stats, and it's huge, a huge component to winning."
On bouncing back after halftime . . .
"I mean, at halftime it wasn't like we were screaming and yelling or anything. We just talked about getting back to our game. We have to move the ball. Our offense is predicated on pace and space and tempo. We kind of got away from that. We had to go back to what we talked about and what we prepared for. We made a couple of adjustments with what they were doing defensively. With Alissa [Pili], it's really hard, you have to give it to her where she can catch it and just go right up because anytime she has to do a move, it's just a swarm. Right? So we tried to run some stuff where there was more space for her, and it was just kind of catch, bang, bang, finish. Which was helpful. I think Kennady also brought some swagger out there confidence-wise in scoring."
#35, Alissa Pili, forward
On how she handled SDSU's defense . . .
"I think throughout the whole season a lot of teams have guarded me in different ways. I think the main thing for me was to stay poised and take what the defense gives me. I've gotten better at that over time and as we've played more games and had different looks with defenses. I think it comes with experience to know how to handle that."
On South Dakota State's performance . . .
They play very hard. And like Coach was saying, we threw punches, and they weren't going away. They didn't hang their heads or anything. They just kept coming back. That's just a mentality thing I think and a tough team. When teams are mentally tough, I think it makes them a good team and a hard team to play."
#24, Kennady McQueen, guard
On coming out strong from halftime . . .
"We talked at halftime about throwing the first punch. Coach said once you get to the NCAA Tournament, no game is easy. Whether you're the higher seed or not, everybody is going to keep playing until that final buzzer goes off. It was throwing the first punch and getting back to Utah basketball in that second half. I think in the second quarter we got away from what we're good at. So it was just getting back on track, and that just makes things easy for us on offense. "
On South Dakota State's performance . . .
"What impressed me the most was how consistently hard they work. Every possession they made us work for things. They tried to take away what we were good at. And then on offense, you just have to pick your poison. They have shooters. They have a great inside presence. So just props to them. They played excellent."
NOTABLES
Utah is now heading to the second round for the third consecutive year. This is the first time in Utah history the Utes have picked up three consecutive First Round wins.
Utah now has a 12-19 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Utah now has a 3-1 overall record against South Dakota State. This was the first meeting with the two teams in the postseason.
Alissa Pili now has 692 points on the season to break the record for most points scored in a single season in school history.
Kennady McQueen has scored double figures in six of her last seven games.
Utah is now 23-10 overall on the season.
UP NEXT
No. 5 seeded Utah will take on No. 4 seeded Gonzaga in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament Monday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. (MT) on ESPN2.
FOLLOW THE UTES
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).
Team Stats
SDSU
Utah
FG%
.327
.474
3FG%
.250
.296
FT%
.655
.750
RB
34
33
TO
19
12
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
11
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
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