Utah Pulls Out 63-62 Over Arizona to Start Big 12 Play

Monday, December 22

Tucson, AZ

Noon (MT)

University of Utah

10-3,1-0Big 12

Arizona

9-3,0-1Big 12

Utah

Arizona

Photo by: Patrick Mulligan

Utah Pulls Out 63-62 Over Arizona to Start Big 12 Play

12/22/2025 2:40 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Utah women's basketball team pulled out a narrow 63-62 win over the Arizona Wildcats Monday afternoon. This marks the first time since 2018 the Utes picked up back-to-back wins at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.

Utah is now 10-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in Big 12 play. The Utes were led by Lani White's 26 points that included a career-high 11 made field goals. Reese Ross also showed up for the Utes for her second straight double-double performance with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

GAME SUMMARY
Utah started the game getting on the board first thanks to a back door cut and made layup from Lani White. The Utes continued to push and pulled out for a 13-9 lead. Late in the first quarter, Arizona forced Utah into a three minute scoring drought and went on a 7-0 run to take a 19-15 lead over Utah.

White buried a left side three to start the second quarter and sparked a 17-0 run. The Utes defense was locked in and forced Arizona into a 6:30 scoring drought. White posted 11 points of Utah's 17-point run. Utah went on to outscore Arizona 24-4 in the second quarter and took a 39-23 lead going into halftime.

The Wildcats came out of the halftime break on a 7-0 run and continued to control the pace of the game throughout the entirety of the third quarter. Arizona outscored Utah 20-14 in the third but the Utes were still able to maintain a 53-43 lead going into the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter started out gritty with both teams matching each other point for point. Arizona then made a surge with a 6-0 run and brought the score to 63-62 with just 11 seconds left. Utah held out in the final seconds and pulled out the narrow 63-62 victory.

LEADERS
Utah had three Utes score in double figures and were led by senior Lani White's 26 points including a career-high 11made field goals. Reese Ross had her second double-double this season with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. This is the first time Ross has had back-to-back double-double numbers in her career. Chyra Evans also posted double-digit scoring with 10.

Ross had the game with her 14 boards while Evans added eight. Evans led the team with six assists and White added three.

COMPARISON
Utah shot 39.4% from the field while Arizona shot 37.3% from the field. Utah went 23.8% from three making 5-of-21 while Arizona went 57.1% shooting 4-of-7. The Utes shot 50.0% from the line going 6-of-12 while the Wildcats shot 87.5% from the line going 14-of-16.

Utah had 16 assists to Arizona's 14. The Utes outrebounded the Wildcats 45-31.

NOTABLES
Maty Wilke nudged over the 1,000th career point milestone with her nine points on the game. Wilke also knocked down one from beyond the arc for her 200th made career three pointer.

UP NEXT
The Utes first home Big 12 game will be against the Sun Devils of Arizona State on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. The Utes will then host TCU Jan. 3 before hitting the road to take on Kansas Jan. 7 and Kansas State Jan. 10.

FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2025-26 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).