Utah Women’s Basketball Starts Slow, Finishes Strong Against ASU
Mar 6, 2024, 11:25 PM | Updated: Mar 7, 2024, 12:50 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 22 Utah women’s basketball team paired against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
The Utes had a great outing Thursday night against Washington State but had an uncharacteristically bad day against the Washington Huskies to close out regular season Pac-12 play on Saturday.
The Utes started flat against ASU trailing the Sun Devils through the first quarter. Utah eventually found their flow however, largely thanks to the efforts of Ines Vieira and Maty Wilke and went into the locker room with a 34-30 lead.
END OF HALF
Lani White finally gets one to sink- a big three that gives the #Utes a 34-30 lead over ASU after the Sun Devils answered back.
Ines Vieira leads scoring with 12 points with Maty Wilke right behind her with 10.#GoUtes
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) March 7, 2024
Utah kept things rolling through the second half of the game, ultimately putting some distance between themselves and Arizona State to advance to the next round of the Pac-12 Tournament, 71-60.
That’s a W for @UTAHWBB.#GoUtes #LightTheU pic.twitter.com/DjseM7Y02P
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) March 7, 2024
How The Quarterfinal Round Of The Pac-12 Tournament Looks
No. 18 Colorado easily advanced over Oregon in their matchup early in the day and will now face No. 13 Oregon State on Thursday, March 7 at 1:00 pm MT.
The Cal Golden Bears handled their business against the Washington State Cougars and are now tasked with taking down No. 2 Stanford starting at 3:30 pm MT.
Perhaps in the most interesting matchup of the day was between the Washington Huskies and Arizona Wildcats. The close match ended with the Wildcats taking the win and opportunity against No. 5 USC at 7:00 pm MT.
Looking Ahead At The Utah Women’s Basketball Schedule
After a solid win over ASU in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, Utah will now turn their attention to No. 7 UCLA on Thursday, March 7 at 9:30 pm MT. The game can be viewed on the Pac-12
Starting Lineups Utah Women Vs. ASU
Starting lineup
#Goutes pic.twitter.com/aRw2ahvdKA— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) March 7, 2024
Round one starters 😈#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/HBKjQMQyyW
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) March 7, 2024
Utah Women Stats Leaders In Pac-12 Tournament
- Scoring Leader: Alissa Pili – 18 points
- Rebound Leader: Alissa Pili – 11 rebounds
- Assists Leader: Maty Wilke – 4 assists
Alissa Pili finished as the leading scorer for the Utes with 20 points while earning a double-double leading the team in rebounds with 11.
Ines Vieira came in as Utah’s second leading scorer with 18 points while adding five rebounds and three assists.
Kennady McQueen and Maty Wilke rounded out the top scorers of the night with 11 and 10 points. McQueen’s 11 points were good enough to put her over the 1000 career points mark.
McQueen joins Gianna Kneepkens, Dasia Young, Alissa Pili (as a Ute), and Jenna Johnson from this season.#GoUtes https://t.co/Vc2Hu69URu
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) March 7, 2024
Noteworthy Women’s Basketball Team Stats In Pac-12 Tournament
The Utah women got back on track shooting against Arizona State going 46% from the field, 27% from the three, and 93% from their trips to the line.
The Utes collected 39 rebounds, 17 assists, one block and three steals, but did have 17 turnover they will need to clean up to have a shot against UCLA.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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