Utah Women’s Basketball Overcomes ‘Less Than Impressive’ Second Quarter
Mar 24, 2024, 12:00 AM
SPOKANE, WA – Nothing comes easy in March. Just ask Lynne Roberts and the Utah women’s basketball team about that after gritting out a tough win over South Dakota State.
The Utes got off to a fast start in the first quarter of the game, ending the quarter with a 20-3 advantage. Quarter number two was a very, very different story.
Utah lost their mojo, and the Jackrabbits couldn’t be stopped- eventually getting within three of the Utes by halftime, 27-24.
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Utah Overcomes A Screeching Halt In Second Quarter
To put this in perspective, Utah put up 10 points in the paint along with another 10 points from turnovers in the first quarter.
Fast forward to the second quarter and the Utes only had four points in the paint while the Jackrabbits accumulated six points in the paint and another seven points off of turnovers to close the gap.
In the first quarter, South Dakota State couldn’t buy a bucket, in the second quarter it was Utah’s turn.
“The win tonight was never easy,” Roberts said. “We could never get comfortable. [SDSU] 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.”
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As Roberts mentioned, Utah came out hot in the third quarter adding 16 points in the paint with an additional four off of turnovers.
To South Dakota State’s credit, they never gave up, but the two-headed Alissa Pili (26 points) and Kennady McQueen (17 points) scoring monster proved to be too much in the end.
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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