Lackluster Performance In 75-46 Loss For Utah Women’s Basketball Vs. No. 18 West Virginia
Feb 26, 2025, 7:06 PM
Photo courtesy by Utah Athletics.
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah women’s basketball was on the road for another meaningful matchup in the Big 12 women’s basketball race.
After a tough 40 minutes, Utah fell to the No. 18 West Virginia Mountainers, 75-46.
This was the Mountaineers’ final home game, and they played like it. Their effort and energy made life tough for the Utes all game long.
Gavin Peterson and the Utes fall to 20-7 overall and 11-5 in conference play.
Utah vs No. 18 West Virginia
It was a slow start for Utah, who started the game with multiple turnovers and just 2 points after six minutes of action. West Virginia opened with tremendous defensive energy and Utah started just 1-of-8 from the floor.
Utah finished the first quarter only slightly better. The turnovers and poor shots continued, but the defense held the Mountaineers in check. Utah went into the break down 13-5, after shooting just 2-of-14 and turning it over 6 times.
After two turnovers to begin the second quarter, Maty Wilke and Kennady McQueen knocked down much needed 3-pointers to close the gap. Unfortunately, West Virginia responded with a run of their own to extend their lead to 21-11.
West Virginia’s defensive pressure forced Utah into hasty decision-making. The Utes took bad shots, failed to protect the ball to finish the half, and went into the locker room down 30-18.
Gianna Kneepekens was held to just 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting in the half, while McQueen led the way with just 5 points.
The start of the third quarter wasn’t much different. Utah turned it over 5 times in the opening five minutes. When they didn’t turn it over, they converted 4-of-5 shots. The issue was West Virginia started the second half 5-of-10 and maintained a 41-29 lead.
Just when it seemed like Utah was going to trim the lead to single digits, they missed a couple of open looks and West Virginia capitalized. They finished the quarter with a couple of easy ones and extended their lead to 51-36.
West Virginia continued to extend their lead to start the 4th quarter. Their lead quickly ballooned to 20 points in the first few minutes of the quarter. Senior JJ Quinerly set a new career-high early in the quarter before finishing with 38 points. The Mountaineers continued to ride that momentum to the finish line.
Ultimately, the Mountaineers disrupted the Utes’ offensive attack, which led to a really rough outing. Utah was never able to settle into the game because of West Virginia’s defensive intensity. They just could not string together the stretches of positive play they needed to make a game of this and finished with 25 turnovers and converted just 31% of their 51 shots.
UP NEXT – BYU vs Utah
Utah’s final home game will be March 1 against rival BYU. Tip-off is set for 1:30 pm MST on Saturday afternoon and will be televised on ESPN+.
