Utah Escapes Upset Bid At BYU Behind Kneepkens Career-High
Jan 25, 2025, 5:13 PM | Updated: Jan 27, 2025, 11:19 am
PROVO, Utah – The BYU/Utah rivalry continues to deliver close games as Big 12 foes.
This time, the women’s basketball edition of the rivalry took place at the Marriott Center.
In another close rivalry contest, Utah came out victorious, pulling away in the fourth quarter to earn an 81-76 victory in Provo.
Utah 81, BYU 76: First Big 12 Women’s Basketball rivalry matchup
For the second time this week, Utah junior guard Gianna Kneepkens scored a new career-high. She had 32 points, outdoing the 30 points she scored earlier this week in a win over Kansas.
A career-high n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ WEEK for @giannakneepkens #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/0bDJZaBIt5
— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) January 25, 2025
Utah entered the game as a heavy favorite over BYU, but the Cougars battled early, jumping out to a 10-point lead in the second quarter.
Then Kneepkens and Utah senior guard Kennady McQueen began finding their shot from beyond the arc. Utah buried three 3-pointers in the second quarter to take a 37-35 halftime lead.
BYU was never able to regain the lead in the second half.
The Cougars continued to battle, led by freshman star Delaney Gibb. In the second half, Gibb scored 19 of her team-high 21 points.
However, Utah always maintained the lead and had an answer to BYU’s runs.
The Utes dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Cougars 42-31. Many of those rebounds led to second-chance opportunities.
Utah outscored BYU 30-6 in second-chance points.
One of those key second-chance opportunities was in the fourth quarter. Utah’s Maya Toure buried a three-pointer to give the Utes some separation with a 63-59 lead.
Toure finished with 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting from the field.
The Utes built their lead to seven while BYU guard Amari Whiting was out with four fouls.
BYU had another run in them with a pair of threes from Gibb, but it wasn’t enough as Kneepkens took care of business from the foul line to keep the Utes in front.
Delaney Gibb is a star. pic.twitter.com/iBQVn15imQ
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 25, 2025
The victory improves Utah’s record to 15-5 overall and 6-3 in Big 12 Conference play.
BYU continues to fall in the Big 12 standings, dropping to 1-7 in the Big 12, 10-9 overall.
The in-state rivals will meet again to close out the regular season on March 1 at the Huntsman Center.
Notes
- Saturday’s matchup was the first BYU women’s basketball game at the Marriott Center, televised live on a linear ESPN network.
- Total attendance: 4,889
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
