Turnovers Tank No. 18 Utah Women’s Basketball Against No. 12 UCLA
Feb 22, 2024, 9:37 PM | Updated: Feb 23, 2024, 9:55 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 18 Utah women’s basketball is back on the road starting with the No. 12 UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion.
The Utes pulled off a big win last weekend at the Huntsman Center over No. 8 Colorado on a buzzer beater off the glass and now look to keep the momentum going as the regular season winds down into postseason play.
The Utes started the game down 12-0 to UCLA and things never got much better. Turnovers were a big culprit with Utah racking up 11 that led to a 39-25 halftime score in favor of the Bruins.
HALFTIME
UCLA goes into the locker room with a 14-point lead over the #Utes 39-25.
Turnovers were an issue for Utah who have 11 in the first half that have resulted in 14 Bruin points (ironically the exact difference in the game).
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 23, 2024
Turnovers continued to plague the Utes out of the half in addition to poor shooting resulting in an 82-52 win for No.12 UCLA.
Brutal night at Pauley Pavilion for the Utah women who fall to the Bruins, 82-52.
Things don’t get easier as Utah now has to turn their attention to No. 7 USC on Sunday.#Utes
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 23, 2024
Looking Ahead At The Utah Women’s Basketball Schedule
The Utes continue their stay in Los Angeles, this time to take on the No. 7 USC Trojans on Sunday, February 25. Tipoff will take place at 1:00 pm MT and will be available on Pac-12 Networks.
Starting Lineups Utah Women Vs. UCLA
Starting 5️⃣ #goutes pic.twitter.com/1NX4YtbMTa
— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) February 23, 2024
Tonight’s starting 5⃣!
1⃣ – @kiki_rice0
3⃣ – @Deeezzy3
2⃣0⃣ – @CharismaOsborne
3⃣2⃣ – @AngelaDugalic
5⃣1⃣ – @laurenbetts12📺: ESPN#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/TtPYcZBEg3
— UCLA Women’s Basketball (@UCLAWBB) February 23, 2024
Utah Women Stats Leaders Vs. UCLA
- Scoring Leader: Alissa Pili – 20 points
- Rebound Leader: Alissa Pili – 11 rebounds
- Assists Leader: Ines Vieira – 3 assists
Alissa Pili finished as the leading scorer for the Utes going 5-13 from the field, and 10-10 from the line. While not Pili’s best night, she did reach 2000 career points against the Bruins in addition to earning a double double as the team leader in rebounds with 11.
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Kennady McQueen came in as Utah’s second leading scorer with 11 points.
No other Ute came within double digit scoring.
Noteworthy Women’s Basketball Team Stats Vs. UCLA
The Utah women had an off-shooting day against UCLA going 32% from the field while shooting 20% from the three, and 88% from their trips to the line.
The Utes were particularly careless with the ball against the Bruins racking up 20 turnovers that resulted in 26 UCLA points. Typically a great assists team, Utah only recorded nine compared to the Bruin’s 24 for the entire night.
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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