Utah Women Upset No. 6 Stanford For First Time In Program History

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The magical run for the No. 21 Utah Women’s Basketball Team continues as they upset No.6 Stanford 75-68. Utah knocked off the Cardinal for the first time in program history.

Utah’s win over the Cardinal ties for the highest ranked win in school history after beating No. 6 Long Beach State in 1984. It is the fourth win against a top 25 team in the Lynne Roberts era and the first top-15 victory since 2006.

Erika Bean scored 20 points in the second half to go with her career-high 23 points on 5-of-8 from downtown to go with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to lead the Utes.

Megan Huff added a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Kiana Moore chipped in 13 points.

Stanford was led by Alanna Smith with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Former Utah wide receiver Darren Carrington’s younger sister Dijonai had 13 points and 5 rebounds.

“I am so proud of our team because we just continue to chip away,” Roberts said. “I think this win is so big because of who Stanford is and what they’ve done. I think that Tara VanDerveer is the greatest of all time and I have so much respect for her, her staff and their program. So, that is what makes this win so big, because you are beating the greatest. It is humbling and exciting.”

Huff Was Huge For Utah In First Half

It was a roller coaster in the first quarter with Utah committing 6 turnovers and Stanford shot 4-of-18 from the field in the opening period.

Utah had a 17-12 lead at the end of the quarter with Megan Huff scoring 8 of the Utes 17 points.

Midway through the second quarter, Stanford made a small comeback as they outscored the Utes 9-6, 5 minutes into the period.

The Cardinal had a three point lead for a moment but the Utes were able to overcome the deficit and take a 32-31 lead at halftime.

Erika Bean Leads Utah To Victory

Huff posted 11 points and 8 rebounds in the first half.

Stanford jumped out to a 5-0 run in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter, forcing Utah to call a timeout.

The Utes bounced back and tied the game with a triple by Erika Bean. Stanford scored two more buckets to lead by four but Andrea Torres made her first three points of the game to pull within one point with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Utah ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 55-50 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Bean hit a big three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, giving Utah their biggest lead of the game, 58-50.

Utah had a six point lead with 8 minutes left in the game but the Cardinal answered with a 6-0 run to tie the game.

Bean nailed another triple to take a three-point lead with 7 minutes remaining.

With 4:12 remaining in the game, Utah and Stanford were tied at 64 in a very tightly contested game between two AP Top 25 teams.

The game was still tied at 68 with one minute left when Bean made her fifth three-pointer and gave Utah a big 71-68 lead.

Stanford lost their best player with 50 seconds left when Smith received her fifth personal on an offensive foul.

Utah couldn’t connect on the following possession when they had a chance to put the game away. Out of a timeout called by Stanford, the Cardinal couldn’t tie the game, missing the three-pointer.

Huff made both of her free-throws to put the lead to 5 for Utah with 18 seconds left.

The Cardinal missed a jump shot and Dru Gylten made a layup to seal the win and upset for the Utes.

“Our team just continues to just stick with things. We started the second half poorly, but they are unflappable,” Roberts said. “Erika Bean with the breakout three-point shooting night and I was so proud of her confidence to step up and knock those down. It was a great team win, a great program win and these players just continue to play their tails off. They have really bought into this program and it has been a lot of fun.”

UPSET! 🙌

No. 21 @UTAHWBB defeats No. 6 Stanford for the first time in program history. pic.twitter.com/i8ZdexghC5

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 27, 2019

Up Next

Utah improved to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play, building on their best start in program history. They have won their last six games.

The Utes will have a tough stretch in the next week when they travel to Eugene to face the 5th ranked Oregon Ducks on Friday at 8 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks. Oregon is 18-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play with their only loss coming against Michigan State on the road on December 9, the Ducks have won 11 straight since.

Utah lost their only meeting to Oregon last season, 84-68 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Beavers are 17-3 overall and 7-1 in the Pac-12, currently on a two-game winning streak.

Then they will head to Corvallis to face No. 9 Oregon State on Sunday at 1 p.m. on the Oregon State Live Stream.

The Beavers won the only meeting against the Utes last season with a 69-58 victory in Salt Lake City.