Alissa Pili Drops 37 As No. 20 Utah Upsets No. 6 USC in Blowout Fashion
On Friday, the No. 20 Utah Utes welcomed the scorching hot No. 6 USC Trojans to town.
USC last lost on December 30 against No. 2 UCLA, which they avenged this past weekend and were looking to continue their ascension up the rankings. Utah on the other hand had lost three of their last four, and have yet to beat a ranked opponent this season and were looking to hang on in the rankings.
They not only ended their January skid, but also were able to take down a ranked opponent behind the hot hand of Alissa Pili, winning by a score of 78-58. The Alaska native had a career-showing against her former program, scoring a game-high 37 points on what may have been as efficient of a 37 points as possible. Pili went 13-of-16 from the field, and 5-of-6 from beyond the three-point line.
Jan 20, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Utah Utes forward Alissa Pili (35) is congratulated by guard Gianna Kneepkens (left) and forward Jenna Johnson (right) during the third quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
It is the second time this season that she has scored 37 points as she did so earlier in the year in the loss to No. 1 South Carolina. Utah's defense was tenacious on Friday, as they held USC to just 36% shooting from the field as a team and 28% from three. Outside of freshman sensation Juju Watkins who scored 26, the rest of the Trojans had a cold shooting night.
After the game, Pili told KSL that they were tired of being on the wrong end of close games, as their two most recent losses were by a combined three points.
"We were, obviously, frustrated with how the last few games were going, like against Stanford, Arizona, and things like that," Pili told KSL. "I think our attitude is just different, and it kind of pushed us to just want to play harder and want to, I guess, just really buy into our team and focus on what we could do to win. ... We don't want to leave it in the refs hands, so why not blow out teams by 40 and 20, like we did the last two games."
The Utes will have another chance to take down a ranked opponent from Los Angeles on Monday, as No. 5 UCLA (15-1) comes to town.
