Utah able to overcome slow start to advance to next round of Pac-12 Tournament
The Utah Utes opened their Pac-12 Tournament up with an ugly showing against Arizona State, but when things were all said and done they were able to pull off the win.
The Utes were struggling with turnovers early, as Arizona State made sure to capitalize on them as much. Utah ended up winning 71-60 thanks to the offensive firepower from their two All-Pac-12 honorees Alissa Pili and Ines Vieira. The two combined for 38 points despite struggling from deep, and were able to lift Utah past the aggressive Sun Devils.
With the win, Utah has a quick turnaround and will be taking the floor again on Thursday where they will meet up with No. 7 UCLA. The Bruins beat Utah by 30 points just a little over a week ago.
"I thought they came to compete, and they played really hard," Lynne Roberts told the KSL after the game. "They didn't make it easy on us, for sure. That's impressive from them, and I thought they played well. I thought in the first half we were just kind of sputtering. Offensively we weren't executing very well. In the second half we were much better. ... We had too many turnovers. We have to clean that up and fast, but proud of our team."
If Utah has any chance at beating the Bruins, they need to get off to a better start on offense, while also slowing down Lauren Betts.
