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Utah's valiant effort comes up short against Oregon State

The Utes, who were tied at the half, eventually fall to No. 10 Oregon State at home on Saturday
Ryan Kostecka|
Utah's valiant effort comes up short against Oregon State
Utah's valiant effort comes up short against Oregon State

Facing arguably the toughest back-to-back of any team in the country (except for Colorado), the Utah women's basketball team came out with no fear on Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough. 

Despite being tied at the half with No. 10 Oregon State, the Utes' valiant effort came up short as they fell 77-65. Utah also lost 91-62 to No. 3 Oregon (18-2, 8-1 Pac-12) on late Thursday night.

“I’m sick of losing,” Utes coach Lynne Roberts said. “I think our team has potential we haven’t tapped yet. So we just have to keep grinding. Keep chopping wood, as I always say.”

Tied 32 at the half, Utah's cold-shooting from the second quarter carried over into the third as they shot 21.2% from the field during those quarters. Trailing by just two at one point in the third, the Beavers went on a 19-2 run to finish out the quarter and lead by 19 entering the fourth.

Still, Utah (10-11, 3-7 Pac-12) refused to give up ever with the game in doubt. 

After Oregon State (18-4, 6-4 Pac-12) extended its lead to 75-49 midway through the final quarter, the Utes closed the game on a 16-2 run to make it very respectable.

“We just were struggling to score,” Roberts said. “Our shot selection wasn’t great. We took some rushed shots. And then defensively, they had kind of figured out our action and they were taking away what was there in the first half and we were still trying to shoot those shots.”

Brynna Maxwell was once again strong for the Utes, finishing with 17 points (2-of-3 from beyond the arc). Lola Pendande struggled from the field (40%) against Oregon State's bigs, but she still finished with 17 points (9-of-9 from the free throw line) and four rebounds.

Kiana Moore helped get Utah off to a fast start, scoring 11 of her 16 points in the opening quarter, including knocking down three three-pointers. 

But she did allude to Utah maybe getting tired throughout the course of the game. It was a short turnaround for the Utes after having to try and run with Oregon late Thursday night before dealing with the physicality of Oregon State barely 36 hours later. 

“I think when we got up, I feel like we got a little tired,” Moore said. “So things started not going our way when we started to get tired.”

Mikayla Pivec had a big day for the Beavers, finishing with game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds. Kat Tudor (16 points) and Aleah Goodman (11 points) combined to shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. 

Utah now heads north to face Washington on Friday, Feb. 7 and Washington State on Sunday, Feb. 9. Tipoff with the Huskies is set for 8 p.m. MST.

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Ryan Kostecka
RYAN KOSTECKA

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