Utes lead wire-to-wire in win over Washington
It's been an up-and-down Pac-12 season for the Utes.
They began the conference schedule with a four-game losing streak, followed by a three-game winning streak, and most recently another three-game losing streak in which they played three consecutive top-10 teams.
So when Utah traveled north for games against Washington and Washington State this weekend, it had a chance to put the past behind and begin another winning streak — step one complete
Led by local girl Brynna Maxwell's 16 points and seven rebounds, Utah topped Washington 74-65 in a wire-to-wire victory. With the win, the Utes improved to 11-11 overall and 4-7 in conference play, dropping the Huskies to 10-12 and 2-9 in the Pac-12.
Gylten was also sensational all-around, finishing with seven points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Utah got off to a fast start on both ends of the court, leading 23-13 through one and 38-25 at the half. But Washington refused to go away in the third quarter, mounting a big comeback in which the Utes went cold on offense and defense.
The Utes led by just four entering the fourth quarter.
“We made that a little harder than we needed to down the stretch, but again we are learning. We need to learn how to play to win and to play to not lose,” said Lynne Roberts, Utah coach. “I thought in the third quarter we played a little tense. Washington is scrappy and they play really hard and they make things challenging on offense, so we are happy with the win.”
Utah responded right away in the fourth, going off an 11-4 run to begin the final 10 minutes. Daneesha Provo started things off with a three-pointer just eight seconds into the quarter before Lola Pendande added a three-point play and Maxwell capped it off with five quick points to secure the win.
Kiana Moore led a strong effort the Utes bench with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting (2-for-4 from deep), while Maurane Corbin and Kemery Martin added 17 points to help the effort from the bench.
Utah returns to action on on Sunday when it travels to pullman to face Washington State (11-12, 4-7 Pac-12). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.