WBB: Ugly first half leads to loss against No. 9 UCLA

Utah women's basketball head coach Lynne Roberts wasn't pleased with her team at the half.

The Utes found themselves, after an uninspiring 20 minutes of play, trailing 39-22 to No. 9 UCLA at the break. Utah not only couldn't score, they couldn't do the little things that could've possibly turned the tide — causing Roberts to have some choice words with her girls at the half.

"That was an impressive effort on their part," Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. "I think when they play as hard as they did today you see how explosively damaging they can be. They obviously are more athletic than we are, but they're just so explosive. We didn't come with our aggressiveness, the aggressiveness needed. I thought we did a much better job in the second half. The first half our kids and all of us were a little embarrassed. One possession that got five (offensive) boards."

Like Roberts said, the second half was much better — but it wasn't enough in the end as Utah ended the Pac-12's regular season with a 77-54 loss to UCLA.

Final Score: UCLA 77, Utah 54#GoUtes // #Elevate pic.twitter.com/TE0f1Ek3Pg
— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) March 1, 2020

The Utes found themselves trailing early after the Bruins started the game on a 19-4 run, and never let up from there. Utah was out-rebounded 55-37, including a 29-14 disadvantage on offensive rebounds.

With the game almost being decided at the break, Roberts went deep into her bench and played 12 girls in all, 11 of whom played at least 12 minutes.

Kiana Moore and Julie Brosseau each scored 11 points off the bench to lead the Utes in scoring.

It was a physical contest from the start, with the teams combing for 64 free throws on 47 fouls.

Utah now turns its attention to the Pac-12 tournament, where they earned the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 Washington on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. MST from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

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