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Women's Basketball's Late Rally Comes Up Short, Falling 66-54 at No. 10 Arizona

Jan 22, 2021

Final Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore

TUCSON, Ariz. – A fourth quarter rally by the University of Utah Women's Basketball program made it a two possession game against the No. 10 Arizona Wildcats on the road today, but the Utes ultimately fell 66-54 to its third-straight top-10 opponent. Utah is 3-9 overall and 2-9 in Pac-12 play this season.

After trailing by as many as 19 with 5:46 remaining in the game, the Utes went on a 13-2 run to make it an eight-point game with 1:35 on the clock. With under a minute to play, the Utes would cut it to six on a pair of free throws from Dru Gylten, but the Wildcats would answer with six unanswered points that included four made free throws to edge the Utes by 12.

The game started with a strong showing from the Utes right out of the gate, outscoring Arizona 11-10 in the first quarter while holding them to just 22-percent shooting from the floor. It was the second quarter that would put the Utes in a hole, committing six turnovers in the period with Arizona heading into halftime up 30-20 on the end of a 7-0 run.

Turnovers continued to plague the Utes, committing seven in the third quarter. The Utes refused to give in though, making it a single-digit deficit twice in the quarter, but the Utes would go just 1-for-6 from the three in the period with Arizona taking a 13-point lead into the fourth.

It was an 11-point game with 9:11 left to play in the game when Brynna Maxwell knocked down a three, but Arizona would blow it open with an 8-0 run with the Utes continuing to turn the ball over during the scoring run. Down 19 with under six minutes to play, the Utes battled back with a 10-0 run (13-2 overall), sparked by a key three-pointer from Kennady McQueen with 4:03 remaining.

After making it an eight-point game with 1:35 on the clock, Arizona jumped back out to a nine-point lead heading into the final minute of the game. Gylten's layup and made free throw would cut the Wildcat lead to 60-54 with 57 seconds remaining, but with the Utes forced to foul, Arizona was able to hit four free throws down the stretch and a layup with 21 seconds on the clock for the 12-point victory.

GAME LEADERS
Utah was led in scoring by sophomore Kemery Martín, who shot 5-for-11 from the floor for her third-straight game in double-digits. Junior Niyah Becker also reached double-digits, putting up 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting, adding three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Utes shot 42-percent from the floor overall, including going 8-for-15 in the fourth quarter (53%). Utah also had a strong showing from the bench with 26 points, accounting for 48-percent of Utah's point total tonight.

TALKING ABOUT THE GAME: HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
"I am proud of the fight. We never quit and never quit believing. This was our third game in a row against a top-10 team. It has been a challenging stretch as sometimes you don't get rewarded with a win, but we're getting better, and tougher."

STANDOUT STATS
Kemery Martín has reached double-digits six of Utah's 12 games this season and in 10 career games as a Ute. Seven of her 10 games in double-digits have now come against top-15 opponents.

UP NEXT
Utah will stay on the road in Arizona, taking on Arizona State on Sunday, Jan. 24. The game will tip off at 2 p.m. MT with a live stream available on UtahUtes.com.