Women's Basketball Fourth Quarter Surge Falls Short Against Oregon State, 84-74
SALT LAKE CITY – Trailing by as many as 19 in the third quarter, the University of Utah Women's Basketball team rallied back to within two in the fourth quarter on the heels of another 20-point game from sophomore Brynna Maxwell, but Oregon State was still able to escape with an 84-74 win. The Utes are 4-10 overall and 3-10 in Pac-12 play.
It was a slow start for the Utes in the first quarter, not scoring a point until the 7:48 mark and a field goal until 6:09, allowing Oregon State to take an early 8-0 lead. Utah would get some rhythm going late in the quarter with 3:18 to go when Maxwell and Kemery Martín combined for five unanswered points to cut the Beaver lead to 16-14.
After shooting just 35-percent in the first quarter, the Utes came out of the gate to score seven unanswered points, which included five from Dru Gylten to tie the score 23-23 with 8:29 on the clock. Utah would take its first lead of the game on an 8-0 run to make it 31-28 with 3:23 remaining in the half, but Oregon State answered with a 10-0 run of its own to take a 44-35 advantage into halftime.
Similar to the first quarter, Utah started the third quarter on a scoring drought, hitting its first field goal of the half at the 5:47 mark while trailing by 16 points. The Utes struggled to find the basket in the third quarter, shooting just 14-percent from the floor while only hitting two field goals in the period.
The Utes started to chip away in the fourth quarter with Maxwell hitting a huge three with 8:46 to make it a nine-point game. Oregon State would score with 8:14 on the clock to bump it back out to a 12-point deficit for the Utes, but Utah would go on to hold them scoreless for over four minutes while taking off on a 10-0 run to cut it to 69-67 with 3:22 remaining in the game.
Maxwell scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, including hitting five key free throws in the period, but as time started to tick away, the Utes were forced to foul with under two minutes to go. The Utes were unable to hit a field goal with under three minutes to play with Oregon State pulling away for the 10 point victory on free throws.
GAME LEADERS
The Utes were led by Maxwell, who put up 27 points on 6-of-13 shooting, also knocking down four from beyond the arc with a perfect 11-for-11 outing at the free throw line. She also had four rebounds, one assist and one block.
Martin recorded 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting with Gylten rounding out Utah's double-digit scorers with 11 points. Sophomore Lola Pendande also had a strong game, putting together a nine-point, seven-rebound performance in 20 minutes of play, adding a season-best three blocks.
STANDOUT STATS
Maxwell has nine 20-point games in her career (4 in 2020-21) and has hit a combined 38 in those games, including hitting a season-high four from beyond the arc today. Her 11-for-11 outing from the free throw line is the third time this season she has knocked down 10-or-more from the charity stripe.
UP NEXT
The Utes will head to the Bay Area for a pair of games, starting with a matchup against California on Friday, Feb. 5. The game is set for a 7 p.m. MT tip in Haas Pavilion with a live stream provided by Cal.