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Women's Basketball Dominates in Victory Over Xavier

by Utah Athletics
Nov 13, 2021

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah women's basketball team opened the season 2-0 following a 106-71 victory over Xavier on Saturday afternoon. This was the second time in program history that Utah scored 100 or more points in back-to-back games and first time since the 1978-79 season. 
 
The Utes (2-0) shot 52.1 percent from the floor and hit 41.2 percent (14-34) of the threes in the victory over Xavier (0-2). Brynna Maxwell and Jenna Johnson led the team with 21 points apiece in the win. Kennady McQueen rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Utes with 20 points. Dru Gylten picked up seven assists and moved to 8th all-time on the Utah career assists list.
 
In the first quarter of play, Utah led 6-4 after a Johnson layup. Utah's offense started heating up as Maxwell hit a three, followed by a steal and layup by McQueen; in a matter of eight seconds grew the Utes lead to seven, 11-4. Utah continued to extend its lead, and after a Peyton McFarland layup, Utah led by 13. The lead would get trimmed to seven late in the quarter, but the Utes took the lead back to 13, 28-15 after one quarter of play. 

Midway through the second quarter, McFarland hit another layup putting the Utes ahead by 11, 32-21. Following the layup, the Utes slowly started extending the lead, and a three-pointer for McQueen put the Utes ahead by 17. Utah continued to expand its lead, and after a Dasia Young free throw, Utah took a 22-point lead, 50-28, into halftime. 
 
Utah came out of halftime on fire as they hit their first nine shots and the lead grew from 22-points to 35 in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Johnson hit a pair of free throws putting the Utes ahead 74-39. Utah scored 34 points in the third quarter, the most of any quarter this season, and held a 36-point lead, 84-48, after three-quarters of play. Utah shot 52 percent in the quarter. 
 
Over the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Utah extended the lead to 40, 92-52, after a Maxwell three. This was her fifth three-pointer of the game and her second straight game with five threes. Utah needed eight points to break 100 for the second straight game with seven minutes to in the game. 
 
After two minutes, a jumper by Inês Vieira put the Utes at 100 points for the second straight game. This was just the second time in program history that Utah has scored 100 points in back-to-back games. Utah would score six more points, capped by an Andrea Torres three giving the Utes 106 points for the game. The 106 are the third-most in a contest for Utah in program history. Utah came away with a 106-71 victory. 
 
GAME LEADERS
Utah had three players score in double-figures in the game. Brynna Maxwell and Jenna Johnson scored 21 points in the win, while Kennady McQueen scored 20. Johnson and McQueen set career-highs in points. Johnson led the Utes with seven rebounds. 
 
TALKING ABOUT THE GAME: HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
On the high scoring performance
"We had three scorers with twenty points. We're sharing it well, and I love it. We only had four turnovers in the last five minutes of the game, and when we were taking care of the ball, we ended up shooting it well. I was pleased with the intensity and hustle. I loved seeing Kennady dive for the ball at the end of the second half when we were up big. I thought Jenna was fantastic today, 9-of-13 shooting and seven rebounds, certainly a breakout game for her. We need to work on our fouls, but other than that, I'm really happy with our effort."
 
On boxing out
"I think having depth is a huge thing when it comes to rebounding. They were doing better than us at first, but they ran out of gas, and that was critical. We kept reminding our players about our rebounding goals in timeouts and we make a huge effort to emphasize it."
 
STANDOUT STAT
In the victory, the Utes scored 106 points, the third-most points in a single game in program history. Utah scored 100 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1978-79 season. This is only the second time in program history that they have scored 100 in back-to-back games. 
 
UP NEXT
Utah returns to action on Tuesday when they host Saint Mary's (Calif.) in non-conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MT. The contest can be streamed on UtahUtes.com and will also be on ESPN700.
 
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along during the 2021-22 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB). 
 

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