Washington Drops Close Contest to Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH-- The Washington women's basketball team lost to Utah on the road 71-66. The Huskies (5-10, 0-7) came out hungry for their first conference win, running their fast-paced motion offense in hopes of keeping the Utah defense out-of-system. The Dawgs were in the game up until the final quarter when the Utes (12-7, 3-4) pulled away. 
 
In the beginning, Utah had a tough time guarding UW's depth. Part of that depth was T.T. Watkins contributing four early points off the bench. 
 
Haley Van Dyke was also able to get going early, her court awareness proved vital in the fast-paced game. Utah led 22-15 going into the second period. 
 
In the second quarter, Washington went on a six-point run to bring the game within one point. Nancy Mulkey came into her own, using her height to post up and get to the line. 
 
Washington crashed the offensive boards well, which gave the Dawgs second and third chances. In back-to-back plays, Washington hit two threes putting them down just two points with a minute remaining in the quarter.
 
Going into halftime, the Utes had a four-point lead over the Huskies. 
 
To start the third period, it was back-and-forth. Van Dyke was able to get her hands in passing lanes on defense, resulting in a season high four steals on the night. Going into the last period Utah led 53-51. 
 
In the final quarter of play, Jayda Noble had a break-away steal to cut the Utah lead to one with eight minutes remaining in the contest. 
 
A three-pointer from Missy Peterson combined with a fast-break from Watkins, gave the Huskies a two-point lead and caused Utah to take a timeout.
 
The Husky defense held Utah to 25% shooting from three, well below their average during conference play, which had ranked Utah second in the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting percentage (36.3%) coming into the game.

Peterson put up a season-high 18 points, followed by Lauren Schwartz knocking down 15. Nine points each for Mulkey and Watkins helped the Dawgs stay in it until the end. 
 
Next, the Huskies take on Colorado in Boulder at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday, Feb. 6.