Women's Basketball Falls at No. 2 Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – The Utah women's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped on Friday night at Maples Pavilion as the No. 2 ranked Stanford defeated the Utes, 91-64.
 
Gianna Kneepkens and Peyton McFarland led the Utes (14-8, 5-5 Pac-12) with 12 points. Kelsey Rees followed with 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers. Utah hit eight threes against the Cardinal (20-3, 11-0 Pac-12). Utah shot 38.5 percent from the floor in the contest.
 
In a back and forth first quarter, the Cardinal and Utes traded buckets early. A second chance layup by Kelsey Rees put the Utes ahead 4-3. Both teams continued to trade leads, and a three by Gianna Kneepkens put the Utes ahead by two, 9-7. Stanford answered back and stretched its lead to eight, 19-11 before the Utes closed the first quarter out with a 6-0 run capped by Brynna Maxwell jumper at the buzzer. Utah trailed 19-17 after one.
 
Stanford limited the Utes over the first four and a half minutes of the second quarter to two points and increased its lead to 11, 30-19. The lead grew to 17 points, 39-22, with 3:15 to go in the half. Utah's Rees hit a three-pointer to get the Utes offense going and Kneepkens followed with three of her own. Utah continued to chip away and brought it to ten, 41-31, at halftime.
 
Coming out of halftime, Utah continued to chip away at the Cardinal lead and early in the third quarter the lead was down to single digits after an old-fashion three-point play by Rees. The next trip down for Utah, Kneepkens hit a layup, and Utah trailed by seven, 45-38. Stanford slowly grew the lead back to double-figures, and a jumper by Francesca Belibi put the Cardinal ahead by 17, 62-45. Utah trailed by 17, 67-50, after three-quarters of play.
 
The No. 2 Cardinal continued to play well in the fourth quarter of the game and had an answer for each run the Utes would go on. Utah's Isabel Palmer put the Utes down by 17, 69-52. Utah continued to battle, and as Palmer hit a three late in the quarter and Peyton McFarland hit an old-fashion three-point play. However, No. 2 Stanford defeated the Utes, 91-64.
 
GAME LEADERS
Gianna Kneepkens and Peyton McFarland led the Utes with 12 points. In the contest, McFarland hit a career-high ten free throws, while Kneepkens was 5-of-9 shooting. A trio of Utes tied for the team lead with four rebounds. Dru Gylten dished out a time-high three assists.
 
STANDOUT STAT
The Utes hit eight three-pointers in the contest against No. 2 Stanford. The Utes shot 42 percent on three-pointers against the Cardinal in the games. Leading the way for the Utes was Dasia Young, who had three threes.
 
UP NEXT
Utah heads to Berkeley, Calif., to play the Golden Bears of California on Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion. The Utes and Bears will tip-off at 2 p.m. MT. You can turn on ESPN700 and hear Tyson Ewing and Milee Enger on the call. The contest will also be streamed on the Pac-12 Networks. 
 
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along during the 2021-22 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).