Women's Hoops Falls to USC

LOS ANGELES – The Utah women's basketball team was defeated by Southern Cal, 83-62, on Friday night at the Galen Center. 
 
Freshman Gianna Kneepkens led the Utes (15-9, 6-6 Pac-12) with 15 points in the contest. Brynna Maxwell scored 10. Maka Jackson and Peyton McFarland led the team with five rebounds against the Trojans (11-3, 4-10 Pac-12).
 
The Trojans came up and held the Utes offense quiet for the majority of the quarter as Utah was 1-for-9 shooting late in the first quarter. Kennady McQueen had an old-fashion three-point-play that put the Utes ahead 5-2. However, that was the only field goal for the Utes until the 1:30 mark. However, the Utes stayed in the game as they went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Utah closed the quarter by scoring the final seven points, capped by a Gianna Kneepkens three, that tied the game at 16-16, after one-quarter of play.  
  
Utah's offense remained cold in the second quarter as they shot 1-for-14 in the quarter while being outscored 26-4 by USC. McQueen made the only shot for the Utes in the quarter as she drilled a three-pointer with six minutes to go in the quarter. The three by McQueen put the Utes down four, 23-19. The Trojans went on a 13-0 run to close out the quarter, and Utah trailed 42-20 at halftime.
 
The Utes continued to battle as Young hit a three-pointer putting Utah down 46-25. However, the Utes had no answer until late in the third quarter when Brynna Maxwell started to heat up for the Utes as she scored eight points and hit two three-pointers. Utah trailed 70-38 after quarters of play.  
 
Utah continued to battle in the fourth, as they outscored the Trojans by 11 in the quarter. Kneepkens led the Utes in the quarter with eight points as she hit two more threes. Utah chipped away at the Trojans' lead but would fall by the score of 83-62.
 
TALKING ABOUT THE GAME: HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
"This was just a really, really bad night for us. Offensively we were really out of sync, and I have to credit USC's defense. That said, we were simply really poor offensively for the first time this season. Poor tempo, soft attacks, and way too many turnovers. I take full responsibility for how we played, and I'm certain that this team will regroup and come out better on Sunday."
 
GAME LEADERS
Gianna Kneepkens led the Utes with 15 points against the Trojans. Brynna Maxwell followed with 10 to round out the double-figure scorers. Maka Jackson and Peyton McFarland led the Utes with five rebounds, while four Utes had a team-high two assists.
 
STANDOUT STAT
For the 18th time this season, Utah made eight or more three-pointers in a game. Utah made eight tonight against the Trojans, led by Gianna Kneepkens, who had three. This was the fifth straight game that Utah made eight or more threes.
 
UP NEXT
Utah travels across LA to face UCLA on Sunday afternoon. The contest will start at 1 p.m. MT. You can turn on ESPN700 and hear Tyson Ewing and Milee Enger on the call. The game 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).