Women's Basketball Falls to No. 25 Oregon

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's basketball team's comeback against No. 25 Oregon fell short as the Utes were defeated 73-65 on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. 
 
Jenna Johnson led the way for the Utes (17-10, 8-7 Pac-12) as she scored a career-high 27 points on the day. Johnson set a career-high with 10 made field goals against the Ducks (19-10, 10-6 Pac-12). Brynna Maxwell led the way with five rebounds, and Dru Gylten dished out five assists. Utah honored its three seniors, Dru Gylten, Maka Jackson, and Andrea Torres.
 
The Ducks came out and scored the first eight points of the game. Jenna Johnson got the Utes on the board with a layup. Oregon extended the lead 16-3 with 6:49 left in the first quarter. Following a Utah timeout, the Utes came out and ended the quarter on a 7-2 run. Back-to-back layups by Inês Vieira and Johnson put the Utes down by six, 16-10. Utah trailed 18-10 after the first quarter of play.
 
Utah continued to battle, and after trailing by 12, Isabel Palmer hit the first three of the game for the Utes. Utah forced a turnover as Peyton McFarland got a steal, and Johnson hit a fastbreak layup, putting Utah down seven, 24-17. The Utes continued to battle, but the Ducks extended the lead to 16, 38-22, at halftime.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Utes came out on fire. Kennady McQueen hit a three-pointer, and Utah had the Ducks lead down to 13. Later in the quarter, Maxwell hit the third three of the game, setting the single-season school record for most made threes in a season. The Utes continued to stay hot, and a three by Johnson put the Utes down nine. Johnson led the Utes' comeback in the quarter as she scored 17 points in the third quarter. Johnson hit a layup to end the quarter, and Utah trailed by three, 54-51.
 
After McQueen hit a jumper to open the fourth quarter, the lead was down to one, 54-53. However, the Ducks went on a 9-0 run and extended the lead to ten, 63-53. Utah continued to battle the Ducks, then had the lead down to six, 68-62, after a three by Gylten. The Utes could not come back and fell to 74-65 to No. 25 Oregon.
 
TALKING ABOUT THE GAME: HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
"This was a great second half for us, after an abysmal start. We looked nervous, tight, and flatfooted. We were just getting out-toughed in every category. I thought the way we came out of halftime was great, and we scored 29 points in the third quarter. They just played with a lot of fight, and we cut it to one, and then we turned it over in that fourth quarter too many times. We worked so hard on defense and came up with big stops, but Oregon is a great team with some WNBA draft picks, seniors and they're tough. I'm proud of our team with our comeback, I'm disappointed with our start, but this is not a bad loss." 
 
GAME LEADERS
Jenna Johnson led the Utes with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Johnson was the lone Ute in double-figures. Brynna Maxwell led the Utes with five rebounds, and Dru Gylten dished out five assists against the Ducks. Johnson and McQueen hit two threes each to lead the Utes.
 
STANDOUT STAT
In Saturday's loss against Oregon, the Utes made eight three-point field goals breaking the single-season record for three-point field goals made, reaching 259. This season, Brynna Maxwell led the way for Utah behind the arc, making 58 three-pointers while shooting 39.7 percent. The record was previously held by the 2019-20 Utah team that made 253 three-point field goals in a season.
  
UP NEXT
Utah will match up with Cal in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The tournament will be held at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Tip-off is set at 9:30 p.m. MT.
 
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