Women's Basketball Rolls Past Westminster, 99-52

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah women's basketball team rolled past Westminster, 99-52, in an exhibition contest on Tuesday evening from the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah shot 50 percent from the floor and had all ten players score in the game. 
 
The University of Utah Women's Basketball team improved to 8-0 in exhibition games under head coach Lynne Roberts after the win over Westminster at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
 
The Utes got off to a fast start in the game as they raced out to a 5-0 lead after a layup by Jenna Johnson and Isabel Palmer three. Utah continued to add to the lead as Palmer started heating up as she hit another three, and Gianna Kneepkens hit a pair of free throws, making it 10-2 in favor of the Utes. Utah continued to extend its lead as they stayed hot in the quarter and ended the quarter on an 11-0 run growing the lead to double-figures, 18, 29-11, after one-quarter of play.
 
Over the first two minutes of the quarter, the Utes extended the lead to 22, 33-11, after a layup that Inês Vieira assisted on. Three minutes later, the Ute's Johnson increased the lead to 31 points, 43-12. The Utes limited the opportunities in the second quarter, forcing the Griffins into seven turnovers. Utah held a 25-point lead, 50-25, at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, Utah's Johnson hit a three-point after Utah forced another Griffin turnover. Johnson's three made it 55-25. The Utes continued to hold onto a commanding lead, and force turnovers as a fast break layup by Kennady McQueen put the Utes ahead 59-29. The Utes extended the lead to 35-points, 75-40, to end the third quarter of play.
 
Opening the final quarter, Utah hit two three-pointers in the first two and a half minutes, followed by the Kelsey Rees layup putting the Utes ahead by 42, 84-42. The Utes continued to hit shots and extended the lead to 48, 92-44, after a fast break jumper by McQueen. The lead never got below 40-points for the remainder of the game, and Utah came away with a 99-52 victory.
 
 
GAME LEADERS
Sophomore Gianna Kneepkens led the Utes in scoring with 16 points in 19 minutes of action. She shot 6-of-11 from the floor. Freshman Teya Sidberry continued to shine as she collected another double-double in the game with 10 points and a team-high ten rebounds. Isabel Palmer dished out a team-high six assists in the win.
 
TALKING ABOUT THE GAME: HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS
"This was a good win, and this is why you play these exhibition games. You get the good, the bad, and the ugly, and there was some good today. We were much better in the first quarter of this game than in the first quarter of the last game. There were a lot of good things and things we got to continue to fix. We shot the ball better tonight, but we still turned it over a bit too much. We missed some free throws, but other than that, we did a pretty good job. I'm happy with our team, and now you know the next time we do this is for real, we will be 1-0 or 0-1. That's why we do these: to gear up, get ready, and test-run everything. We have things we can clean up, but we won by 47."
 
STANDOUT STAT
The Utes hit 12 three-pointers in the win, with seven players hitting a three. No Ute hit over two threes in the game. Gianna Kneepkens, Jenna Johnson, Isabel Palmer, Dasia Young, and Inês Vieira hit two threes each.
 
UP NEXT
Utah opens the regular season on Monday, Nov. 7, when they host Idaho at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. The game against the Vandals will be aired on ESPN700 with Tyson Ewing and Milee Enger calling the shots, or you can find it on the Utah live stream. Live Stats can be found at UtahUtes.com.
 
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