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The No. 16 Utah Utes upset No. 2 UCLA in overtime with a final score of 94-81 for the highest ranked victory in school history.
Utah and UCLA were tied 72-72 at the end of regulation but the Utes posted 22 points in extra time to come away with their second consecutive Top 10 upset. Utah was led by a season-high performance from Kennady MQueen with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Utah is now 14-5 overall on the season and 4-3 in Pac-12 play.
GAME SUMMARY
Jenna Johnson started the game with a made three pointer on Utah's first possession. The Utes went on to make three more from beyond the arc to jump out to an 16-10 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Utah pushed out for a 22-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
UCLA forced Utah went into a four minute scoring drought that allowed the Bruins to capture the lead for the first time in the game. Matyson Wilke drained a three to take back the lead. The two leap frogged until the final four minutes of the half. With under a minute remaining McQueen knocked down a three to give the Utes a 35-32 going into the break.
Utah started the second half in similar fashion as the start of the game with Dasia Young knocking down a three on a fast break. The Utes were able to push ahead for a 10 point lead with 4:01 left in the third quarter. Utah did not falter the remainder of the quarter and thanks to another made three from Wilke and a driving layup on the fast break from McQueen, Utah had a 54-63 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Utah's offensive spark dimmed in the fourth quarter with a four minute scoring drought but the strong defense remained as the Utes held the Bruins to a two minute drought. Wilke hit a three to end the drought but the Bruins going on a 7-0 run to take a 71-70 lead with just under a minute remaining.
Utah fouled to put UCLA on the line and to gain possession. UCLA made one free throw to take a two point lead. With four seconds on the clock, Ines Vieira drove to the hoop for an open two to tie the game at 72-72 as the clock ran out forcing the game into overtime.
The Utes were the first on the board in overtime as McQueen sank a pair of free throws. It was just the start of an impressive performance from the line for Utah in overtime. The Utes went to the line 16 times during the extra period and went 15-16. Utah ended overtime outscoring UCLA 22-9 to post a final score 94-81.
LEADERS
Utah had five Utes score in double figures and were led by McQueen's 21 points and nine rebounds. Young and Wilke posted season highs with 16 points. Alissa Pili also posted 16 points going 8-8 from the line.
Vieira ended regulation with just four points but went on to post double figures ending the game with 12. She also had the game high with five assists.
Pili posted a career-high with four blocks.
COMPARISON
Utah ended the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field while UCLA shot 42.4 percent. Utah knocked down 13 from beyond the arc for 46.4 percent while UCLA hit just five from deep for 27.8 percent. The Bruins shot 76.9 percent from the line while Utah missed just one from the line for 95.8 percent.
Utah pulled down 38 rebounds to UCLA's 35. The Utes also dropped 17 assists to the Bruins 10.
Lynne Roberts, Head Coach
Opening Statement…
"What a great atmosphere. That crowd has made such a difference for us. An unbelievable win for our program, I have so much respect for UCLA. They're well-coached and they run such a great program. And they're good. They have what it takes to be at the end of the season [as] the last man standing, and I think we do too. They are good, and tough. I am so incredibly proud of my team's grit, for UCLA to take the lead there with a minute in the fourth, it would have been easy to just kind of fold. The execution at the end, Ines [Vieira] made a great shot, great read. In overtime I thought we were the aggressor. We knocked down our free throws and did a great job defensively. The last thing I'll say, is for us to score 94 points against UCLA, who's such a good team, with Alissa [Pili] not having her best night, they were so keyed-in on her, for her to only hit four baskets and for us to score 94 points that tells you what our team is about. Everybody did their part. I couldn't be more proud of these guys. What they just showed, the toughness and the grittiness."
On the culture she's built for the team…
"It's humbling. It really is. I am humbled to be the coach of this program and I have so much pride in how we do things. We do our best to treat people as a staff with respect and love and just treat people right. I think if you take care of your players, they take care of you. I think we recruit really quality kids. The kids that we have in our program are just quality, and when you have kids that will run through a wall for each other, for the jersey on their chest, that's when you start cutting down nets."