SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- February 16, 2024
Written by Isaac Dunaway | Daily Utah Chronicle
The No. 22 University of Utah women’s basketball team picked up a thrilling victory Friday night over the No. 8 Colorado Buffaloes, winning 77-76 at the Huntsman Center. After the Utes gave up a double digit lead, Dasia Young drove and scored the game winning shot as the buzzer sounded.
Utah got off to a scorching start. Colorado won the opening tip but wasn’t able to score. Kennady McQueen got the rebound and found a wide open Alissa Pili, who stepped into a three-pointer and nailed it to open the scoring. After just a few minutes, the Utes were already out to a solid 13-4 lead. Later in the period, Pili made a beautiful bounce pass to Young, who got fouled but still made the shot to make it 17-7. After the Buffaloes made a couple free throws, Utah led 23-14 heading into the second quarter.
It was a much slower start to the second quarter, as the Utes only made one shot in the first three minutes. Inês Vieira had an awesome sequence to extend Utah’s lead. She drove and scored, rebounded a missed Colorado shot on the next possession and then assisted a dead-on three from Jenna Johnson. The lead grew to 39-24 Utes at the end of the first half.
Maty Wilke started the second half scoring with a three-pointer to make it 42-24. Colorado stayed composed and made a nice run over the next few minutes. They cut their deficit down to 11 at 47-36, but Vieira stole a pass and scored in transition to help give Utah some of the momentum back. Colorado eventually cut it to within single digits late in the third, but McQueen hit a three to make it 62-50 Utes heading into the fourth quarter.
It was an eventful fourth quarter in the Huntsman Center, to say the least. Pili drilled a three to open the quarter, but Colorado responded with a three of their own. The Buffs started to get hot offensively, slowly cutting down the Utes lead. Vieira scored to make it 70-60 Utah, and that’s where the score stayed for the next few minutes.
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Madeline Van Wagenen
The Utah women’s basketball celebrates after the win against the Colorado Buffaloes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (Photo by Madeline Van Wagenen | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
Physical defense was the anchor in Colorado’s comeback, as it created opportunities for them over at the other end. Wilke nailed two free throws with just over 90 seconds to play and that extended Utah’s lead to seven, 73-66. Chaos ensued. Colorado’s Jaylyn Sherrod pried the ball away from Young and scored the fastbreak layup to cut it to 73-70. With the score at 73-72, Vieira got double teamed and lost the ball. The Buffaloes flew down court and scored to take their first lead of the game with just 19 seconds left.
However, they committed a foul as Utah was inbounding the ball and sent Vieira to the free throw line, where she calmly knocked down both to retake the lead, 75-74. Colorado scored again on a second chance shot with just nine seconds left to reclaim the lead, 76-75. The Utes still had one timeout left at this point, but head coach Lynne Roberts decided not to use it and let them play. Wilke took the ball downcourt and gave it to Vieira. Vieira found Young, who got past her defender with a hesitation. She drove in, created an open look, and the shot rolled in as the buzzer sounded to give Utah a thrilling 77-76 victory.
It was the Vieira show for a lot of the night, as she was flying all over the court making plays. She finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals in an incredible all-around effort. Pili led the Utes in scoring with 18 points, and Johnson added 14. Young’s buzzer-beater capped off an efficient night, scoring 13 points on 6-9 shooting from the field. The team was over 60% from the field in both the first and third quarters in an incredible performance.
This was a huge victory for the Utes as they look to secure a top four spot in the Pac-12 standings and get a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Utah currently sits at sixth in the Pac-12 standings, but they aren’t far from USC and UCLA, who the Utes are slated to play next weekend. The Utes will travel to Los Angeles and face UCLA next Thursday before playing USC the following Sunday.
i.dunaway@dailyutahchronicle.com
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