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Utah WBB Comes Up Short In Hard Fought Battle With UCLA

After making it a one-point game late in the second quarter, the Utah women's basketball team couldn't pull out the upset victory over No. 8 UCLA, falling 69-58 despite 14 points by Brynna Maxwell and 12 from Kemery Martin

Ryan Kostecka

After what took place the first time these two teams met back on Jan. 10, Utah was absolutely decimated from three-point territory as UCLA was 11-for-21 to finish with the 25-point victory.

So the Utes entered Friday's rematch with the No. 8 Bruins with a different game plan, don't let UCLA beat them from beyond the arc.

Despite protecting the three-point line extremely well, Utah still fell 69-58 to UCLA — albeit in a much more competitive game that saw the deficit in single digits in the fourth quarter.

The dynamic backcourt duo of Brynna Maxwell and Kemery Martin finished with 14 and 12 points respectively to pace the Utes. Maxwell also added six assists, three rebounds and two steals in a solid all-around performance in the absence of starting point guard Dru Gylten.

Freshmen Peyton McFarland and Kennedy McQueen came off the bench to give the Utes some good minutes off the bench, combining for 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. McFarland also added four rebounds and two blocks.

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Kennedy McQueen, Utah Women's Basketball — Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Utah found itself trailing by nine entering the second quarter but came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Four points each by Maxwell and Lola Pendande (8 points, 6 rebounds) capped an 8-0n run that saw the Utes cut the deficit to one. But the Bruins responded like a top-10 team should do, going on their own 12-0 run to make the score 35-25 at the break.

The Utes started the second half cold, allowing UCLA to stretch its lead to 18, its largest of the game. But Utah refused to roll over, getting the deficit back down to eight with 3:30 left in third quarter after a Maxwell three-pointer.

However, the Bruins responded to take a 50-37 lead into the final frame.

The Utes had one last run in them, cutting the deficit to nine with 3:06 left following a 5-0 run, but that was it. 

Despite shooting 42.3% from the floor, Utah was an abysmal 3-of-18 from beyond the arc with McQueen and Maxwell the only players knocking down shots from deep. Likewise, the Utes held the Bruins to a 7-of-18 shooting from deep, significantly better than the 11-for-20 shooting they displayed a month ago.

Utah was ultimately done in by committing 16 turnovers that turned into 27 UCLA points. The Utes were able to force 11 turnovers but turned them into just 14 points. 

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Kemery Martin, Utah Women's Basketball — Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Up next for the Utes is USC, who's coming off a 10-point loss to Colorado. Tipoff is set for Sunday at 4 p.m. in what will be the Utah's annual PINK game. The Utes fell 60-59 to the Trojans in Southern California a month ago.

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Ryan Kostecka
RYAN KOSTECKA

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