Utah WBB Hitting The Road For The Final Time This Season

After playing five top-10 teams in its previous nine games, Utah finally catches a break when it hits the road for the final time this season to face Washington and Washington State, beginning with the Huskies on Friday night

The last month has been a really rough stretch of basketball for Utah.

The Utes have gone 2-7 since Jan. 10, a 25-point loss to No. 9 UCLA. During that stretch, five of their nine games have come against teams ranked in the top-10 with their lone victories coming against Arizona State and winless Cal.

But now Utah has a chance to change its fortunes and gain some momentum heading into the Pac-12 tournament in early March. 

The Utes are hitting the road for the final time this season when they play Washington on Friday and Washington State on Sunday. Tipoff with the Huskies is set for 8 p.m.

Final road trip of the season coming up this weekend. #GoUteshttps://t.co/NMKwlQz37j

— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) February 17, 2021

Utah is coming off a crushing loss to USC in which they went ice cold in the second half before falling 66-49.

Playing No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 UCLA in the two games prior to the matchup with the Trojans, the Utes looked like a team that just ran out of gas in the end against USC.

The Utes shot just 6-for-28 from the field and 1-for-12 from the three-point territory, only getting to the free throw line four times. They were outscored 37-16 over the final 20 minutes, including a 22-7 disadvantage in the fourth quarter.

With starting point guard Dru Gylten still out of the lineup for undisclosed reasons, forward Niyah Becker took her spot in the starting lineup and did not disappoint.

Becker finished with a team-high 13 points, adding four rebounds, four assists and one steal in what can be deemed her best game of the season.

Brynna Maxwell added 12 points on just seven shots, going 2-of-5 from beyond the arc while chipping in four rebounds and one assist. Kemery Martin rebounded from a tough game against UCLA on Friday to finish with 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Niyah Becker, Utah Women's Basketball — Courtesy of Stephanie Brenneisen

Maxwell and Martin have become quite the dynamic backcourt, leading the team ins coring and proving to be a formidable 1-2 punch.

The bucket-getter is Maxwell, averaging 12.8 points on 33.7% shooting from beyond the arc. But Martin has been on a tear the past nine games, averaging 14.2 points (11.1 total on the season) while scoring in double figures in eight of the nine games.

The Utes are hoping to get Gylten back as she's the key to making the offense run. Her ability to knock down open shots, control the tempo and run the pick-and-roll re all massive staples to the Utah offense. 

She's been out with an undisclosed injury, but is averaging 8.1 points, 5.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds on the season.

Dru Gylten — Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Washington enters the game 2-11 in the Pac-12 and 5-11 overall, sitting in 11th place. The Huskies are led by the inside-outside combination of Haley Van Dyke and Tameiya Sadler. 

Van Dyke leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while Sadler is second with 10 points per game. 

As a team, Washington is shooting just 38.2% from the field and 29.2% from three-point territory.

Haley Van Dyke, Washington Women's Basketball — Courtesy of Washington Athletics

The two teams met back on Jan. 3 when Utah scored a resounding 84-61 win. Maxwell finished with 24 points while Becker chipped in 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Gylten added 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Van Dyke led Washington with 16 points and eight rebounds.

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