No. 20 Utah vs No. 6 USC | Pac-12 | 1.19.24

SALT LAKE CITY – https://linktr.ee/womensbasketballall...

The No. 20 Utah Utes upset the No. 6 USC Trojans with a 78-58 victory in the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Friday night for the Utes' first ranked win of the season.

The Utes made a statement jumping out to a 10-point lead to start the second quarter and never looked back as they cruised to a 20-point victory, the largest margin of victory over a top 10 team in school history. Utah was led by Alissa Pili who dropped 37 points to tie her career high, which she set earlier this season against No. 1 South Carolina.

Utah is now 13-5 overall on the season and 3-3 in Pac-12 play.

GAME SUMMARY
Utah was ready for USC starting the game with an early 12-5 lead. Utah then pushed out for a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Pili started the second quarter with a made three ball to set the tone for the quarter. Utah never let USC come within five points in the second quarter and boasted a 37-28 lead at the half.

USC came out of the halftime break with a spark going on a 7-0 run and brought the score within three points. Utah answered with a 14-2 run to end the quarter. Utah had a 61-44 lead going into the final quarter of the game.

The Utes went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter to push out for a 21-point lead, the largest of the game. Despite USC going on an 8-3 surge in the middle of the quarter, the damage had been done and the No. 20 Utah Utes upset the No. 6 USC Trojans 78-58.

LEADERS
Utah had two Utes score in double figures and were led by Pili's 37 points. Pili went 13-16 for 81.6 percent from the field. She went 5-6 from the three and 6-8 from the free throw line. Matyson Wilke had a big game with 12 points off the bench including three made from beyond the arc. Kennady McQueen and Jenna Johnson each had eight points for the Utes


Ines Vieira stayed true with seven rebounds and six assists. McQueen also added six assists for Utah.

COMPARISON
Utah ended the game shooting 44.1 percent from the field while USC shot 36.1 percent. Utah knocked down 10 from beyond the arc for 32.3 percent while USC hit seven from deep for 28.0 percent. The Trojans shot 50.0 percent from the line while Utah shot 72.7 percent.

Utah pulled down 43 rebounds to USC's 3. The Utes also dropped 19 assists to the Trojans six. Utah posted 30 points in the paint white USC had 14. Utah's bench came in for 16 points while USC's only put up six.


HEAR FROM THE UTES

Lynne Roberts, Head Coach
Opening Statement…
"Incredibly proud of our team. What a tremendous win. We controlled it from start to finish. USC made their runs but we pushed back. Defensively we were really good. Dasia Young and Maty Wilke did a tremendous job on [JuJu] Watkins. She's a tough guard. It was an overall great team win. We talked this week that we weren't going to settle for anything but winning. We were going to go out and play as hard as we could."