Women's Basketball Picks Up Balanced Win Over Colorado, 78-59

Friday, January 18

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Colorado

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

Women's Basketball Picks Up Balanced Win Over Colorado, 78-59

1/18/2019 10:03 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of Utah women's basketball program improved to 16-1 overall and 5-1 in Pac-12 play with a 78-59 win over Colorado in the Jon M. Huntsman Center Friday night.

The Utes played almost the entire second half with just seven players after Dre'Una Edwards left the game with an injury, but were able to keep a comfortable lead against the Buffaloes for its fourth straight win. All eight players that saw action tonight scored at least two points with seven of the eight dropping at least one three-pointer after the Utes finished the game shooting 54-percent (12-of-22) from the arc.

Utah finished the game shooting 48-percent overall while holding Colorado to 39-percent from the floor and just 5-of-15 from the three. Utah also had 25 bench points tonight compared to Colorado who only had five players score with just six points coming off the bench.

"I thought defensively we were good with forcing turnovers, didn't foul, but offensively we were good and bad," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "It is hard to play the entire second half without a starter. Offensively we shot the ball great, particularly on the boards in the second half. We had 20 assists to 13 turnovers and I thought everybody did their job."

"I thought Erika Bean did a good job in the first half with being aggressive and we needed it. Kiana Moore was great and I thought she really set the tone for us in the first half. Megan Huff had that look in her eye. They were so physical with her, trying to limit her, but she fought through it. The bench did a good job with Andrea Torres having a great game and Niyah Becker hitting some big buckets in the third quarter. Everyone stepped up and did their job."

Huff led the Utes with 17 points, adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals while Moore was key on both sides of the ball with 15 points and three steals. Torres chipped in 14 points and a career-high seven rebounds with Bean rounding out Utah's double-digit scorers with 11 points, four rebounds and six assists.

The Utes came out firing in the first quarter, taking off on a 13-3 run to take a 10-point lead, capped off by back-to-back threes from Huff and Moore with 2:08 left to go. The Utes shot 60-percent overall in the first, including going 57-percent from the three while forcing six turnovers.

Sarah Porter opened the second quarter with two straight three-pointers with Utah then jumping out to a 36-21 lead after going five-of-five from the field with 5:39 on the clock. The Buffaloes weren't done fighting though, answering with a 13-2 run of their own to make it a four-point game before Huff and Moore hit huge shots down the stretch to send Utah into halftime up 43-34.

After a tough second quarter, Utah outscored Colorado 18-11 in the third quarter after holding the Buffaloes to just 5-of-14 from the floor. The Utes hit a scoring skid early in the quarter, but a big three from Bean got the Utes back on track with Utah eventually heading into the fourth quarter with a 16-point advantage.

Despite a four-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter, Utah was still able to keep the Buffaloes at bay, holding Colorado to just 1-of-5 from the three. Becker came off the bench to hit back-to-back shots for an integral five points in the fourth while Torres added six more, helping Utah to its 78-59 win.

Utah returns to action on Friday, Jan. 25 when they host California in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The game is set for a 7 p.m. MT tip on the Pac-12 Networks.