No. 21 Women's Basketball Scores 87-74 Victory Over Cal

Friday, January 25

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

California

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

No. 21 Women's Basketball Scores 87-74 Victory Over Cal

1/25/2019 10:04 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of Utah women's basketball team shot 52-percent from the floor tonight and held the California Golden Bears to just 30 rebounds on the way to an 87-74 victory. The Utes improved to 17-1 overall and 6-1 in Pac-12 play for the best start over 18 games in program history.

Utah has shot 50-percent or higher from the floor in five of the last six games, including tonight, while also shooting 50-percent from the arc. The Utes outscored the Golden Bears 38-26 in the paint with four players reaching double digits.

"Cal is good, they are an NCAA Tournament team and they have a tremendous player in Kristine Anigwe," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "I felt like we kept everyone else in check. We shot the ball well and we kind of opened that gap and they really couldn't get closer than nine or eight in the second half because we just kept answering. I am so proud of our team."

Senior Megan Huff scored 24 points to lead the Utes, shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe while grabbing nine rebounds and two steals. Kiana Moore added 18 points, going 8-of-12 shooting along with a career-high eight boards, three assists and two steals.

Dre'Una Edwards put up 15 points on 66-percent shooting, adding a career-best tying four assists to her stat line. Dru Gylten was able to round out Utah's double-digit performers with 11 points and six assists.

Cal came out firing in the first quarter, making all five of its first shots, taking an early 12-4 lead. A spark was set by Edwards though as she scored Utah's first six points of the game, sending Utah on a 14-2 run that also included back-to-back threes from Moore and Andrea Torres to give the Utes an 18-14 lead with 2:28 on the clock.

The run continued for the Utes in the second quarter, scoring seven unanswered points to take a 37-24 advantage that was capped off by a huge three from Sarah Porter at the 6:01 mark. The Golden Bears had an answer, cutting the Utah lead to six with under three minutes to play in the half, but the composure stayed on Utah's side as they took an eight-point lead into halftime.

The Utes held California to just 20-percent shooting in the third quarter with Huff starting the period with seven straight points to give Utah a 15-point lead with 7:57 remaining. It was another scoring drought for the Utes that let Cal sneak back into range as they made it an eight-point game with less than a minute to go, but Gylten was able to hit a free throw with five seconds on the clock to make it nine heading into the fourth.

With the game within single digits to start the fourth, Utah continued to keep momentum on their side, shooting 53-percent for the quarter. Huff was critical for the Utes scoring nine of her 24 points in the final quarter with Niyah Becker coming off the bench to add a spark on both ends of the court with an and-one play and a key steal.
It was a 10-point game with less than three minutes remaining in the game, but sharp shooting from Huff and key free throws from Gylten pushed the Utes to its 13-point victory.

Utah will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 27 when they host No. 6 Stanford in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The game will tip off at 12 p.m. MT and will be streamed on UtahUtes.com.