Utah Falls In Last Shot Heartbreaker vs. ASU, 65-63

Friday, January 4

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Arizona State

Arizona St.

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

Utah Falls In Last Shot Heartbreaker vs. ASU, 65-63

1/4/2019 10:32 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It was a heartbreaker in the Huntsman Center tonight as Utah suffered its first loss of the season on a buzzer-beater by No. 22 Arizona State, falling 65-63. The Utes are 12-1 overall this season and 1-1 in Pac-12 play.

The Utes held a six-point lead with 1:28 to go after Edwards and Huff combined for four points, but Arizona State was able to hit back-to-back threes to tie it up 63-63 with 33 seconds on the clock. After Utah was unable to convert on its final offensive possession, Arizona State went down and hit a bank shot as time expired for the two-point win.

"They scored eight points in 38 seconds," head coach Lynne Roberts said. "I feel like we did what we needed to do to win, they just made the last play, so you have to tip your hat to them. It was disappointing, a heartbreaker and it stings, but it is just one game. I think it shows we are right there and we are as tough as anybody, we just have to learn to finish games."

"We will be alright. It was one game and we have 16 more. We are 1-1 and 12-1, we are fine. This one stings because we had it in our hands. But we will be alright. You just have to move on. This is how this league is going to be. Everyone is going to beat each other up and there is no 'oh they should win' in any game in this conference because anyone could win at any time and any location. So, we are going to lose tough ones and we are going to win great ones, you just have to keep going."

Senior Megan Huff led the Utes in scoring with 17 points, adding 10 points for her seventh double-double of the season. Daneesha Provo chipped in 13 points with Dre'Una Edwards adding 10 points.

Utah shot 50-percent in the game, starting in the first quarter, but quickly fell behind when Arizona State took an 11-4 lead with 4:57 on the clock. The Utes countered though with a 7-0 run to end the quarter with a huge three coming off the hands of Huff with 18 seconds remaining to put Utah up 16-15 heading into the second.

It was a back-and-forth game in the second quarter with four lead changes as Arizona State a 22-19 lead with 6:06 left to play on a three-pointer. Utah continued to battle though, taking a five-point lead after a huge three from Dru Gylten before ASU hit a layup late to cut the Utah lead to three heading into halftime.

Provo scored the first seven points of the third quarter to give the Utes an eight-point lead, but Arizona State answered with a 9-0 run to take back the advantage at 42-41 with 4:59 left in the quarter. The Utes were persistent in the paint late in the quarter with Gylten drawing fouls and hitting key free throws, sending Utah into the final quarter with a 51-48 lead.

There were five more lead changes in the final quarter of the game as Arizona State held a one-point lead with 6:23 left to play. The Utes went on a run, holding Arizona State to zero field goals for over four minutes to take the six-point lead heading into the final minute of the game.

The Sun Devils made it a three-point game on a contested three-pointer with 1:20 on the clock, hitting its second consecutive shot from deep with 33 second remaining. The Utes final shot attempt rattled out with three seconds left with ASU taking a timeout to set up their final play, banking in the shot for the win.

Utah returns to action when they host the Arizona Wildcats on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 12 p.m. MT. The game will air on Pac-12 Networks (Pac-12 Arizona, Pac-12 Mountain).