SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's basketball team downed rival BYU 76-73 with a buzzer beater, from half court in overtime by
Matyson Wilke.
Utah was led by Mayé Touré's double-double of 24 points and a season high 14 rebounds.
Gianna Kneepkens logged her eleventh 20-point game this season with exactly 20 in the game.
GAME SUMMARY
Utah started the game on a 17-3 run and held BYU to just one field goal in the first seven minutes of play. BYU found a little spark at the end of the first quarter going on an 11-1. Utah had an 18-14 lead after the initial 10 minutes of play.
BYU tied the game up at 18-18 early in the second quarter. It didn't take long for Utah to kick it into gear to end the first half on a 10-3 run. Utah had a 37-27 lead going into the break.
Utah had a slow start coming out of halftime allowing BYU to go on a 7-0 run. The Utes were able to maintain and kept a four point lead going into the final quarter of play.
The Utes went on a 7-0 run in the fourth to take back their double-digit lead. The Cougars pushed back and tied the game at 57-57 with just under one minute to go. BYU's Lauren Davenport hit a three pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation but Utah's Gianna Kneepkens answered to tie it back up to send the game into overtime.
Utah and BYU matched each other point-for-point in overtime with neither team taking any type of edge. The Cougars' Delaney Gibb hit a jumper with 35 seconds left in overtime to give BYU a two point lead. On Utah's next possession, Kneepkens drew a foul to sink a pair of free throws to tie it up. The next possession, the Ute defense forced a turnover with three seconds and Matyson Wilke came away with the ball.
Wilke launched it from half court with one second left . . . the buzzer sounded . . . the Jon M. Huntsman Center went silent . . . the ball banked off the backboard and into the hoop . . . the Huntsman Center erupted in screams and cheers . . . Utah's bench cleared dog piling on Wilke . . . and the Utah Utes claimed the 76-73 overtime victory against rivals BYU.
LEADERS
Utah had three Utes score in double figures and were led by Mayé Touré's double-double with 24 points and season high 14 rebounds.
Gianna Kneepkens posted 20 points, with 18 of those coming in the second half or over time.
Jenna Johnson added 11 points for Utah as well as pulled down six rebounds.
Kneepkens and Kennady McQueen also had six boards. Inês Vieira led Utah with five assists.
COMPARISON
Utah shot 35.5% from the field while BYU shot 39.1% from the field. Utah went 28.1% from deep making 9-of-32 while BYU went 28.6% shooting 10-of-35. The Utes went 23-of-27 from the free throw line for 85.2% while the Cougars went 9-of-11 for 81.8%.
Utah had 16 assists on 22 made field goals while BYU had 14 assists on 27 made field goals. The Utes outrebounded the Cougars 45-40. Both teams turned the ball over similarly as the Utes totaled 21 turnovers while BYU tallied 19.
NOTABLES
Utah has now won six of the last seven match ups with BYU and pushed the overall series record to 70-41 in favor of the Utes.
This was the fourth overtime game in rivalry history, Utah is now 4-0 in overtime games with BYU. This was the first overtime game since Dec. 14, 2013 where Utah came away with an 82-74 win in double overtime in Provo.
The Utes are 2-0 in overtime games this season.
Utah is now 20-2 when leading at the half, and 14-1 when leading by double digits at the half.
Kennady McQueen's two assists on the game gives her 300 total assists in her career. She continues to own the record for most games played in a Utah uniform with 141.
UP NEXT
The Utes will head to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, March 5-10. Final seeding and scheduling are still pending.
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