Utah Back on Track With 67-59 Win Against Cincinnati

Saturday, February 14

Salt Lake City, Utah

5:00 PM

University of Utah

17-9,8-6Big 12

Cincinnati

9-17,4-10Big 12

Cincinnati

Utah

Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics

Utah Back on Track With 67-59 Win Against Cincinnati

2/14/2026 7:54 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's basketball team secures a dominant 67-59 win over Cincinnati on Saturday evening in the Huntsman Center.

Utah now has a 17-9 overall record and sits at 8-6 in Big 12 play. The Utes were led by Lani White's 23 points and Maty Wilke's 12 points.

GAME SUMMARY
The Utes got on the board first with a three-pointer made by Lani White. The Bearcats responded and held the Utes to nearly a three minute scoring drought. The drought was broken by LA Sneed's free throw, which gave Utah momentum to hold Cincinnati to a two-minute scoring drought. The quarter finished 12-11 in favor of the Bearcats.

In the second quarter, the Utes began gaining momentum. Utah held Cincinnati to a two-minute scoring drought. Thanks to clutch threes from Maty Wilke and Lani White, the Utes went on an 8-0 run. Utah closed out the first half with a 30-22 lead.

Out of the halftime break, Utah continued to push with intent, going on a 10-2 run fueled by White's two threes. Both teams exchanged buckets for the remainder of the quarter, but Utah closed out the period with a 51-35 lead over Cincinnati.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats went on an 8-0 run to bring Utah's lead to eight. Cincinnati continued putting on pressure but Utah continued steady and closed out the game with a 67-59 victory.

LEADERS
White led a high-powered Utah offense with 23 points, six rebounds, two assists and six made from beyond the arc. She was one of two Utes that hit the double-digit scoring mark, flanked by senior guard Maty Wilke who scored 12 points in the contest to go along with four rebounds and four assists.

Four Utah players finished the game with a team-high six rebounds—the aforementioned White, LA Sneed, Chyra Evans, and Reese Ross. On a night where Utah dished out 22 assists (three shy of a season-high mark) LA Sneed led the team with six feeds.

COMPARISON
Utah shot 41.4% in the contest compared to the Bearcats' 38.7%mark. The Utes knocked down 8-of-29 shots from beyond the arc for 27.6% while Cincinnati converted only 18.2% of its three-point attempts going 2-of-10, one each half. At the free-throw line, Utah shot 78.6% going 17-of-20 while Cincinnati was 52.9-% from the charity stripe converting 9-of-17 attempts.

Utah had 22 assists on 24 field goals while Cincinnati had nine assists on 24 made field goals. In an all-around dominant night, the Utes also outrebounded the Bearcats 38-37 with Utah pulling down eight offensive boards to Cincinnati's 10.

HEAR FROM THE UTES
Head Coach Gavin Petersen
Opening Statement . . .
"It's been a minute since we've won at home. I'm really excited about that. We had 22 assists on 24 made baskets, that's Utah basketball. I'm really proud of our kids for moving the ball and sharing the ball. I loved how we started the third quarter but I didn't like how we kind of went through the motions in that fourth quarter. But a credit to Cincinnati, they started to be the aggressor and in this game sometimes you get rewarded. They made a run, but we were able to withstand that and close it out down the stretch. I'm really happy that we're able to get this one done and now we can turn our attention to Oklahoma State and travel tomorrow, play Monday."

On the team's mindset recently . . .
"Our mindset has had shifts from playing to win to playing not to lose. We've got to figure out that we play to win. I don't care what the score is. I don't care how much time is left. We are playing to win."

Lani White, senior, guard
On what was working for her beyond the arc . . .
"I was confident in my shot, but I was trying to play within our offense, kick out threes, just playing inside out. The rim looked a lot bigger after the first shot went in. I was trying to stay within our system and hit the normal shots that we always shoot."

Maty Wilke, senior, guard
On the tenacity of the team . . .
"The tougher team wins and the past two games, we weren't the tougher team. Coming in today, that was our mindset. That also goes with playing hard, not just going through the motions, and no matter the result, as long as you give it your all, you can live with it."

UP NEXT
Utah has a short turnaround leading up to its next contest against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. The Utes will take on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (20-7, 9-5 Big 12) at noon (MT) on Monday, Feb. 16th, with the game being broadcast live on FOX and on the ESPN 700 radio show.

FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2025-26 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahWBB | Instagram: @UtahWBB | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahWBB).