Utah Women’s Basketball Out-Maneuvers Cal Golden Bears With Teamwork

SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 19 Utah women’s basketball team wrapped up their homestand against the NorCal schools on Sunday, January 14 against the Cal Golden Bears.

Utah came up short against the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal on Friday night in a game that was overshadowed by the referees.

The Utes went into the half with a solid lead over the Golden Bears, 47-21. Utah was particularly dominant on the inside in the first half hitting 21-34 shots and 62% shooting.

Utah continued to out-maneuver Cal in the second half, running away with a convincing, 93-56, final score.

Great team-wide performance from @UTAHWBB today.#LightTheU #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/ZwmqF01mbO

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 14, 2024

Looking Ahead At The Utah Women’s Basketball Schedule

The Utes will continue their homestretch at the Huntsman hosting the SoCal schools next weekend.

First up, Utah will take on USC on Friday, January 19 with a 7:00 pm MT tip. That game can be viewed on Pac-12 Networks.

Then on Monday, January 22, the Utes will host No. 2 UCLA at 5:00 pm MT. That game will air on ESPN2.

Starting Lineups Cal  Vs. Utah

It’s almost game time! Here is the starting 5⃣ against No. 19 Utah! #GoBears pic.twitter.com/DCr4SL7QZo

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 14, 2024

It’s almost game time! Here is the starting 5⃣ against No. 19 Utah! #GoBears pic.twitter.com/DCr4SL7QZo

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 14, 2024

Utah Women Stats Leaders Vs. Cal

• Scoring Leader: Ines Vieira – 19 points
• Rebound Leader: Reese Ross – 10 rebounds
• Assists Leader: Alissa Pili – 5 assists

Ines Vieira went 8-11 from the field, 1-3 from the three, and 2-2 from the line for her team high 19 points. Vieira was also good for four rebounds, five assists, one block, and five steals against Cal.

Alissa Pili came in second shooting with 18 points on the day. Pili had a career milestone in the second quarter reaching 1000 points as a Ute. (She hit 1000 points for her entire career last season.) Pili is the fastest Ute to reach the 1000-point mark in their Utah career.

Are we really surprised though? She’s that amazing.#GoUtes https://t.co/UVUOsivXb3

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 14, 2024

Kennady McQueen and Jenna Johnson came in third for the Utes in points with 14 apiece while Dasia Young rounded out the double-digit crew with 11 points.

Noteworthy Women’s Basketball Team Stats Vs. Cal

The Utah women were deadly in the paint against Cal collectively going 64% from the field while shooting 33% from the three, and 86% from their trips to the line.

Utah was a force off the boards outrebounding the Golden Bears 41-24 and putting up 21 assists.

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports

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