Utah Women’s Hoops Suffer Heartbreaking Road Loss To USC
Jan 8, 2021, 9:36 PM
Dru Gylten #10 of the Utah Utes brings the ball up the court against the Oregon Ducks during the Pac-12 Conference women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on March 6, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks defeated the Utes 79-59. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah women’s hoops team suffered a tough road loss to the USC Trojans on Friday night by a final score of 60-59.
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Utah women’s hoops was coming off of a big win over Washington State on Sunday and stayed in a really close to USC but couldn’t get it done.
In the fourth quarter, USC needed a 10-0 run to take a 5 point lead. Utah guard Dru Gylten stole the ball and missed the layup by Niyah Becker finished the possession with a layup. That put it to a one point game with less than two minutes left. The Utes or Trojans would not score again.
With 3.2 seconds left, Utah had possession and Brynna Maxwell had a wide open look at a three-pointer that would’ve beat the buzzer and given the Utes the win but it didn’t fall.
Final Score: USC 60, Utah 59#GoUtes // #Elevate pic.twitter.com/aM7QMmSz87
— Utah Women's Basketball (@UTAHWBB) January 9, 2021
Maxwell led the Utes with 20 points, including 13 first half points. She shot 5-of-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Dru Gylten added 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Kemery Martin chipped in 9 points. As a team, Utah shot 30 percent from the field (16-52), 34 percent from the three-point line (8-23) and 82 percent at the foul line (19-23).
For USC, Endyia Rogers had 17 points to lead the way. Jordan Sanders contributed 14 points and 5 rebounds, while Angel Jackson chipped in 12 points and 6 boards. The Trojans shot 45 percent from the floor (25-55), 28 percent from the perimeter (4-14) and 60 percent at the foul line (6-10).
Utah jumped out to a 21-17 lead in the first quarter before USC answered with a 19-16 second quarter, with the Utes taking a 37-36 lead into the halftime break. The Utes finished the third quarter strong and had a three-point lead entering the fourth quarter. USC outscored Utah 13-9 in the final period.
Utah dropped to 3-6 on the season and 2-6 in Pac-12 play. They will finish the Southern California road trip with a meeting with UCLA on Sunday, January 10 at 2 p.m. MST on the Pac-12 Networks.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.
