The Mountaineers road winning streak ended at six after a loss at Utah, 71-64. WVU never led in the game, and Utah shot lights out. The Utes finished shooting 54% from the field and 56% from behind the arc. Jordan Harrison had a dominant performance for WVU and flirted with a quadruple-double. She finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and seven steals. Her effort was not enough, however, as WVU moves to 17-5 on the season. Read more: WVU’s road winning streak ends at six after loss at Utah.
First quarter
Utah won the tip-off, and Brooke Walker scored the first two points of the game for the Mountaineers. WVU recorded three offensive rebounds in the first three minutes of the game, but also had three turnovers with zero points. Gia Cooke scored the first points for WVU following an offensive rebound by Carter McCray. Lani White answered immediately for the Utes with a basket in the paint.
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Jordan Harrison converted both free throws after she was fouled on a shot following a steal. Gia Cooke followed it with a three-pointer on WVU’s next possession to bring them within one of Utah. Both teams traded buckets under the four-minute mark, with Utah taking a 12-9 lead at the first media timeout.
Harrison scored out of the break after her third steal of the game. LA Sneed made a jumper at the horn to give the Utes a 14-11 lead after one quarter. WVU finished the first quarter with four offensive rebounds and three steals.
Second quarter
Sneed opened the scoring in the second quarter with a three-pointer, which gave Utah a six-point lead. Jordan Thomas made a layup on the other end, but Utah rattled off two consecutive baskets. Sneed made another three-pointer, and White made a layup on the fast break.
Another Harrison steal led to a layup on the other end by McCray, and Cooke brought WVU within five points. Loghan Johnson scored a layup, but Maty Wilke answered on the other end with a three-pointer. The Utes led 25-19 with three minutes remaining in the half. Johnson made the second free throw at the line, but Utah answered again with a three-pointer from White.
Kierra Wheeler made a layup with two minutes remaining, but the Utes kept responding. Sam Crispe made a layup of her own on the other end, which gave Utah a 30-22 lead. Wilke made another three-pointer after a WVU shot clock violation. McCray responded with a layup on the other end, but the Utes were not going anywhere. Ross made a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to give Utah a 36-24 lead heading into the locker room.
At the break
Gia Cooke led WVU with seven points, while Harrison and McCray chipped in four apiece. McCray also recorded five rebounds, with three coming on offense. Harrison had four steals in the first half, but it was not enough to disrupt the Utes on offense.
Utah shot 58% from the field and 60% from behind the arc. Sneed paced them with eight points, while White and Ross contributed seven each. Ross also had four rebounds and three assists in the first half. Brooke Walker had three steals in 10 minutes of action.
Third quarter
The Utes did not cool off in the locker room as White made another three-pointer on the first possession of the third quarter. McCray found the bottom of the net on an assist from Harrison. Utah answered with another three-pointer from Wilke to give them a 16-point lead. Wheeler responded with a layup off an assist from Cooke. Sydney Shaw stole the ball but missed the layup. Harrison cleaned it up, and she found Cooke for a second-chance layup. Utah’s Chyra Evans made a layup to bring the lead to 14.
After several sloppy possessions by both teams, White made a layup to bring the Utah lead back to 16. Harrison made both free throws following a media timeout to cut the lead to 16. Célia Rivière made a layup after stealing the ball. Harrison extended the WVU run with a steal and a layup of her own. She got another steal and score to cut the lead to 10. Evans immediately answered with an and-one layup and converted the free throw.
Harrison made her sixth consecutive point on the other end to bring WVU within 11. She made another layup on a fast break, but Utah responded with back-to-back field goals to end the quarter. Utah took a 55-42 lead into the final quarter.
Fourth quarter
Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter despite multiple offensive rebounds by both teams. McCray scored the first basket following an offensive rebound. Cooke and Johnson followed with a pair of layups to bring WVU within seven points of Utah. Johnson was fouled on her layup and converted the free throw.
Ross made a three-pointer for Utah with just under six minutes remaining. Walker made one of two free throws for Utah with five minutes remaining, giving them a 59-49 lead. Sneed knocked down a three-pointer following an offensive rebound for the Utes. McCray stopped the bleeding for WVU with a second-chance layup. Ross immediately answered with a driving layup to give Utah a 15-point lead.
Harrison knocked down two free throws with a little over two minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late for WVU. The Mountaineers did not give up, however, as Shaw made a jumper to cut the lead to 11. Wheeler followed it with a layup off an assist from Harrison. Shaw made it to the line with 47 seconds remaining and converted both free throws to cut the lead to seven.
Harrison made a layup with 30 seconds remaining, and Shaw made a three-pointer following two Utah free throws. Utah was fouled with 18 seconds remaining, and Walker made both free throws to make it 71-64. That was the final score after a late push from the Mountaineers.
Top performers
- J. Harrison (WVU): 18 points/7 rebounds/8 assists/7 steal
- G. Cooke (WVU): 11 points/1 rebound/1 assist/1 steal
- L. Sneed (UTA): 15 points/3 assists
- L. White (UTA): 14 points/ 3 rebounds/ 1 steal
What’s next?
WVU returns to action on February 1 against Baylor in its return to Hope Coliseum at 1 p.m. EST. They make another trip west for a game against Colorado on February 4 at 9 p.m. EST.
All Mountaineer basketball games are broadcast across the John Fredericks Media Network. The game will air on 100.9 FM The Torch and its nine affiliate stations.
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