A one-sided second-half surge left Northwestern women’s basketball (6-4, 0-1 B1G) with nothing but a salty taste, as Utah (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) pulled away for a decisive 91-66 win on Sunday in Salt Lake City.
As she often does, Grace Sullivan headed the Wildcat scoring output, scoring 21 points on 12-of-19 shooting and adding four rebounds. Caroline Lau and Tate Lash accumulated 12 and 11 points, respectively, while also adding four rebounds each. With Casey Harter out with a lower-body injury, the ‘Cats (6-4, 0-1 B1G) turned to sophomore Xamiya Walton to make her first career start. Walton gathered six points and two boards on the day. However Northwestern struggled greatly with connecting beyond the arc. Although they usually average about six three-pointers per game, the Wildcats knocked down just two on Sunday, tying their season-low. The Utes (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) were led by a pair of career-high scoring performances from Lani White and Reese Ross. White scored 26 points on a career-best 7-of-7 mark from distance, while Ross added 22 points on an efficient 9-of-11 performance from the field overall. At one point during the second and third quarters, Utah went on a 29-4 run, expanding a 39-36 lead to a massive 68-40 margin. The Utes won the jump ball and immediately started off scoring as Maty Wilke sank a three. Fresh off her historic 37-point game, Sullivan answered back for NU and made a two-point jumper to start the Wildcat scoring run. Two more buckets by Sullivan and Lash went uncontested until a driving layup from Utah’s La Sneed made the score 6-5 — the ‘Cats still on top. The next four minutes featured back-and-forth scoring from both teams, but Sullivan took control, accounting for eight more of NU’s points before the first media timeout. But just before the Wildcats could bask in the lead, Ross was fouled on a layup, cutting the margin to 18-15. Coming out of the break, Ross knocked down the ensuing free throw.
An immediate answer from Sullivan put the ‘Cats up by four, but a shot behind the arc and a later free throw from White tied the score with 2:03 left in the first. Just when Utah had a chance to take its lead back, a driving layup from Lash and a pair of free throws from Lau lengthened the Wildcat edge to four once again.
Just after, a couple of missed shots and a quick drive on the fast break by the Utes led to a three by White and the last points of the quarter. After one, Northwestern barely led by a score of 24-23.
White scored the most across the board for Utah, leading with 11 points and three boards and shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. As usual for the ‘Cats, their leading scorer was Sullivan, who had 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Shouldering into the paint, Tayla Thomas started the second by lifting one into the bucket and drawing a foul for the two and the free throw. However, the Utes weren’t going to let the game get away from them. Capitalizing on offensive rebounds and shaky turnovers from Northwestern, they retook the lead with a little under seven minutes left in the half, capturing a 30-29 advantage.
Trying to regroup, Northwestern entered a timeout. Coming out of it, the Wildcats relied on their hustle to take back the lead. Multiple missed shots could have turned bad, but a steal and layup from Lash put NU back in front.
The next two minutes only saw a layup and two free throws from Ross as missed shots and turnovers plagued both teams. Finally, NU’s Angelina Hodgens broke the drought after swishing a wide-open three to tie the score 34-34.
WIth time dwindling, Utah slowly pulled away for the largest lead of the game by either team. Multiple second-chance baskets and containment of Sullivan led to a comfortable 46-36 edge for the Utes heading into the half.
Although Sullivan led the first quarter, she did not score in the second despite taking two shots. Nonetheless, her 14 points still led the team, with Lash right behind at eight. DaiJa Turner paced NU with three rebounds while four other ‘Cats each collected two of their own.
Nearly half of Utah’s points came from the paint, with Ross and White each dominating the box score. Ross led with 13 points, while White collected 11 of her own. Each also had four boards on the half.
The third quarter opened with a miss from Northwestern and a hard-fought finger roll at the net from Chyra Evans to lengthen the Utes’ lead further. Needing to get something going, Sullivan drew a foul to break the three-minute scoring drought, draining her two shots. But it didn’t amount to much, as Wilke and White knocked down three threes collectively to bring Utah’s lead to 19. As Northwestern called a timeout, it trailed 57-38.
After the regroup, Thomas found the scoreboard as she pushed herself into the paint for a two, but at this point, the Utes were unstoppable. Three minutes of perpetual pressure led to 11 uncontested points by the Utah squad heading into the third-quarter media timeout.
For her first field goal since the first quarter, Sullivan broke the drought yet again with a smooth jumper. Utah responded with multiple looks of its own, but fighting through a double team, Lau burst into the paint and rolled one in at the rim. From there, the Utes went on a quick 6-2 run, but Lau ended the quarter with fireworks on an unbelievable half-court shot, cutting the deficit to 78-49.
Playing very aggressively in hopes of cutting their deficit, the ‘Cats consistently pressed the Utes’ offense to no avail. Back-to-back turnovers turned into made layups for the Utah squad as its lead continued to lengthen. With six minutes left in the game and a 30-point gap to overcome, Northwestern struggled to find a path back into the game.
As time dwindled, it was clear this game got away from the ‘Cats in the second half. A brief six-point run by the combined efforts of Sullivan, Thomas and Lash added a little to the scoreboard, but it wasn’t enough. As the clock hit zero, Utah came up victorious with a 91-66 win.
Up next, Northwestern aims to take down Loyola-Chicago in a crosstown matchup. Tip-off is slated for 11:00 a.m. CST on Thursday, Dec. 18 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
