SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah women’s basketball team will have their first big test of the season when they host Xavier on Saturday afternoon.

Utah is coming off of a big 105-56 win over Lipscomb in their season opener on Wednesday. They made a program record 19 three-pointers in the win. The previous record was 16 against Colorado on January 17, 2020.

The 105 points scored is the third-most in program history and the most since 1983-84.

The Utes will look for their first 2-0 start to the season since 2018-19.

Hot Start To The Season

Brynna Maxwell led all scorers with 24 points on 5-of-10 from the three-point line. Eight different Utes made at least one three pointer in the game, including Kennady McQueen (3), Ines Vieira (3), Isabel Palmer (2), Andrea Torres (2), Gianna Kneepkens (2), Jenna Johnson (1) and Dru Gylten (1).

Six Utah players reached double figures. Other than Maxwell, Vieira had 16 points, Palmer and McQueen each dropped 11 points, while Torres and Kneepkens had 10 points apiece.

𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩.

We’ll see you tomorrow.

🎟 https://t.co/06btw9wwpG pic.twitter.com/LCEj1Gl8Mr

— Utah Women's Basketball (@UTAHWBB) November 12, 2021

After holding just a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter, Utah had a tremendous second quarter outscoring Lipscomb 31-2.

“We have a lot of kids who can shoot,” said head coach Lynne Roberts after the win. “We want to make sure we’re taking good threes, but we have the green light to shoot it if we have open looks. I think they were all really good shots tonight, and we’re just going to take what the defense gives us. You have to take what you can get.”

About Xavier

Xavier comes in to the game on Saturday with an 0-1 record after losing on the road to Memphis 84-64 in their season opener on Tuesday night. Three Musketeers scored in double figures, led by Nia Clark with 16 points. Aanaya Harris added 12 points and Shelby Calhoun dropped 10 in the loss.

During the COVID shortened season, Xavier went 5-10 overall and 2-8 in Big East play. Melanie Moore is in her third season as the head coach of Xavier. Her first win as the head coach came on November 7, 2019 when the Musketeers beat Utah.

Utah and Xavier will tip-off at noon MT and will be streamed on UtahUtes.com.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.

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