Freshmen Lift Utah Women’s Basketball To Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals
Mar 2, 2022, 11:57 PM
(Photo courtesy of Nick Grace, Utah Athletics)
(Photo courtesy of Nick Grace, Utah Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah women’s basketball freshmen Gianna Kneepkens and Jenna Johnson lifted the Utes to a 66-60 win over Cal in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Freshmen Gianna Kneepkens led Utah women’s basketball with 20 points, while Jenna Johnson posted 18 points. Sophomore guard Kennady McQueen added 11 points. It wasn’t an easy game for the Utes as they faced a tough Cal team that was the No. 11-seed in the Pac-12 Tournament.
The Minnesota duo scored 38 of Utah’s 66 points.
The Utes aren’t done yet. 🙌@UTAHWBB | #Pac12WBB | @NewYorkLife pic.twitter.com/yHA2PPKQi5
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 3, 2022
Freshmen Help Utah Advance To Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals
Jenna Johnson got things started for Utah with six points in the first quarter. She was attacking the basket every chance she had. Peyton McFarland made some nice buckets in the paint off the bench and finished with six points in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Utes had a 16-15 lead after one.
The basket wasn’t friendly in the second quarter for either team but Utah still outscored Cal 15-10, despite shooting just 35% from the field. Johnson scored five points to bring her total to 11 points at the halftime break with Utah holding a 31-25 lead.
The Utes had great success drawing offensive fouls on Cal with Dru Gylten taking at least two of them.
It was an up and down third quarter for the Utes. They had a 10-point lead before Cal erased it and took a 45-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Golden Bears outscored Utah 20-13 in the third quarter.
With the game tied at 56 with under three minutes to play, Jenna Johnson had three big layups to put the Utes up by six points. Cal fought back once again and was within two points with 56 seconds left. Gianna Kneepkens made a big layup, while having to do a lot of pump fakes to get there. Utah was up 64-60 with 31.5 to play.
Kennady McQueen sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Utah will advance to the quarterfinals against No. 3-seed Washington State. The game will be on Thursday, March 3 at 9:30 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.
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.
