Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Gianna Kneepkens scored a career-high 32 points, leading Utah to an 81-76 victory over BYU.
- Mayè Tourè contributed 21 points and eight rebounds, while Delaney Gibb led BYU with 19 points.
- Utah secured its third consecutive rivalry win, improving to 69-43 all-time against BYU.
PROVO — You can only hold down Utah's Gianna Kneepkens for so long.
BYU found that out the hard way Saturday night.
Kneepkens poured in a career-high 32 points, including six 3-pointers, and Mayè Tourè added 21 points and eight rebounds as Utah women's basketball held off BYU 81-76 Saturday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 4,889 fans at the Marriott Center.
It's the third time in as many games that Kneepkens, who had just one shot in the first quarter, has scored at least 26 points in the past three games.
"When we get going, we're really hard to guard," said Kneepkens, who scored all but 5 of her points in the final three quarters. "It's just figuring out how to do that for 40 minutes every game."
Delaney Gibb led BYU with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit as low as 73-70.
But Kneepkins made seven consecutive free throws to help the Utes (15-5, 6-3 Big 12) ice a third straight rivalry win to improve to 69-43 all-time in the series.
Amari Whiting added 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals for BYU (10-9, 1-7 Big 12), which got 12 points and five assists from Kemery Congdon — the former Kemery Martin who initially signed with the Utes out of Corner Canyon High.
"Rivalry game; that's exactly what it was," said BYU coach Amber Whiting, who fell to 0-3 in her career against Utah with the Cougars' fourth consecutive loss of the season. "We put together a more complete game than we have in the past, but hats off to Utah; they really brought it."
But the first conference game between the two in-state rivals since both left the Mountain West in 2011 was all about Kneepkens, whose 2023-24 season ended early last Dec. 2 with a noncontact foot injury against the Cougars in an 87-68 win at the Huntsman Center.
"She had to work for everything she got," Utah first-year head coach Gavin Petersen said of Gibb. "You're not going to stop a player like that; she's really good.
"But you're not going to stop a player like this, too," he added, signaling toward Kneepkens sitting next to him.
Utah struggled with turnovers early, including nine in the first quarter that led to 10 points for BYU and a 21-15 deficit through 10 minutes.
The Cougars' season-long turnover bugaboo wasn't much better, with seven in the first frame. But BYU converted 53.3% from the field, including 3-pointers by Whiting, Congdon and Emma Calvert and a balanced supporting cast to take the early 6-point advantage.
"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot with a lot of uncharacteristic unforced turnovers," Petersen said.
Kneepkens gave the Utes their first lead of the game, capping an 11-0 run from distance with 5:03 left in the half.
Whiting responded with her second 3-pointer since Jan. 8 less than 30 seconds later — and moments after Jenna Johnson was helped to the locker room with an apparent ankle/lower leg injury to put the hosts back in front (she returned to the game after halftime).
![BYU guard Delaney Gibb (11) battles for a rebound with Utah guard Ines Vieira (2) behind her as BYU and Utah women play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, January 25, 2025.](https://img.ksl.com/slc/3038/303827/30382743.jpeg?filter=kslv2/inline_lg)
But Kneepkens got going in the second quarter, scoring 11 of her 16 points, including three 3-pointers before halftime, to lift the Utes to a 37-35 edge at the break.
"Props to my teammates for finding me," said the fourth-year junior from Duluth, Minnesota. "I just tried to find the gaps in how they're guarding me, along with passes from my teammates and great screens from my teammates. It was just about finding holes in their defense."
BYU cooled off, too, connecting on just 5-of-13 from the field in the second quarter. Calvert had 5 points and two rebounds in the first half and Whiting scored 7 with three assists and two steals — but both were limited with two fouls while Kneepkens went to work.
Gibb tied the game with a 6-0 run with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, 53-53, but the Utes hit four triples to the Cougars' two in the third quarter to take a 55-54 edge into the final frame.
Utah led for most of the second half — and seven more minutes than the Cougars' 13 in all — but never by more than 9 in the final period.
The Utes are back home Friday to host Arizona at the Huntsman Center (6:30 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
BYU hosts Colorado at 7:30 p.m. MST Wednesday (ESPN+) before traveling to Arizona State on the weekend.
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Photos
![Utah Utes guard Kennady McQueen (24) and Utah Utes forward Alyssa Blanck (15) gesture as BYU and Utah women play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday January 25, 2025. - Scott G Winterton, Deseret News](https://img.ksl.com/slc/3038/303827/30382734.jpeg?filter=ksl/gallery)
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![Utah Utes guard Gianna Kneepkens (5) goes at BYU Cougars guard Lauren Davenport (30) a shot attempt as BYU and Utah women play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday January 25, 2025. - Scott G Winterton, Deseret News](https://img.ksl.com/slc/3038/303827/30382749.jpeg?filter=ksl/gallery)
![Utah Utes guard Kennady McQueen (24) and Utah Utes forward Alyssa Blanck (15) gesture as BYU and Utah women play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday January 25, 2025. - Scott G Winterton, Deseret News](https://img.ksl.com/slc/3038/303827/30382734.jpeg?filter=ksl/gallery)
![BYU Cougars head coach Amber Whiting yells to her players as BYU and Utah women play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday January 25, 2025. - Scott G Winterton, Deseret News](https://img.ksl.com/slc/3038/303827/30382735.jpeg?filter=ksl/gallery)