ORLANDO, Fla. — After building up a 13-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter, the Utah women allowed UCF to make a bit of a run to start the final frame.
The Knights erased its double-digit deficit and cut the Utes lead to 6. But Lani White proved to be the difference maker with a 10-point performance in the fourth quarter to lift Utah to a 67-57 win on the road.
White kicked off her scoring with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to stop UCF's short run, and then got a 3-point play a couple possessions later on a driving jumper and a made and-one attempt. From there, other Utah players got going, including a key Maty Wilke 3-pointer and a contested 3-pointer by LA Sneed just before the shot clock buzzer.
It all helped Utah bounce back from a Saturday afternoon loss on the road to rival BYU and to get the team back in the win column.
White led all scores with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while adding three rebounds and two assists in the win. And though White came up big in the fourth quarter, Wilke served as a consistent, lethal threat from deep all game.
Wilke added 18 points on five made 3-pointers — half of the team's made 3-pointers — while collecting two rebounds and dishing out two assists.
No other player for Utah reached double figures in scoring, but Reese Ross grabbed nine of the team's 36 rebounds on the night.
UCF had three players finish with double-digit scoring, including a team high by Kristol Ayson, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Mahogany Chandler-Roberts added 13 points and five rebounds, while Summer Yancy finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The two team played to a gritty Utah 11-10 lead after the first quarter, with both teams shooting under 30% in the quarter. But Utah found its rhythm in the middle two quarters to outscore UCF. In that two quarter stretch, Utah outscored UCF 38-27.
From there, it was just a matter of holding onto a lead with a defense that limited UCF to just five made 3-pointers but gave up 30 points in the paint and 18 points off 17 team turnovers.
