- Utah women defeated Arizona 81-67 on senior night, led by Lani White's 19 points.
- Utah secured at least ninth place in Big 12, with a potential first-round bye.
- Arizona's Sumayah Sugapong scored 31 points; Utah dominated in the post, outscoring 34-18.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah women left nothing to chance Saturday night, especially with a potential first-round bye in next week's Big 12 Tournament on the line.
The Utes opened up the final game of the regular season on a 15-2 run, breaking Arizona's defense with several cuts to get open looks at the rim, to put some distance on the visitors early.
Arizona made a push in the second quarter, but Utah usurped its force — including a 24-13 third quarter — to build up a 26-point lead en route to a 81-67 win Saturday night, guaranteeing Utah (19-11, 10-8 Big 12) no lower than a ninth-place finish in the conference ahead of the conference tournament.
If Arizona State loses to Texas Tech or Iowa State loses to Kansas State Sunday, Utah will earn a first-round bye in Kansas City.
Utah senior Lani White led the team with 19 points, including four made 3-pointers, and five rebounds in her final game at the Huntsman Center. Fellow senior Maty Wilke added two 3-pointer en route to a 12 point finish after three years with the Utes.
The Utes shot 54% from the floor, making 11 3-pointers, but had most its success in the post, where Utah outscored Arizona 34-18 in the post to overwhelm a three-win team in conference play.
Arizona (12-17, 3-15 Big 12) shot well enough as a team (42%), but was mostly a two-woman show, with Sumayah Sugapong leading all scores with 31 points on six made 3-pointers. Fellow guard Noelani Cornfield added 20 points, nine assists and five rebounds in the loss.
The two guards were the only players on Arizona to score in double figures while playing a full 40 minutes. No other player scored more than 4 points in the loss.
The Wildcats were without their leading scorer, Mickayla Perdue, Saturday, after the veteran guard was a late scratch for the final road game.
Conversely, Utah had a well-balanced night, with Reese Ross adding 16 points and six rebounds, while freshman LA Sneed finished with 11 points, five assists and two rebounds. Sophomore guard Brooke Walker also managed two of the team's 11 3-pointers to help the seniors out with a win.
And while it was a balanced scoring night, Utah head coach Gavin Petersen said he was most impressed with his team returning back to Utah basketball, with 23 assists on 28 made baskets, which helped set up the post scoring and then shots from deep.
Going into the fourth quarter, following Utah outscoring Arizona 24-13 in the third quarter, the Utes outscored the Wildcats 34-6 in the post. Arizona, though, outscored Utah 20-10 in the final frame as the home team coasted to a win.
"Obviously, that's not the way that we wanted to start the game, but I think if you take the start away, it was pretty even the rest of the way," Arizona coach Becky Burke said. "You can't dig yourself a 15-point deficit in the first quarter and expect to come back in the Big 12 and win a game. So we know that's not the way that we can start a basketball game and have any type of success this year."
