by ITTA BENA, Miss. – The nation’s second-highest scoring team topped the century mark for the second time this season Thursday, as Utah’s women’s basketball team earned a 109-42 victory over Mississippi Valley State in the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series. The 67-point differential was the largest margin of victory for the Utes in a road game in program history.
Junior forward Alissa Pili (Inupiaq) led the Utes with 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting, and added six rebounds, two steals and an assist. She was joined in double figures by four other teammates, among 11 total Utes to score in the game.
After a sluggish start, the Utes turned up the heat on the Devilettes, beginning to hit from the floor and locking down on defense to produce turnovers. That effort resulted in a dominant 24-0 run from 2:56 of the first quarter until 4:59 of the second quarter, a span of 7:57 without a point for MVSU. After seven minutes of action, Utah led just 7-5 before finding their rhythm at both ends of the floor.
Utah shot just 38.9 percent in the first quarter, but improved to 50 percent in the second and 65.2 percent in the third, and finished the game at 53.9 percent on 41-of-76 shooting. The Utes won the rebounding battle 50-31 and assisted on 22-of-41 made baskets. True to its style of play, 107 of Utah’s 109 points were scored from either the paint, from three, or from the free-throw line.
Nine Utah players scored in the first half, led by Pili with 10 points, and Isabel Palmer with eight points off the bench, as the Utes took a 44-14 lead to the locker room at the half. Utah began the second half with an 8-0 run to stretch its lead to 52-14 and never looked back.
The student-athletes, coaches and staff will embark on the educational component of the Pac-12/Legacy Series on Friday, with a planned visit to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, before flying back to Salt Lake City on Saturday.
The Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series, an educational and basketball scheduling partnership between the two collegiate athletics conferences, brought the Utes to the Mississippi Delta to play the Devilettes for the first time in program history. The Legacy Series is the first-of-its-kind pact between Autonomy 5 and HBCU leagues that aims to create both a forum for competition, as well as promotion and education around issues of anti-racism and social justice. The Utah and Mississippi Valley State teams joined one another for their pregame meal in the cafeteria on the MVSU campus Thursday afternoon.
