by OGDEN, Utah – Junior forward Alissa Pili (Inupiaq) led Utah’s women’s basketball team to its 11th-consecutive win to begin the season, scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds, as the visiting Utes defeated Weber State 88-52 on Tuesday evening at the Dee Events Center. The 12th-ranked Utes (11-0, 1-0 Pac-12) led by as many as 41 points in the fourth quarter, as Pili led four Utah players in double figures.
Gianna Kneepkens added 12 points, and Dasia Young and Teya Sidberry provided a spark off the bench with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
The Utes’ 11-0 start matches the second-best in program history, compiled by the 2016-17 team in head coach Lynne Roberts‘ second season. The best start by Utah is 12-0 in 2018-19.
Weber State took an early 11-9 lead before Utah caught fire and went on a 14-0 run to end the first quarter, and stretched it to 16-0 in the early-going of the second quarter to go ahead 25-11. Sidberry was inserted into the game and ignited the Utes, scoring five points, grabbing two rebounds and adding two steals and a blocked shot in the late first-quarter run. She finished the game with five steals, leading the charge for the Utes who had 18 thefts for the game, matching a season high.
After shooting 55-percent from the field in the first half, Utah struggled with accuracy in the second half, shooting just 34-percent, and finished the game below 50-percent for the just the third time all season, at 43.8. Utah was clutch from the free-throw line, however, going 25-of-28 for the game, including 15-of-18 in the second half to maintain the large lead.
Weber State shot 33.3-percent from the field, continuing a defensive trend for the Utes, who have now held their last five opponents to an average field-goal percentage of 33.7, and 53.8 points per game.
