In the last 39 seconds, junior forward Alissa Pili helped to nearly complete a comeback for Utah — bringing the Utes’ deficit down to 3 points with a 3-pointer. However, it wasn’t enough to overpower what Washington State built up in the third quarter.
Thursday night, inside Michelob ULTRA Arena, the Cougar fans went crazy for this hard-earned victory. WSU defeated Utah 66-58 in the Pac-12 quarterfinal. This win marks the first time since 2016 that a top-two seed did not make the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament.
“Washington State is a good team and they are the seventh seed,” Utah Head Coach Lynne Roberts said. “It just speaks to how good this conference is and how on any given night anyone can win.”
It was a tight game from the beginning. The Utes got the upper hand when there were 10 ticks left, wrapping the first quarter neatly at 16-13 with a 3-point jumper by sophomore guard Gianna Kneepkens. Both teams were shooting at 40% from the field, so the lead depended on the Utes having a better defense.
Utah claimed its strongest lead 22-13 in the second quarter at 8:24. Just a few minutes later, junior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker’s 3-point jumper regained the lead for the Cougars temporarily at 23-22. Still, the Cougars couldn’t keep up with the Utes’ shooting and had trouble keeping the ball in their possession.
That’s when WSU adjusted its game plan and brought out the Kryptonite against Superwoman Pili.
“I don’t want to give away too many secrets,” WSU Head Coach Kamie Ethridge said. “But [Pili] is impossible to guard. We did have a way we wanted to defend her pick and rolls. Every single time we match up with Utah, we do have a kind of secret weapon in Ula Motuga. She can match when not everybody can. Bella Murekatete did not want any part of [Pili] in the first quarter. She was just saying ‘do I have to guard her?’
Pili contributed 11 points in total. However, under fifth-year forward Ula Motuga’s heavy defense, she was only able to get a total of 2 rebounds. On the other hand, Motuga contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds. As the team high, senior center Bella Murekatete scored 19 points.
In the third quarter, the Cougars made a comeback. WSU’s shooting was off the charts — scoring 3 3-point jumpers in a row. Utah did bite back, though. The lead changed back and forth three times, with WSU bringing it up to a tie first. This quarter, the Cougars put up 27 points while the other three quarters added up to just 39.
The fourth quarter was a tough one. Foul trouble disrupted the Utes’ rhythm: Dasia Young was called for two in less than one minute. Nevertheless, Utah still put up a good fight until the last second.
“I thought we did a great job defensively. We were going to grab a rebound and call timeout,” Roberts said. " [The Cougars] were inbounding and getting the ball to their free-throw shooters. They had a great defense. We’ve got five people on the floor and shoot the three out of the timeout, so I just thought we’d have a good shot.”
When there were eight ticks left, all hopes were lost for the Utes when Leger-Walker extended the lead to 64-58 with a 3-point jumper. Motuga took advantage of Utes’ disrupted rhyme and threw in 2 more shots to finish the game off.
“Everything leading up to that moment was just so good for my team. Obviously, in those moments, it’s a big-time shot,” Leger-Walker said. “But the plays we made before that, the runs that we had … and then taking that third-quarter momentum into the fourth, that’s what got us that win. So I’m glad I could finish it off for our team but just super proud of how we came out tonight. "
On Friday night, WSU will face No. 3 seed Colorado. The Buffs will be hungry for the win as this is their highest seed ever entering the Pac-12 tournament.