Provo • In a game that saw 18 lead changes and 12 ties, the University of Utah women’s basketball team pulled out a thrilling 77-73 overtime victory on the road against in-state rival BYU on Friday night at the Marriott Center.
Brynna Maxwell led Utah with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting while also grabbing a career-best seven rebounds. Ola Makurat scored 13 points, on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor, including 3 for 5 on 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds for the Utes, who improved to improved to 4-3 overall this season.
“That was a really great game,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. “It took both teams a little bit to get going, but I thought in the second half and in overtime both teams played their hearts out. Kids were making shots both ways and it was one of those games where it was unfortunate one of the teams had to lose, because I thought both teams played their hearts out.”
BYU’s Paisley Johnson led all scorers with 19 points, while Sara Hamson poured in 18 for the Cougars (4-3), who couldn’t maintain their lead as the Utes tied the game with three seconds left in regulation and outscored BYU 10-6 in overtime.
“I thought Utah played really well, it was probably the best game they’ve played all year,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “They shot really well tonight, and their 3-pointers were the difference-maker in the game. They didn’t miss and they’re not normally like that. I thought we played really well in spurts as a team and then we’d let down. We just made a couple of mistakes down in the end and it cost us the game.”
Babalu Ugwu chipped in 12 points for the Cougars while adding six rebounds. Shalae Salmon had a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points.
Utah’s Julie Brosseau reached double digits in scoring for the second straight game with 11 points and dished out a season-high five assists. Andrea Torres had 10 points and five rebounds.
“This is a great win for our team,” Roberts said. “This is a great conference booster because BYU is always good. This is a tough place to win, so this is big. It is a genuine win against a tough opponent on the road.”
