Provo • The last time Gianna Kneepkens came off the floor against BYU, she wept.
Ushered straight from the arena to a hospital room, Kneepkens stared in shock as her foot ballooned and doctors hurried around her. By the time she got back to her roommate Kennady McQueen at 1:30 a.m., she knew her season was over and a year of rehab awaited.
But this time, playing the exact same opponent almost exactly a year later, Kneepkens came off the floor being serenaded with the Steph Curry “Night Night” celebration by her teammates.
All those mornings when Kneepkens muttered to herself — always quietly, never boastfully — that she’d come back stronger from a Lisfranc injury came true. Thirty-two points, a career high, on a show-stopping six 3s that kept BYU at bay on Saturday.
Utah’s scoring savant, the maestro who can attack from all angles and all crevices on the court, was back.
“With all this, it just reminds me how grateful I am for all the staff, teammates, they got me back here. I am feeling good and strong. That’s all I can ask for,” Kneepkens said.
And Utah’s been asking plenty of its star, too.
With the Utes sputtering on the road, head coach Gavin Peterson turned to his junior to steady the ship. She was coming off a 30-point performance and Utah again needed her offense.
After taking just one shot in the first quarter, Kneepkens exploded for 11 points in the second and 16 after the break. Whenever BYU guard Amari Whiting slipped under a screen, Kneepkens rose up and buried a triple. If the Cougars over-helped, she’d slither into the lane for an easy deuce.
“I just find the gaps in the defense,” she said.
Former Utah head coach Lynne Roberts used to call Kneepkens a professional scorer. She’d look up at the scoreboard, sometime in the third quarter, and see Kneepkens had 15 or 20 points. It almost went unnoticed, Roberts said, because it was so smooth.
But these buckets were anything but quiet. Every point Kneepkens scored seemed loud, ending a BYU run or extending the advantage in an 81-76 win.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars guard Lauren Davenport (30) defends Utah Utes guard Gianna Kneepkens (5) as BYU hosts Utah, NCAA basketball in Provo on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
“We got caught going under [on screens] once or twice. And then we started to get tired. We started to mix it up,” as far as who was defending her, BYU coach Amber Whiting said. “And then [they] started getting some calls, so we can’t be as physical. She is a great player. I want to play against her every night. Hats off to her.”
It was an attack trademarked by Kneepkens’ almost ruthless efficiency. She went 6 of 7 from 3-point range and shot 50% from the field. Any mistake, promptly punished.
With 4:19 left, and Kneepkens almost toying with the Cougars, she sealed her defender at the wing, dribbled out and asked for a ball screen. BYU again went under, and Kneepkens took one more dribble before hitting the dagger three in front of her bench. The “Night Night” celebration came out with Kneepkens smiling back.
“I just think Gianna Kneepkens hit some big time third- and fourth-quarter shots that really settled us in,” Peterson said.
Throughout this last year, Kneepkens kept trying to find ways to compete. She took over film sessions, begging her teammates to guard a certain way or take advantage of a certain scheme.
On off days, she’d play cards or board games like it was the playoffs. Her current fixation is the game Code Names.
“I am the most competitive person ever,” she said, with no objection from anyone in the program.
But none of it could truly replace her being on the floor. Until Saturday.
As she walked to the locker room, she gave a brief hug to McQueen. Last year, they hugged in tears in the middle of the night — sad about what could have been.
This time, they hugged with a season still ahead of them — and Kneepkens back as Utah’s rightful leader.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars guard Kemery Congdon (15) is pressured by Utah Utes forward Maye Toure (21) as BYU hosts Utah, NCAA basketball in Provo on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
Read More:
How Utah basketball’s Gianna Kneepkens responded for the Utes after season-ending injury
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