Jenna Johnson set her feet.
She locked her eyes on the basket, and the ball catapulted from her palms. Johnson then stared on, as it rotated in the air before whizzing through the net.
The senior forward’s 3-pointer with 54 seconds on the clock iced Utah’s 67-58 victory over Big 12 foe Arizona on Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Johnson finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists against the Wildcats.
“When she shot it, I knew it was going in,” junior guard Matyson Wilke said after the game. “I’m just so happy for her because she does a lot of things that aren’t on the stat sheet.”
The Utes victory now has them at 7-3 in the conference, good for a fifth-place ranking in the Big 12. They are now also riding a three-game win streak.
“It was a sloppy third quarter that made for an interesting game for the fans in attendance and watching on TV,” Utah head coach Gavin Petersen said. “I’m proud of our grit and our collective competitiveness down the stretch. There was a point in the fourth quarter where I think our players got a little upset and they took it upon themselves to do whatever it took to get that win.
“It was a good learning experience after a win for once.”
Outside of Johnson’s game-clinching basket, junior guard Gianna Kneepkens continued her dominance. She finished with a team-high 28 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while shooting 8 of 15 from the field and 3 of 8 from 3-point range.
“I think what was big for us tonight was our experience,” Kneepkens said. “... Arizona was doing a great job of getting us in positions where we were on our heels a little. We came together and decided we needed to be more aggressive than them. We started figuring it out at the end and it helped we were in the bonus.”
Kneepkens is now averaging 19.2 points per game on the season. She scored a season-high 32 points against BYU and another 30 versus Kansas in the Utes' last two contests.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes guard Gianna Kneepkens (5) looks for an open teammate as Utah hosts Kansas State, NCAA basketball in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.
“Honestly, I’m just trying to win the games,” Kneepkens said. “But I think when you’re in the gym and are practicing game reps it’s not any different when you get to the actual games because you’ve been there 100-plus times. I’ve been practicing how I play and just shooting the ball confidently.”
Arizona held a one-point lead over Utah with 3:57 remaining in the game. But Wilke hit a jumper to take back the lead and start the Utes on a 14-4 run to close the game.
Wilke scored seven of the Utes' points during that stretch. She finished with 14 points in the game.
“I was finally aggressive. The last couple games I haven’t played to the level I know I can and the level my teammates know I can,” Wilke said. “I was working with Gavin this week and that really helped get my confidence back where it needed to be.”
Riding their win streak, the Utes will now turn their focus to a road matchup against Texas Tech at 5 p.m. MT on Wednesday in Lubbock, Texas.
With two months remaining until March Madness, the Utes are projected as a No. 7 seed according to ESPN’s latest NCAA Tournament bracketology.
Clearly, the Utes are in a good spot to make the tournament if their momentum continues.
