By MATTHEW COLES The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — The UCLA women’s basketball team ascended to No. 2 in the latest AP Top 25 poll to start the day, but the Bruins didn’t have much to celebrate by the end of the night.
Kennady McQueen had a season-high 21 points, Dasia Young and Matyson Wilke each made four 3-pointers and No. 16 Utah upended UCLA, 94-81, in overtime on Monday night.
Young and Wilke each had season highs of 16 points to overcome an off-game by their star Alissa Pili, who had 16 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Utah (14-5 overall, 4-3 Pac-12) had never defeated a team ranked this high and had never beaten the Bruins (15-2, 4-2) three times in a row.
Gabriela Jaquez scored 21 points, Kiki Rice added 16 and Charisma Osborne had 14 for the Bruins, who were outscored 22-9 in overtime after a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback.
In overtime, Pili finally made her mark with a rebound putback and two free throws on consecutive possessions to put Utah up 83-76 with 2:01 remaining. UCLA, which was outrebounded for the first time all season (38-35), never got close after that.
Utah’s Ines Vieira, who had 12 points, made a driving layup to send the game to overtime after Camryn Brown made a free throw with four seconds remaining in regulation.
The Bruins clamped down in the fourth quarter, forcing five turnovers and 1-for-9 shooting before Wilke hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it 70-64.
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Jaquez, Rice and Brown made three shots in a row to give UCLA its first lead, 71-70, since the first half with 53.9 seconds left. The Bruins blocked Pili twice in the final minute of regulation.
BIG PICTURE
UCLA: With the height advantage they enjoy nearly every game, the Bruins gave Pili problems but couldn’t cash in with many easy baskets on the offensive end. The UCLA defense couldn’t keep up as Utah generated wide-open 3-point looks with its drive-and-kick offense.
Utah: The Utes take the vast majority of their shots around the basket or behind the 3-point line, so when the 3-pointers (13 for 28) are falling Utah’s offense really hums. Perhaps the keys were Utah’s all-out hustle with swarming defense and bodies on the floor nearly every play.
UP NEXT
UCLA hosts Washington on Friday at 7 p.m.