With the No. 8 UCLA Bruins’ overtime loss to No. 25 Colorado on Friday, the No. 9 Utah Utes are poised to move ahead of them in the rankings and even a Bruin win over the Utes on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City might not change that.
Utah of course started 13-0 and has since only lost to Colorado and No. 3 Stanford, so no bad losses for the Utes. UCLA, on the other hand, has a bad loss to Oregon State (“first four out” in ESPN’s Jan. 27 Bracketology) and four losses total, with the same amount of wins as the Utes (17).
For Utah, having the player who is No. 10 in the nation in field goal percentage and the player who is No. 7 in 3-point percentage doesn’t hurt. That would be Alissa Pili (62.2) and Gianna Kneepkens (45.9), respectively.
Pili is one of the best inside scorers in the nation and is currently on her second four-game streak of scoring 20-plus points this season. If she makes it five in a row on Sunday, it will be a season-high streak.
Highlights: Alissa Pili
Pili averages a team-high 20.2 points; Kneepkens is second at 15.1 points per game. The Utes have a solid rebound margin of plus-7.5 and are seventh in the country with 18.4 assists per game, but it’s more by committee in those…
