Utes blast past McNeese behind an efficient shooting night

Utah responded well to a disappointing loss at Northwestern last week, easily dispatching McNeese 118-50 at the Huntsman Center on Monday night.

The Utes (3-1) looked sharp on offense most of the night, hitting 13 3-pointers while shooting 60.3% from the field in overpowering the visiting Cowgirls.

“That was a good kind of get-right game in terms of our shooting and scoring,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. “You know, everybody contributed, everybody did their job, which was the goal, but we just played with a lot more swagger.”

3 takeaways

An early run helped kickstart the offense. Utah led 7-6 four minutes into the game — with six of those points coming off a pair of 3-pointers from Gianna Kneepkens — but the Utes created some separation by ending the first quarter on a 17-3 run, with contributions from numerous players.

Utah went on several extended runs throughout the game against an overmatched Cowgirls team. In the second quarter after the teams traded 3-pointers to start, Utah rattled off a 16-2 run to push the lead to 29 just four minutes into the frame.

In the second half, after McNeese initially outscored the Utes over the first few minutes, Utah went on a 20-4 run over four minutes, and through three quarters, Utah nearly had 100 points (the Utes went into the fourth quarter leading 99-48).

Utah then capped the contest by outscoring McNeese 19-2 in the final period.

The Utes ended the night shooting 60.3% from the field, with a quarter-best 75% in the second quarter when they scored 38 points to go into the half with a 62-27 lead.

That efficiency extended over to 3-point range, where Utah made 13 of 22, and the free-throw line, as the Utes went 23 of 29 from the charity stripe. Utah had assists on 27 of its 41 made field goals.

McNeese, meanwhile, shot just 25.8% for the game.

Kneepkens ended up with a team-high 24 points, breaking the 20-point barrier for the first time this season, showing the kind of competitiveness she’s been known for in her accomplished career at Utah.

The junior guard also had two assists and two steals.

“The goal was 25 assists. We had 27 on 41 made baskets. That’s awesome. Everybody did a good job,” Roberts said. “No game is perfect. As a coach, that’s kind of my job to nitpick, but I’m not going to do it tonight.

“I thought we played as hard as we could … and we shot much, much, much better than we did the other night in a game we will not mention, but proud of our team.”

It was a good night in the post. The Utes dominated inside against McNeese, finishing with a 54-12 edge in points in the paint.

Utah also outrebounded the Cowgirls 47-30. While both teams had eight offensive rebounds, the Utes owned a 15-7 edge in second-chance points.

Maye Toure, the transfer from Rhode Island, was nearly unstoppable, as she made 9 of 13 shots for 21 points — her second 20-point game of the season — while adding eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Reese Ross also continued her strong start to the year, as she looks increasingly comfortable in her sophomore season. By night’s end, she had 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

“I think the most important thing we tried to focus on this week was to just play simple and do our jobs and not doubt, just play with confidence, because we work hard and just play like it,” Toure said.

Maty Wilke bounced back well from a tough outing. In Utah’s two-point loss at Northwestern, junior guard Maty Wilke was 0 of 7 from 3-point range and had a tough night offensively, as she finished with 6 points. She had a shot to give Utah a lead in the final minute, but her final 3-point attempt was off the mark.

Wilke, like many of her teammates Monday, came out with a dogged determination against McNeese. She quickly made a pair of 3-pointers near the end of the first quarter, then found teammates for assists to help spark an early second-quarter run.

“I thought Maty came in really fearless,” Roberts said.

All totaled, Wilke had a career high 19 points, plus six assists and two steals in 19 minutes in her best game of the young season.

She made four 3-pointers.

Wilke said following last week’s loss, the focus for the Utes has been “to do our jobs” — and for her, that means bringing energy and shooting touch off the bench.

“I’ve worked a lot in a couple days we had … of just getting my mindset right to bring energy and then hitting open shots,” she said. “So basically, (the focus was) just doing our job and then trusting my teammates that they’re going to do theirs as well.”

What’s next

Utah will stay at home for a couple more games before heading to Grand Cayman Islands for a Thanksgiving week tournament.

The Utes host Saint Joseph’s on Friday at 7 p.m. in the back end of a doubleheader with the Utah men’s basketball team. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with the radio broadcast on 700 AM.