No. 12 Utah women cruise past Weber State behind Pili’s 20
OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Alissa Pili scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds and No. 12 Utah rolled to an 88-52 win over Weber State on Tuesday night.
It is Utah’s highest ranking since March 10, 2008.
The Utes (11-0) were never challenged after they scored the final 14 points of the first quarter to lead 23-11.
Pili, third in the nation in shooting at 70% was just 6 of 13 but was 8 of 8 from the foul line. Utah shot 55% in the first half (16 of 29) for a 47-25 lead and 34% (12 of 35) to finish at 44%. Utah is the top shooting team in the nation at 53.2%. The Utes were 25 of 28 at the foul line.
Gianna Kneepkens scored 12 points, Dasia Young scored 12 and Teya Sidberry 11.
Daryn Hickok led the Wildcats (4-8) with 12 points. They shot 33%, were out-rebounded by 13 and had 31 turnovers, leading to 38 Utah points.
Utah has one more non-league opponent, South Utah, on Thursday with a chance to match the school-record start of the 2018-19 team. Then they take the Washington swing in a return to Pac-12 play, starting at Washington State on Dec. 30.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25