Harding, Gonzales No. 21 BYU women beat Utah 85-80

Sat, Dec 4, 2021
NCAAB News (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Paisley Harding scored a career-high 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting, Shaylee Gonzalez added 22 points and seven assists and No. 21 BYU beat Utah 85-80 on Saturday night.

Tegan Graham hit three 3-pointers and finished with nine points, eight assists and six rebounds for BYU (8-0). Sara Hamson added eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and four blocks.

Graham hit a 3 to open the scoring 31 seconds in and the Cougars never trailed. Harding scored 10 points in a 12-3 run that made it 24-10 late in the first quarter and BYU took an 11-point lead into halftime before Graham and Harding each made a 3-pointer as the Cougars scored 14 of the first 17 third-quarter points to stretch their lead to 58-37 midway through the period.

Freshman Gianna Kneepkens, whose previous career high was 15 points, scored 13 of her career-best 29 points in the fourth quarter as Utah trimmed a 18-point deficit to 83-80 when she hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left.

Gonzales made two free throws about 9 seconds later to seal it.

Brynna Maxwell and Jenna Johnson scored 10 points apiece for the Utes.

BYU made 36 of 61 (59%) from the field.

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