Utah’s Alissa Pili (35) fights for management of the basketball with LSU’s Kateri Poole (55) throughout the first half of a Candy 16 school basketball sport of the ladies’s NCAA Event in Greenville, S.C., Friday, March 24, 2023. Mic Smith, AP
Utah’s run within the NCAA ladies’s basketball match got here to a sudden finish Friday as No. 3 seed LSU held off the Utes 66-63 in a wild Candy 16 sport in Greenville, South Carolina.
Alexis Morris made 4 free throws within the remaining 10 seconds to elevate the Tigers into an Elite 8 matchup with Miami on Sunday.
Utah overcame an eight level deficit within the remaining 4 minutes and took a 63-61 lead with one minute, 9 seconds remaining on two free throws by Issy Palmer.
Nevertheless, Utah’s Jenna Johnson missed two free throws with 4.7 seconds left that will have given the Utes the lead.
Gianna Kneepkens scored 9 straight factors to deliver the Utes again with 4 minutes remaining after Utah trailed 60-52 with 3:43 left.
The Utes had an opportunity to tie on the buzzer, by Dasia Younger’s desperation 3-pointer wasn’t shut.
Listed here are 3 keys to Utah’s heartbreaking loss:
• Gianna Kneepkens led the Utes with 20 factors on 6 of 16 taking pictures and Issy Palmer added 15, however main scorer Alissa Pili struggled and had simply 14 factors and finally fouled out.
• The Utes stayed in it by taking pictures 8 of twenty-two from 3-point vary and holding the Tigers to only three 3-pointers.
• Utah completed with 16 turnovers and gave up too many second-chance factors as LSU turned 12 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance factors.