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SALT LAKE CITY — Alissa Pili immediately showed her injured ankle was okay.
Pili scored 26 points and Jenna Johnson added 21 to help No. 8 Utah beat California 101-76 on Thursday night.
“It was just a lot of rehab and treatment just to make it feel better and good enough for me to walk,” Pili said.
Pili, returning from a sprained ankle that kept her out in the last game, dominated her 26 minutes on the pitch and the Utes built up enough of an advantage to give her an extra break.
“She’s a tough kid, in case you haven’t noticed,” said Utah coach Lynne Roberts.
Pili and Johnson combined for 19 of 28 field goals, most of which were in the colour.
“The thing about Alissa and Jenna is that they’re both just so reliable. We never have to wonder or worry about where her headspace might be,” Roberts said.
The Utes made 27 layups as they take almost all of their shots from beyond the arc or at the basket.
“Roll hard to the hoop and the guards find me with little dump-off passes,” Johnson said of her success around the basket.
The Utes (24-3, 14-3 Pac-12) went 5-on-8 from behind the 3-point line and ran at every opportunity in the second half to open up a tight game and lead to a wire-to -Cruise to drive. wire the win and keep them undefeated at home.
“We run at altitude every day and we have big engines. The other team always breaks in front of us and when we see that, we’ll run even harder,” Johnson said.
Jayda Curry paced the Bears (13-15, 4-13) with 28 points and Kemery Martin, a transfer from Utah, contributed 15.
“Jayda is gaining momentum. This is the Jada Curry we all know,” said Cal coach Charmin Smith. “We did a good job putting down shots early on.”
Behind Curry, a dynamic shooter who can score from anywhere, the Bears drew on Utes four times in the second quarter but never led. Issy Palmer put a 3-pointer on the buzzer to give Utah a 49-43 advantage at halftime.
Pili, a transfer from USC, is a physical presence that caused opponents to bounce off of their post moves and defenses throughout the game. They even stopped play in the first quarter to look out for a flagrant when a bear collided with Pili and fell hard onto the court but took it as a common foul.
After starting their last game against Arizona State on a 9-0 run, the Utes came out on top early this time, making a 15-2 start in the first four minutes behind Pilis by nine points.
Despite a senior-less roster, the Utes are riding through the best season in program history with a top-five offense and a consistent top-10 finish since the year-turn.
“It was a good, balanced team win. We’re 14-3 now? Wow, winning 14 games in this league is a big deal,” said Roberts. “So proud of this team.”
BIG PICTURE
California: The Bears are playing pretty much all season after beating USC in their last game, and their offense was unstoppable at times on Thursday. The deterrent to an angry bid was their inability to stop Utah’s multifaceted attack and commit some improper turnovers to start Utah fastbreaks.
Utah: After struggling with a loss to Arizona and a narrow win over bottom-ranked Arizona State on the Arizona trip, the Utes looked more like themselves, with Pili controlling the center and multiple players on straight drives and fasts Breaks came to the basket.
SURVEY IMPACT
How far the Utes climb will depend more on how they fare in Saturday’s regular-season finale against No. 3 Stanford, which has a one-game lead over Utah in Pac-12 standings.
NEXT
California: On Saturday in Colorado.
Utah: host Stanford on Saturday.
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