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So much for home sweet home.

The Huntsman Center has not been a kind place to play for Utah's women's basketball team of late as their losing streak was extended to five games with a 69-63 loss to No. 15 UCLA on Sunday.

Four of those losses have been at home.

Sunday's defeat, while not all that unexpected, summed up the frustrating weeks Utah has endured recently. The Utes (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12) played well enough to win and led by 15 points midway through the third quarter, but just couldn't hang on for the upset.

That the Utes squandered a prime opportunity to get a Pac-12 upset is becoming a familiar storyline for the Utes, who have let a couple of winnable contests slip away.

Utah forward Emily Potter, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday, gave a short review of the last few weeks by noting "every loss sucks."

Sunday's game will hurt for a while, though, since the Utes led 47-32 when Malia Nawahine made a 3-pointer with 6:13 remaining in the third quarter.

Instead of putting the Bruins (16-5, 8-2) away, that basket seemed to shock them awake, specifically guard Nirra Fields.

Fields made two baskets and two free throws in the final minutes of the third quarter to spark the UCLA rally. The Bruins took their first lead since the first quarter with 5:17 remaining when Fields made a 3-pointer .

Fields scored 17 of her 24 points in the final period, taking advantage of the foul trouble Utah guard Danielle Rodriguez was in for the crucial moments.

"We didn't need Danny getting her fifth so we rolled with it and she is a great offensive player," Utah coach Lynne Roberts said of Fields. "A great offense will beat a great defense. ... She was dialed in and wanting to win."

Discouraged by the losses, the Utes still tried to put a positive spin on their situation. They host Colorado (5-15, 0-9) on Thursday then take off for a three-game road trip.

Roberts said she sees her team getting better, and that is the most important thing for her.

"This season isn't about the outcome, but continuing to improve and establish our culture of outworking you, having good team energy, good energy coming off the bench," she said. "All of those things are happening. I'm seeing improvement game to game. We are all competitive humans and we want to win, but it's not outcome driven. I could care less about winning or losing streaks right now." —

Storylines

R The Utes lead by 15 points but can't stop UCLA guard Nirra Fields as she scores 24 points to rally the Bruins past Utah 69-63.

• With 5:17 remaining, Fields drains a 3-pointer to give the Bruins a 54-53 lead, UCLA's first lead since midway through the first quarter

• Fields has 17 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 5 of 8 and going 6 of 8 at the line.