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Her college career is a mere 10 games old, but Joeseta Fatuesi has quickly emerged as an impact player at both ends of the floor.

On Saturday, Utah's freshman center tied a career high with 16 points and had nine rebounds and three blocks in the Utes' 67-52 victory against visiting Louisiana Tech.

"I'm so used to playing how we're playing now — with another 'big,' so we can go high-low or vice versa," Fatuesi said. "Everything's been really good. I'm getting used to it."

Taryn Wicijowski had 17 points and eight rebounds as the Utes dominated the paint, outscoring the Lady Techsters 32-12 in the post.

As dominant as the Utes were down low, they were equally impressive on the defensive end. Louisiana Tech shot just 24 percent from the field, including 3 of 16 from 3-point range.

"Their post players are kind of like guards playing the post, which is difficult," Utah coach Anthony Levrets said. "We're really, really, really short-handed, so we're not going to outscore people. I was really happy with our individual defense, but our team defense was really good."

The Utes improved to 5-5 on the season and 5-1 at the Huntsman Center despite playing without second-leading scorer Malia Nawahine for the seventh consecutive game because of a back injury.

Paige Crozon (11 points) and Tanaeya Boclair (10) each made two 3-pointers and the Utes shot 7 of 18 from long range.

Fatuesi, from Santa Clara, Calif., scored 16 points for the second time in three outings, and doubled her season total with two 3-pointers. Those numbers came in 30 minutes — the most she's played in a game this season.

"Her growth is awesome," Levrets said of his freshman. "She's starting to get comfortable in what we do, starting to get comfortable in the system and where her shots are coming from. The light is unbelievably green for her — she's a great shooter."

Whitney Frazier had a game-high 19 points for Louisiana Tech, coached by Tyler Summit, son of legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summit.

"They executed very well and took away what we wanted to do in our transition game," Tyler Summit said. "It seemed like nothing we threw at them worked."

Utah point guard Danielle Rodriguez had eight rebounds and six assists as she played all 40 minutes for the second consecutive game.

The Utes finish nonconference play Dec. 29 against Charlotte. —

Storylines

• The Utes dominate inside, outscoring the Lady Techsters by 20 points in the paint and outrebounding them by 11.

• Taryn Wicijowski scores 17 points and freshman Joeseta Fatuesi ties a career high with 16 points for the Utes.

• Utah improves to 5-1 at the Huntsman Center with one more home game before Pac-12 play begins.