(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes guard Kiana Moore (0) takes the ball up the middle, in PAC-12 basketball action between the Utah Utes and the Stanford Cardinals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, Friday, February 14, 2020.
Lacie Hull scored 24 and Kiana Williams added 19 to lift No. 8 Stanford to a 97-64 win over Utah on Friday night at the Huntsman Center.
Fighting to keep pace with UCLA and Oregon — who played later on Friday — at the top of the Pac-12 standings, the Cardinal (22-3, 11-2 Pac-12) ran off quick outlets on rebounds and 12 takeaways into a 25-2 advantage on fast break points.
Ashten Prechtel scored 16 points on a variety of post moves as the Cardinal outscored Utah in the paint, 40-16.
Kemery Martin matched her career high with 15 points, Lola Pendande had 12, and Daneesha Provo tallied 11 for the Utes (12-12, 5-8 Pac-12).
Baseball
UC Davis 6, Utah 4 • In Davis, Calif., the Aggies scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to spoil the Utes’ season opener at Dobbins Stadium.
Jayden Kiernan had three hits and a run batted in for Utah. Zack Moeller was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
Utah starting pitcher Justin Kelly allowed two earned runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking one in 51⁄3 innings.
BYU 7, Gonzaga 1 • In Surprise, Ariz., Hayden Leatham homered and starter Justin Sterner pitched 61⁄3 dominant innings to help the Cougars beat the Bulldogs in their season opener.
Sterner allowed one earned run on four hits and struck out seven without issuing a walk. Letham and Bryan Call drove in two runs apiece.
Softball
Utah drops pair • In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the Utes suffered their first loss of the season when Texas rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a 3-2 victory at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Haley Denning had two hits and an RBI for Utah.
The Utes (6-2) then suffered their second loss of the day when Tennessee rallied for five fifth-inning runs en route to an 8-5 victory.
Men’s volleyball
No. 2 BYU stays undefeated • In Phoenix, second-ranked BYU swept Grand Canyon (25-22, 25-18, 28-26) on Friday at the GCU Arena to improve to 13-0 — the Cougars’ second-best start in program history.