Los Angeles, Calif. • A slow start and turnovers plagued the University of Utah women’s basketball team Friday night against USC, and despite another late rally, the Utes fell 69-66.
The Utes are 13-15 overall this season and 6-11 in Pac-12 play. The Utes committed 21 turnovers, tying for second-most by Utah this season, with the Trojans capitalizing by scoring 20 points off turnovers. Eight of Utah’s turnovers came in the first quarter with USC able to take off on a 10-0 run to gain an early 12-3 lead.
The Utes shot just 26% from the floor in the first quarter and an uncharacteristic 1 for 8 from the 3-point line.
The Utes made it a four-point game with Maurane Corbin scoring back-to-back layups to start the second period but went into halftime down seven. Utah opened the third quarter strong, going on a 7-0 run that was capped off by a huge three from Andrea Torres with 5:44 on the clock to make it a two-point game.
The Trojans answered and were able to jump out to their largest lead of the game, taking an 11-point advantage with under two minutes to go in the period. The Utes continued to fight, making it a three-point game with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter on a three from Brynna Maxwell, but once again USC had an answer and immediately made it a two-possession game.
Daneesha Provo cut it back to four points with an NBA-range 3-pointer with under a minute to play, but it wasn’t enough as USC (15-13, 7-10) extended its lead to six once again, coming away with the win despite a buzzer-beating three from Maxwell.
Maxwell led the Utes in scoring with 18 points. She also had two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Skiing
Utes lead at RMISA Championships • In Bozeman, Mont., Joachim Lien won the men’s giant slalom and four Utah skiers earned podium finishes as the Utes took a six-point lead after the first day of the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional.
Utah was the top-scoring team in three of the four races on the day, amassing 329 points to lead Denver (323) and Colorado (322.5).
Lien won his league-leading sixth race of the season and his second giant slalom of the year. He has won four of the last five races. Gustav Voello placed sixth.
The women’s alpine was paced by a 10th-place run from Katie Parker, her sixth top-10 finish of the season.
For the Nordic team, Guro Jordheim finished second for her league-leading eighth podium finish of the year. Leah Lange finished third and Mariah Bredal seventh. Karianne Moe placed eighth.
In men’s Nordic, Ola Jordheim earned his first podium finish of the year with a third-place finish. Maximilian Bie finished fourth and Bjorn Riksaasen sixth.
Baseball
Texas Arlington 6, Utah 0 • In Arlington, Texas, Justin Kelly gave up three earned runs on eight hits while striking out a career high five batters in 61⁄3 innings pitched, but the Utes (3-5) couldn’t push a run across in the series opener against the Mavericks (7-2).
New Mexico 4-9, BYU 0-18 • In Albuquerque, N.M., Jaren Hall had three hits, including a grand slam, and five RBIs as the Cougars defeated New Mexico 18-9 in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
The Cougars (6-5) bounced back for the big win after the Lobos (7-3) took the first game, 4-0.