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Utah holds off UNLV, advances to WNIT second round

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes forward Tanaeya Boclair (32) battles UNLV Rebels forward/center Katie Powell (21) for a ball as Utah hosts UNLV in women's NCAA basketball at the Huntsman Center, Thursday, March 15, 2018.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes forward Tanaeya Boclair (32) battles UNLV Rebels forward/center Katie Powell (21) for a ball as Utah hosts UNLV in women's NCAA basketball at the Huntsman Center, Thursday, March 15, 2018.

The Utes showed no signs of lacking motivation or being rusty in their first game in two weeks. On the contrary, they looked like they’d been itching for a chance to shove another team’s face in the dirt.

Utah enjoyed an outstanding first half highlighted by its highest-scoring first quarter since early January and withstood a disjointed and whistle-heavy second half to earn a 78-68 win over UNLV in the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday night.

The Utes (18-13) advanced to play Kansas State in the second round on Sunday at 4 p.m. MT in Kansas.

“We got the win,” Utes coach Lynne Roberts said. “That’s what I just told the team — postseason is about finding a way to win and moving on, which we did. We got our 18th win. I’m proud of our team for that, proud of these seniors to keep playing. I’d rather win ugly in the second half than lose. UNLV did a nice job coming back. They competed.”

Junior forward Megan Huff scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds before leaving the game with an apparent ankle injury with 10.7 seconds left to play. Freshman guard Tori Williams (15 points, five assists) and senior wing Tilar Clark (13 points, eight rebounds) also helped guide the Utes to victory.

The Utes led by as many as 20 points in the second half after Clark sliced through the lane on a drive for a layup to make the score 53-33 with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Rebels (19-12) chipped away and pulled within six points late in the fourth quarter. The Utes held on to extend their season at least one more game.

“Going into postseason we’ve kind of had a talk and we said play for the seniors,” Clark said. “We want to play together [as long] as we can. We know that any game that we lose is our last time being on the court together. We’ve all come together and talked about it. We’re just going to lay it out every night to keep the season going.”

The Utes’ 27-point quarter marked their most points in an opening frame since they scored 31 against Washington on Jan. 5. They started the game off by making 4-of-5 shots — all from 3-point range.

The Utes, who were held to 56 total in their loss to Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament, scored 47-first half points and shot 59 percent from the field. They went 7 of 14 from behind the 3-point line and eight of the nine players who played also scored. They also registered 13 assists on 17 field goals. They carried a 47-29 advantage into the break.

“In the second half those shots weren’t going down, and so we were just sputtering a little bit,” Roberts said. “Compound that with a lot of whistles and it’s just a different half.”

The teams combined for 32 free-throw attempts in the second half, and the Rebels scored 23 points in the final quarter just as the Utes went cold to make things interesting.

Huff went down with an ankle injury — the same ankle that she hurt late in the season and forced her to miss the final two games of the regular season — as the Utes inbounded the ball in the backcourt and the Rebels having to foul to stop the clock. Her status for Sunday is not clear.

Erika Bean (three points, six assists), Clark and Williams all made free throws in the closing minutes to preserve the win.

Storylines<br>• Utes advance to the second round of the WNIT by beating UNLV.<br>• The Utes score 47 first-half points in a highly-efficient first half to set the tone for the game.<br>• Junior forward Megan Huff scores a game-high 17 points before leaving with an injury.