Alissa Pili stays late after every practice and doesn’t leave until she makes 25 free throws in a row. So when the No. 10 Utah women’s basketball team was down one with 0.3 seconds left and Pili stepped to the line for two, her muscle memory took over.
“I just had to get in my element a little bit,” Pili said. “There’s pressure, but it’s nothing I can’t handle, I think.”
Pili’s two free throws lifted the Utes to an 80-79 win over the No. 14 Arizona Wildcats. It was a game Utah coach Lynne Roberts said they “needed” after the setback against Colorado last weekend.
Pili finished with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. She was dominant inside all game and didn’t miss a shot in the entire first half. But it was the final 1.6 seconds of poise that highlighted now important Pili is to the Utes.
Utes junior Dasia Young turned the ball over on an inbound pass with a 78-77 lead. Wildcats freshman guard Paris Clark went the length of the floor and scored an unorthodox-looking layup with 1.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The play Utah drew up called for Pili to receive the ball in the post and make a play. Pili said she asked Roberts if 1.6 seconds was long enough to catch the ball and make a move.
Gianna Kneepkins’s pass to Pili was a bit long, but Pili stayed patient.
“If I was to be stressed about the whole situation, it would’ve done my team no good,” Pili said. “I knew I just had to keep my composure and just act like the game wasn’t on the line, kind of, just so I could take that pressure off [and think it’s] just another day.”
On the defensive end, Pili’s poise helped her stay on the court after committing her fourth foul with 3:28 remaining in the game. Arizona is a physical team, and multiple players on both sides had at least four fouls. Three Wildcats fouled out, as did Utah’s Jenna Johnson.
“I knew my team needed me,” PIli said. “I just had to be smart about it, really. I couldn’t really commit any fouls that were just lazy or undisciplined. I just knew it was a big game, a big moment. I just did everything I could to be as smart as I could to stay in the game.”
Kneepkins finished with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds. She made three hard drives to the basket down the stretch and converted layups while being fouled. She missed her first two opportunities at the traditional 3-point play, but completed the third that gave the Utes a 76-75 lead. Two more free throws from her on the next possession gave her team a three-point lead with 22.8 seconds left.
Utah also got back a much-needed boost from Kennady McQueen, who contributed six points, four assists and two rebounds after being seen in a walking boot on Thursday. McQueen started the game.
“That kid is tough,” Roberts said. “The reason she’s in a boot is because she plays so dang hard. Pain be danged, she’s not going to let it — she has one speed, and it’s all-out. ... For her to go from sitting for eight days to that, man, I’m glad she’s on our team.”
With the uncharacteristic loss to Colorado, the Utes felt beating Arizona allowed them to get back to playing to their capabilities.
“Just kind of resetting, seeing ourselves play harder and playing more to our principles was good for us,” Kneepkins said.
Pili added: “It meant a lot just because we know our potential and how we can play and what we do best. I think this game was just kind of that bounce-back game of us just getting back to the old us and finding our rhythm in our offense and playing tough and just finding a way to win.”
Utah is on the road against Stanford on Friday.
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