A frigid fourth quarter, fire alarm disruption define Utah’s upset loss to Northwestern

Lynne Roberts’ squad faced its first road test of the season Thursday night, and midway through the third quarter, it looked like the Utah women’s basketball team would come out victorious.
The Utes built a game-high 14-point lead on a Jenna Johnson 3-pointer with 4:07 left in the third and got 11 of their first 14 points of the quarter from Johnson, their star post player.
That’s when previously winless Northwestern took charge, though, as the Utes lost 71-69 in a game that went down to the final possession in Evanston, Illinois.
The loss drops Utah to 2-1 on the season, while Northwestern improved to 1-2.
Here’s a look at what cost the Utes in the loss.
After Utah led 51-37 following Johnson’s trey, the Wildcats made it a game going into the final period by ending the third on a 15-3 run to make it 54-52 with 10 minutes to play.
Then there was a strange delay. With 8:32 remaining and the game tied at 54-54, a fire alarm went off at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
That resulted in a 10-minute stoppage in play before the issue was resolved, and Utah found itself playing from behind for much of the rest of the game.
Northwestern, which shot much better than the visitors, eventually built a 69-63 lead with 1:55 left on a 3-point play from Casey Harter.
The Utes didn’t go away, though, getting 1 of 2 free throws from Reese Ross 24 seconds later, then Ross hit a layup with 52 seconds to play.
The Wildcats turned the ball over three times in the final two minutes, and with 15 seconds to play, Utah had a chance to tie the game, trailing 69-66.
After Maty Wilke missed a 3, a held ball gave the Utes possession again. A timeout followed, then Gianna Kneepkens was inexplicably fouled on a 3-point attempt. She made all three, tying the game at 69-69.
Utah, though, was burned on defense on the ensuing possession, as Caileigh Walsh got Johnson to bite on a fake, then went up and under for a short 2-pointer with three seconds to play to make it 71-69.
The Utes had to pass the ball in from their baseline and Ross caught it, but her shot didn’t fall, sealing Utah’s first loss.
Outside of Ross’ layup with just under a minute to play, Utah went ice cold from the field down the stretch, as the Utes missed 13 of their last 14 field goals over a nearly six-and-a-half minute stretch.
Northwestern, meanwhile, made 4 of 8 field goals during that same stretch and shot 46.2% in the fourth quarter, compared to just 21.1% (4 of 19) for Utah.
The Wildcats outscored Utah 34-18 over the game’s final 14 minutes, including 19-15 in the fourth quarter.
It was a rough shooting night overall for the Utes, as they shot just 33.8% for the game, compared to 50.9% for Northwestern.
Going into the game, it looked like Utah could take advantage of a Northwestern team that was allowing opponents to shoot 45% from 3-point range, which ranked 346th nationally.
The Utes, though, struggled to 9 of 33 shooting from 3-point range, as several of their usual top shooters couldn’t connect. Kennady McQueen and Maty Wilke each went 0 for 7 from 3-point range, while Kneepkens, who had 14 points, was 2 of 5.
Johnson, who scored a team-high 15 points and added 10 rebounds, made 3 of 6 3-pointers for her first 3-point makes of the season. Ross, who scored 10 points in the second quarter, had 14 points while shooting 5 of 9, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.
The Wildcats only shot 2 of 10 from 3-point range, but inside the arc, they were 26 of 45.
Melannie Daley led the Northwestern offense with 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting, while Grace Sullivan added 16 points before fouling out.
The free-throw line wasn’t friendly to the Utes, either, as they hit 16 of 26, and only 3 of 7 in the first half.
While Johnson (4 of 6) and Kneepkens (6 of 7) were solid at the charity stripe, others such as Ross (2 of 7) and Sam Crispe (2 of 4) left points unscored from the line in a one-possession game.
Northwestern, meanwhile, didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half, though the Wildcats were nearly perfect in the second half. The home team was 13 of 14 from the free-throw line, including 6 of 7 in the final quarter.
Sullivan was a perfect 6 of 6.
While Utah won the turnover battle 21-16, the Utes were hurt by four turnovers late in the third quarter that helped spark Northwestern’s 15-3 run to get back in the game.
Utah will return home for its next three games. Up first is a matchup with McNeese on Monday, with a 7 p.m. MST tipoff at the Huntsman Center.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and on the radio at 700 AM.
McNeese, which competes in the Southland Conference, is 3-0 on the season, with blowouts over three overmatched opponents.