Utah routs WSU

Brynna Maxwell hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and scored 22 points, and Utah shot 52 percent from the field in a 78-66 victory over Washington State before 757 at Beasley Coliseum in a Pac-12 game that was not nearly as close as the final score indicated.

Daneesha Provo added 20 points for the Utes (12-11, 5-7 Pac-12), which led by 34 points in the third quarter and shot 27 of 52 from the field, including 7 of 14 from 3-point range.

“Give credit to Utah. They really came ready to play,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “They put a lot of shooters on the floor and we never really got a handle on that. We didn’t want to give them 3s and we pretty much let them have shooting practice. We just weren’t very sharp offensively, and we just didn’t have the fight and the fire that we normally do, and it showed. Utah outplayed us today in every capacity.”

Sophomore Ula Motuga scored a season-high 14 points in her return from a two-game absence due to injury for Washington State (11-13, 4-8). Bella Murekatete, a freshman from Genesis Prep, had eight points, five rebounds and a blocked shot in 10 minutes for the Cougars, who play at Arizona State on Friday.