Alissa Pili scored 16 of her 26 points in the second half, Kennady McQueen added 17 points and No. 5 seed Utah nearly let a 20-point lead evaporate before pulli
ng away in the second half for a 68-54 win over No. 12 seed South Dakota State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
But it was Utah’s start that set the tone. The Utes outscored South Dakota State 20-3 in the first quarter and led 27-7 early in the second quarter. Utah gave away most of the lead and led just 27-24 at the half, but outscored South Dakota State 26-17 in the third quarter to regain control.Utah will face No. 4 seed Gonzaga on Monday night in the second round of the Portland 4 Regional.
South Dakota State’s previous low for points in a quarter was four and it happened twice this season. The building could have been part of the problem, too. The Jackrabbits started slow and had just eight points in the first quarter of an 83-58 loss at Gonzaga in December.Brooklyn Meyer finished with 13 points and Paige Meyer added 12. But the Jackrabbits were just 3 of 12 on 3-pointers after ranking fifth in the country while hitting 38% of their 3s coming into the NCAAs.
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