Pili's 22 points leads No. 10 Utah to dominant win over Merrimack

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Alissa Pili scored 22 points and collected six rebounds to lead No. 10 Utah to a 98-34 victory over Merrimack on Friday night.

Kennady McQueen added a season-high 18 points on six 3-pointers for the Utes. Utah (5-1) finished with a 50-28 advantage in rebounds and outscored Merrimack 30-12 in the paint.

Cadence Johnson led the Warriors with eight points. Thalia Shepard added seven. Merrimack (1-5) made only 14 baskets while totaling the fewest points for a Utah opponent this season. The Utes scored 32 points off 25 turnovers.

Utah raced out to a double-digit lead after making seven 3-pointers in the first quarter while shooting 58% from the perimeter. Seven different players contributed an outside basket during the onslaught.

Their hot shooting allowed the Utes to quickly blow the game wide open. Utah built a 55-15 halftime lead after Pili and Young both made back-to-back baskets to fuel a 17-3 run to close the second quarter.

Turnovers complicated Merrimack’s efforts to stay in the game. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers before halftime, which led to 21 points for the Utes.

Utah held Merrimack to a single basket in the third quarter, allowing the Warriors to shoot just 1-of-13 from the field. The Utes led by as many as 69 points in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Merrimack: The Warriors struggled to keep up with Utah from the opening tip. They had no answer for the Utes on either end of the court.

Utah: The Utes clamped down on defense and kept Merrimack from getting easy looks at the basket. Utah did not allow any offensive rebounds, points in the paint, second chance points or fastbreak points during the first half.

UP NEXT

Merrimack is at Siena on Tuesday.

Utah hosts Carroll College on Tuesday.

___

AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball