Balance Utah takes over in 2nd half, hand No. 3 Notre Dame women 2nd straight loss 78-67

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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Gianna Kneepkens scored 16 points, Kennady McQueen added 15 and Utah handed No. 3 Notre Dame its second-consecutive loss at the Cayman Islands Classic 78-67 on Saturday.

As in Friday's 76-68 loss to No. 17 TCU, one bad quarter doomed the Irish (5-2). They were 2 of 11 in the third against the Utes, then never got untracked afterwards.

Jenna Johnson and Mat Wilke both added 14 points for Utah (6-2), which is 3-1 under Gavin Petersen after replacing Lynne Roberts when she was named L.A. Sparks coach.

Sonia Citron scored 22 points to the lead the Irish. Liatu King had 16 with 11 rebounds. Hannah Hidalgo added 16 points.

Notre Dame had its biggest lead at 37-28 with a minute to go in the first half but Utah scored the last four points and then scored 11-straight to open the second half.

Utah lost both its previous Power Four games by a total of six points.

Notre Dame short bench, two subs had a total eight points in the tournament, is a concern.

Despite the second half struggles, the Irish were down 68-60 with the ball when star guard Olivia Miles was called for an offensive foul, her fifth, with 2:03 left in the game. Matyson Wilke hit a clinching 3 for the Utes 18 seconds later.

Utah shot 14 of 24 in the second half, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range and made 11 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter. The Irish shot 10 of 31 after intermission.

Notre Dame is home against No. 5 Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday. Utah plays Utah State at the Delta Center, home of the Utah Jazz, on Wednesday.

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