Utah beats rival BYU on answered prayer from Maty Wilke in OT
Saturday's Utah-BYU game, the women's basketball incarnation of the Holy War, ended with an answered prayer in overtime.
With the game tied in the final seconds, BYU turned to freshman Delaney Gibb, their leading scorer. Gibb drove to the basket, but fell and lost the ball, which ended up in the hands of Wilke. A few dribbles later, Maty Wilke had to shoot the ball from halfcourt and delivered one of the biggest shots of the college basketball season.
Predictably, the home crowd at the Huntsman center exploded as Wilke's teammates swarmed her.
HALF COURT, FOR THE WIN, IN OVERTIME@MatyWilke ▶️ ESPN+📺 https://t.co/6BYfyDsqka#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/0TZ8CnSNhL
— Utah Women's Basketball (@UTAHWBB) March 1, 2025
The floor-level video really captures how preposterous this play was.
What a way to send out the seniors!! @MatyWilke half-court game winner in OT @UTAHWBB gets the 76-73 victory over BYU in jaw-dropping fashion pic.twitter.com/BpFl4EjeNZ
— Andrea Urban (@AndreaUrbanTV) March 1, 2025
If anything, Utah coach Gavyn Petersen felt bad for BYU, especially because he wasn't exactly planning to win on that shot, via 247Sports:
"I was preparing for another overtime. And so as soon as she left it and it left her hand, I'm like, ooh, that has a chance. And then it went in, and it sucks to lose that way. So I just kind of shook my head, like at the opposing coach, Amber, sometimes that's the way it goes, but they fought hard, so did our team, and just so glad that ball went in," Petersen said.
Before that shot, Wilke was 1-of-5 from the field for two points , two rebounds and three turnoves off the bench. Entering Saturday, the former Wisconsin transfer was averaging 9.6 points per game.
The 76-73 win was Utah's final game of the regular season . At 22-7 (13-5 in Big 12 play), they are currently on track for a middle seed in the NCAA Tournament, and avoiding a loss to the 13-16 Cougars should help their case.
Utah didn't want this game to go overtime, though. The Utes looked on their way to a blowout win over their rival with a 17-3 run to open the game, and they were still up by 10 at halftime. A 12-0 BYU run in the final minutes of regulation erased that lead, and Utah needed a 3-pointer from Gianna Kneepkens just to keep the game going beyond regulation.
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