TUCSON, Ariz. – Despite a strong comeback effort in the fourth quarter, the Arizona Wildcats fell to Utah 60-55 Friday night at McKale Center. 

The Wildcats (10-7, 1-4 Pac-12) trailed by 11 with 3:01 to play, but fought back from there. Destiny Graham hit a jumper to cut it to nine and LaBrittney Jones followed with her first made 3-pointer of the season. After a stop and a rebound from Jones, the junior hit another 3 on the next possession to cut it to three with 1:10 to play. 

Utah was able to hit a pair of free throws with six seconds left to hang on for the victory. 

“We would have liked to end that one a little bit better, but I'm proud of the way our group fought there in the end,” coach Niya Butts said. “I'm proud of the way the group played; LaBrittney did everything she could to give us the win. The difference in this game was free throws. We made four more shots than they did, tied them on threes, but they were 18 of 24 from the line and we were 5 of 10, and I think that is the difference in the basketball game.”

The Utes jumped out to a 23-9 lead nine minutes into the game, but the Cats responded. Arizona scored the final three points of the first quarter to cut it to 23-12. Keyahndra Cannon hit a jumper and Jones added a free throw.

After a free throw from Utah to open the second quarter, Arizona cut it to eight on back-to-back buckets from Washington and Jones. Utah again pushed the lead into double digits and led by as many as 12 at 31-19.

With the score 33-23, the Cats again scored back-to-back buckets to cut it to six. Lauren Evans and Cannon both scored. After Utah again stretched the lead to 37-27, Arizona scored the final four points of the half to again cut it to six. Washington drove for a layup and was fouled. She converted the three-point play to cut it to seven. Michal Miller was then fouled with less than a second remaining in the half to get it to six.

Washington had a game-high 12 points in the first half on 5 of 7 shooting. Jones had seven points and a steal in 17 minutes in the first. 

The Utes had a double digit lead for most of the second half until Arizona's furious comeback in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Jones finished with a game-high 19 points and also added seven rebounds and three steals in 34 minutes. Washington had 15 points and five assists in 30 minutes. Both players hit a pair of 3-pointers. Freshman Destiny Graham had six points and four rebounds off the bench for the Wildcats in 11 minutes.

“I thought we played well and fought hard,” Washington said. “We didn't give up. We kept playing together, we kept playing hard and kept working well together. We found our shooter (Jones) and that helped us a lot." 

The Wildcats will try to bounce back Sunday against Colorado. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

“The fight that they showed makes me very proud and gives me a lot of hope and encouragement going into Sunday,” Butts said.