SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's basketball team played its lone exhibition game of the 2023-24 preseason here Wednesday evening and faced a tough opponent in AP Preseason No. 5 ranked University of Utah as the ThunderWolves fell to the Utes, 96-44 at the Huntsman Center on the Utah campus. CSU Pueblo will begin its 2023-24 season on Nov. 3 as they face Azusa Pacific in the first game of the D2CCA Division II Tip-Off Classic in Lubbock, Texas.
 
In Wednesday's exhibition game with the fifth-ranked Utes, the Pack got off to a slow start as they trailed 8-3 in the opening three-plus minutes of the game, but they rallied and cut the Utes lead to 16-12 following a 3-pointer from redshirt junior forward Alisha Davis (Aurora, Colo./Northern Colorado) with 1:40 left in the first quarter. Davis, who was an Honorable Mention WBCA Division II All-American in her first season with the Pack in 2021-22, played in just one game before sitting out the rest of 2022-23 season after giving birth to a daughter, Genesis.
 
Davis finished the game with a team-high 18 points and added six rebounds against Utah, who are the reigning Pac-12 regular season champions and advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 last season.
 
After Davis' trey, the Utes would close the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 22-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. Davis scored eight of the Pack's 15 points in the quarter.
 
The second quarter was all Utah as the Utes shot 65 percent from the field and 57 percent from the 3-point line en route to outscoring the Pack, 34-7 to take a 56-22 lead at the half.
 
CSU Pueblo, who was tabbed to finish third in the Preseason Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coaches' Poll that was released Wednesday, would open the third quarter by scoring eight of the first 10 points to cut Utah's lead to 58-30 with 7:10 left in the quarter. The run began with a trey from junior guard Landri Hudson (Aurora, Colo./University of Wyoming) and was capped by a basket from junior guard Tomia Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Florida Gulf Coast).
 
Utah, though, responded with a 15-6 run to push its lead to 73-36, but the Pack would close the quarter by scoring four of the final nine points to trail 78-40 heading into the fourth quarter. In the quarter, Utah outscored the Pack, 22-18.
 
The Utes, who return all five starters from last season's NCAA Sweet 16 team, outscored the Pack, 18-4 in the final quarter to close out the game.
 
Along with Davis' 18 points, redshirt junior forward Autumn Watts (Centennial, Colo./McNeese State), one of the team's top impact newcomers, finished the game with 10 points and six rebounds. Johnson added five points, two rebounds and two assists and graduate student guard Romola Dominguez (Denver, Colo./Central Arkansas) had a team-high three assists.
 
In the game, the Pack shot just 15-for-55 (27.3 percent) from the field and were 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Utah shot 53 percent (32-for-60) from the field and made 11 of their 28 3-pointers in the win. The Utes also were 21-for-22 (95.5 percent) at the free throw line, while the Pack was just 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from the line.
 
Utah outrebounded the Pack, 40-29 and the two teams combined for 51 turnovers in the game as the Pack committed 31 and Utah had 20.
 
The Utes had five players score in double figures led by Alissa Pili, who was both an All-American and Pac-12 Player of the Year a season ago, led the way with 20 points, with 12 of them coming from the free throw line as she was 12-for-12 at the line in the win. Lani White added 14 points off the bench, while Ines Vieira tallied 14 points off the bench. All-American Gianna Kneepkens added 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Kennady McQueen also had 13 points in the win.