Utah may have lost to top-ranked South Carolina on Sunday, but Utes star Alissa Pili showcased why she could be a first-round pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.

Pili had a career game in Utah’s 78-69 loss to South Carolina, which was nearly a stunning upset from the Utes. She helped the team overcome an early 11-point deficit with a career-high 37 points, but while the Utes pulled within two points of the lead, the Gamecocks held on to remain undefeated.

On top of her 37 points, Pili went 15-of-23 from the field, with a team-high three 3-pointers. She also added three steals, two rebounds, one assist and one block.

“If I’m a WNBA GM, there’s no doubt in my mind that kid can play in the WNBA,” Utah associate head coach Gavin Petersen said. “She’s a winner, she’s an assassin in between the lines and she’s a great teammate.”

In the second period, Pili had 14 consecutive points for Utah before foul trouble put her on the bench. She finished the first half with 21 points.

“I’d much rather get the win and have Pili score 37 on us, then her score 37 with the win,” Dawn Staley told the Associated Press. “Now, that’s a little bit hard to swallow. But, utmost respect for Pili. I mean, Utah, I hope we don’t see them in the tournament and whoever does get to see them, good luck to you.”

If you ask Pili, her performance came down to sticking with what works.

“I just went out there and did my thing,” Pili said. “Let the game come to me. It’s better when I don’t think about it, because it just comes to me.”

Top-ranked South Carolina was up by three points against No. 11 Utah with just under five minutes left in the game. Te-Hina Paopao dribbled up the court to the elbow and released a jump shot. 

Her shot dropped into the hoop. Three minutes later, Paopao had the ball in the key again. She dribbled closer and closer to the basket and was approaching traffic. She lifted her arms to shoot as she ran, and her shot fell into the hoop again as her arm hung in the air. 

Paopao’s last-minute points kept her team afloat in a difficult matchup. The game remained close until the final buzzer, but Dawn Staley’s squad secured the victory against Utah, 78-69, to remain undefeated this season. 

The Gamecocks faced their toughest challenge of the year against Alissa Pili and the Utes. Pili dropped 21 points in the first half, and she only played 13 of the 20 minutes after getting into foul trouble. 

Kamilla Cardoso got into foul trouble herself after being called for three charges on Jenna Johnson, who put on a foul-drawing clinic against the defensive powerhouse. 

When Pili returned to the court in the second half, she did so in her usual form. Pili rained buckets on South Carolina, finishing the game with 37 points, a career-high. No other Utes came close to her offensive contributions, and the only other Utah player to reach double-digits was Dasia Young with 10 points. 

The Gamecocks spread the love on the scoreboard with four players in double-digits and 26 bench points. 

South Carolina was plagued by turnovers in its closest game of the season. Utah forced 23 turnovers and collected 11 points in transition, but they weren’t enough for the Utes to earn their first win against a first-ranked squad.

Tom Farden is out as Utah gymnastics coach nine days after he was placed on paid administrative leave. He was placed on leave weeks after allegations of abuse from former gymnasts Kara Eaker and Kim Tessen.

In a statement Tuesday night announcing the move, the university said the two sides had “mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.”

“The past several months have been an extremely challenging time for our gymnastics program,” athletic director Mark Harlan said in the statement. “Changes like this are never easy, and only come after extensive analysis and discussion. In this case, the decision provides necessary clarity and stability for our student-athletes and prevents further distraction from their upcoming season.”

Farden’s exit comes after Eaker and Tessen detailed allegations of abuse from their time in the program. Separately, both wrote about their time with the team on social media.

Eaker, a former member of the U.S. national team and two-time world champion, retired last month. In an Instagram post, she wrote that she has been diagnosed with “severe anxiety and depression, anxiety induced insomnia,” and has experienced panic attacks, PTSD and night terrors, as well as suicidal thoughts due to the “verbal and emotional abuse” she experienced during her time on the team.

Her attempts to report the abuse were “completely dismissed,” she wrote, with one administrator telling her that Eaker and the coach “just don’t get along.”

Tessen, who competed with the team from 2017 through 2020, shared similar experiences, noting that the program fostered “an abuse and toxic environment.”

Previously, the school said that the decision to place Farden on leave was “not related to student-athlete welfare” but declined to share further details.

Earlier this fall, an independent law firm investigated the program, but found that Farden “did not engage in any severe, pervasive or egregious acts of emotional or verbal abuse of student-athletes” and “did not engage in any acts of physical abuse, emotional abuse or harassment as defined by SafeSport Code.” In her Instagram post, Eaker called the investigation “incomplete at best.”

Farden had been co-head coach of the program since 2016 and was named sole head coach in 2020. In a statement, he said that it is “difficult to say goodbye” to the university, “but the time has come for me to embark on a new chapter.”

Carly Dockendorf, who was named interim head coach in his absence, will continue in the position for the 2024 season.

The University of Utah has placed gymnastics head coach Tom Farden on paid administrative leave weeks after allegations of abuse were made by former gymnasts Kara Eaker and Kim Tessen.

The leave is effective immediately, according to ESPN. The university did not provide a specific reason for the decision to place Farden on leave.

“This action comes after recent conduct and actions by Coach Farden not related to student-athlete welfare, which simply do not align with our values and expectations,” the school said in a statement.

Associate head coach Carly Dockendorf, who has been with the team since 2018, will serve as interim head coach.

Eaker, who is a former member of the U.S. national team and two-time world champion, retired last month after two seasons at Utah. In an Instagram post, she described her time on the team, which included being a “victim of verbal and emotional abuse.” She says that she has been diagnosed with “severe anxiety and depression, anxiety induced insomnia,” and has experienced panic attacks, PTSD and night terrors, as well as suicidal thoughts.

In her post, she said the alleged abuse happened most often in individual meetings with an “overpowering coach,” though she did not give a name. She describes being “personally attacked, humiliated, degraded and yelled at to the point of tears in front of the whole team.”

Her attempts to report the abuse were “completely dismissed,” she said, with one administrator telling her that Eaker and the coach “just don’t get along.”

Tessen, who competed with the team from 2017 through 2020, shared similar experiences on social media. The program, she said, fostered an “abusive and toxic environment.” She, too, dealt with “crippling depression and anxiety” while on the team as well as “suicidal ideation.”

Farden, who was named co-head coach in 2016 and has been the program’s sole head coach since 2020, was the subject of and investigation into the team’s culture that concluded in September. An outside law firm, Husch Blackwell, found that Farden “did not engage in any severe, pervasive or egregious acts of emotional or verbal abuse of student-athletes” and “did not engage in any acts of physical abuse, emotional abuse or harassment as defined by SafeSport Code.”

It was determined that Farden made a derogatory comment to a member of the team, but other incidents couldn’t “be independently corroborated” and were denied by the coach. He also “more likely than not threw a stopwatch and a cellular telephone in frustration in the presence of student-athletes,” but the investigation said that the behavior was “not repeated or severe.”

Eaker called the investigation “incomplete at best” in her social media post and said it lacked credibility.

“The report omits crucial evidence and information,” she said, “and the few descriptions used are inaccurate.”

“I’m speaking out for all of the women who can’t because they are mentally debilitated and paralyzed by fear,” she added. “I can no longer stand by while perpetrators are still allowed in sports and are causing young girls and women to suffer.”

Defending champion LSU basketball is the odds-on favorite to win another NCAA title this upcoming season.

The Tigers lead the pack both on FanDuel Sportsbook (+230) and DraftKings Sportsbook (+300). UConn comes in just behind them, at +600 on FanDuel and +500 on DraftKings, even after the Huskies snapped their Final Four streak in 2023.

LSU and UConn also hold No. 1 seeds in ESPN’s preseason bracketology. In the 2023 edition of March Madness, LSU entered with a No. 3 seed, and UConn with a No. 2 seed.

While 2023 runner-up Iowa sits immediately behind LSU and UConn in the betting odds, at +800 on FanDuel and +900 on DraftKings, ESPN projects Iowa as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State and UCLA are the other two top seeds in the preseason prediction.

South Carolina entered the 2023 postseason as the No. 1 overall seed and as a huge favorite for the title. But after losing their entire starting lineup, the Gamecocks are fifth in championship odds on DraftKings (+1100), sixth on FanDuel (+1300) and a No. 2 seed in ESPN’s bracketology.

NCAA women’s basketball: 2024 national championship odds

These are the top 16 teams in betting odds for the 2024 national championship, as listed by FanDuel Sportsbook on Oct. 31.

  • LSU (+230)
  • UConn (+600)
  • Iowa (+800)
  • Utah (+1100)
  • Indiana (+1100)
  • South Carolina (+1300)
  • Stanford (+1300)
  • UCLA (+1700)
  • Ohio State (+1700)
  • Notre Dame (+1700)
  • Maryland (+2700)
  • Tennessee (+2700)
  • Texas (+2700)
  • Ole Miss (+5000)
  • Duke (+5000)
  • Baylor (+5000)

Maile O’Keefe is an all-around champion after winning the title in dramatic fashion over UCLA star Jordan Chiles.

Chiles looked to have secured the all-around title with her 10 on the bars, especially after scoring a 9.9875 on the floor. But the Olympic medalist didn’t hold the lead for long, as Utah’s O’Keefe soon followed with a 10 of her own on beam.

While O’Keefe had won individual titles on bars, beam and floor, this marked her first all-around title.

“Every national championship that I’ve had under my belt has been amazing, but it’s just extra special because I don’t necessarily have everything that all of the other all-arounders have,” she told SportsCenter. “It’s just kind of really cool.”

She also won the beam title with the same perfect 10 that pushed her ahead of Chiles for the all-around victory.

O’Keefe is the first Utah gymnast to win the all-around title since 1999.

Her beam, along with Grace McCallum’s 9.95 on bars, was enough to help Utah secure its place in the national championship final on Saturday. They’re joined by Oklahoma, LSU and Florida.