SALT LAKE CITY — The 18th-ranked women's basketball team continues to be historic. The Utes are the only team in the country with four top-10 wins this season.
When Utah's star shooter Gianna Kneepkens went down with a season-ending injury, it was time for senior forward Dasia Young to step up.
"What's working for me is I'm not second-guessing anything anymore or overthinking or looking to other people to score," said Young. "I just did what was needed — I always do what's needed."
She was a perfect 6 for 6 in Utah's upset win over 7th-ranked USC.
"I came from a mid-D1 school, a really good one, but it was like a pick me up last minute thing," Young said. "I was just blessed to get the opportunity."
"Playing on a good team, had all these highly recruited people and then you just have Dasia, you're like, 'OK, who's that kid.' I just want to let people know, I'm pretty good too," Young laughed.
Pretty good is an understatement — she hit the game-winning buzzer-beater shot against Colorado, upsetting yet another top-10 team.
It was a career-defining moment, and a shot she'll never forget.
"My sister's dad passed, after the Colorado game. It was horrible timing, but the good news is he got to see my game-winning shot," she said.
Young added: "That was our last text: 'Congratulations on your game-winning shot.' I'm really glad he got to see that. he died the night afterwards."
Young's real dad passed away when she was in high school, her senior year.
"It's like a double whammy," Young said. "So it was kind of tough, but he's always been in my life because me and my real dad were not that close. He was always there since I was younger."
"Him passing was like losing my dad twice again, in a way, so that was really tough for me."
Due to the Utes' west coast road trip, where they faced UCLA and USC, she couldn't make it home to be with her sister, but she had her teammates to support her.
"The only choice I had was to stay in my room and just be sad or go play. They wouldn't let me sit in the room, they kept getting me out of the room, making me laugh on purpose when I didn't want to laugh," she said.
Through it all, Young is proud of where she's at today.
"I feel like I'm handling it better than I was when I was 17 and my real dad died, than now. My teammates have been really supportive," she said.
