Last Saturday afternoon, the U women’s basketball team let one get away. On Thursday night, the Utes never let it get anywhere close to that point.
Less than a week removed from a triple-overtime loss to Colorado State, Utah responded with an emphatic 67-39 victory over the Air Force Falcons.
The U improved to 9-6 overall, 2-1 MWC, while AFA fell to 4-11, 0-1.
Senior shooting guard Erin Gibbons led four Utes in double-figure scoring, nailing 4 of-9 3-pointers (and 4-of-10 shots overall) for a team-high 16 points.
Senior forward Lindsay Herbert was 4-for-8 on treys for 14 points, while Lauren Beckman and Katherine McColl each added 12 points. Beckman contributed 10 boards for her sixth double double of the season.
Equally important to the balanced scoring, though, was Utah’s fast start.
On the strength of 50 percent shooting in the opening half (11-of-22), and some stifling defense (Air Force was 6-of-26 for 23.1 percent), the Utes raced out to a 34-16 lead at the break.
Unlike the CSU game, however, the U didn’t let this one get away in the latter 20 minutes.
Though their own shooting declined (40.9 percent) and the Falcons’ improved (28.6), the Utes’ 33-23 second-half advantage was more than enough to secure the victory.
AFA’s cause was not helped when sophomore forward Amoy Jackson?who came in as the team’s leading scorer and rebounder?suffered through a 1-for-7 shooting night to finish with a paltry 4 points and 4 rebounds.
So instead, the Falcons were forced to rely upon freshman guard Latoya Howell, who was Air Force’s only double-figures scorer, totaling a game-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
And while the Utes will happily take the victory, they know they cannot repeat the sloppiness that plagued them when they take on New Mexico this Saturday.
Utah committed 23 turnovers against 15 assists, and was lucky that the Falcons were even worse in the ballhandling department (5/20 assist-to-turnover ratio).
If such ugliness continues against a 12-4 Lobo team that features junior center Jordan Adams, who is top 10 in the league in blocks (first), scoring (fourth) and rebounding (sixth), the end result isn’t likely to match Thursday’s.
The Utes and Lobos battle Saturday in The Pit of Albuquerque, N.M., at 7 p.m.