Coughing up the ball and struggling to get shots to fall doomed the U women’s basketball team’s late game comeback as the Utes fell in their home opener to Fresno State.
Trailing by nine points with 12 minutes to go, the Utes mounted a spirited rally.
An assortment of four Utes hit key buckets that narrowed the gap to two-evidence that that the Utes are a well-rounded team with a lot of weapons.
With three minutes and 17 seconds on the clock, senior guard Heidi Carlsen hit a three-pointer, briefly giving the Utes a 53-52 edge.
But the problems that had been haunting the Utes all game-turnovers and poor shooting-were magnified in the closing minutes.
Utah missed its next three shots and turned the ball over twice as the young, rebuilt squad was ultimately outscored 9-2 in the final three minutes at the Huntsman Center Monday night.
“I think we were happy that we made the comeback and we just stopped,” sophomore forward Joh-Teena Filipe said. “I don’t think we kept working hard at all and that’s why we didn’t finish.”
Filipe took home Player of the Game honors for the Utes, as she came within one rebound of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.
“I thought Joh-Teena came out with passion,” U head coach Elaine Elliott said. “I just really liked how she looked.”
Elliott was pleased with Filipe’s intensity and what she referred to as Filipe’s “eye stare.”
“The good kind (of stare),” Elliott explained, “(is) not staring at someone else playing, but staring down anybody who’s around the ball.”
But that intensity didn’t translate into a win for the Utes, who fell in their season opener over the weekend to Gonzaga.
“We’re still real mistake-prone and that was the difference in the game,” Elliott said.
The Utes threw the ball away 23 times and were extremely cold from the field in the first half as they connected on just 28 percent from the field. Shot after shot clanged off the iron, but somehow Fresno State wasn’t able to capitalize-at least not enough to put the Utes away.
At halftime, the Bulldogs held a 25-22 lead. Utah’s shooting vastly improved in the second half, as the Utes got better looks at the basket and were able to connect on high percentage shots such as lay-ups and short jumpers.
Down by three, Utah had a few chances at the end but couldn’t score.
“Toward the end, we just need to make smarter decisions,” Filipe said.
But the turnovers caught up with them in the end and the Utes ran out of possessions, falling 61-55 and dropping to 0-2 on the season.
Sophomore point guard Morgan Warburton led all scorers with 18 points. Halie Sawyer and Heidi Carlsen added nine apiece.
The Utes will once again look for win No. 1 of the 2006-2007 season when they take on the UVSC Wolverines in Orem on Friday.
The Wolverines started out their season in impressive fashion, passing the century mark with a 101-82 victory over Mesa State. Sophomores Sandy Marvin and Robyn Fairbanks each scored 25 points to pace UVSC, which set a school record with 31 assists in the contest and shot an astounding 61 percent from the field.
Kim PetersonMorgan Warburton goes up for a bucket over a Fresno State player in the Utah women’s Basketball season opener last night at the Huntsman Center.