Night and day is about the only way to describe the difference between the first and second half of Tuesday night’s women’s basketball game between in-state rivals BYU and Utah.
After trading 3-pointers and keeping it close throughout the first half, the Utes blew the game wide open in the second half, outscoring their rivals 47-19 and leaving the Huntsman Center with an 82-45 victory for their 17th consecutive win.
“(Elaine Elliott) just told us it didn’t look like we were having fun in the first half,” Utah point guard Leilani Mitchell said. “We picked up the energy after halftime and went on a really big run.”
Although the two halves were vastly different, the Utes (22-3, 11-0) never trailed in the contest. The closest the Cougars (12-11, 6-5) got after the initial onset was at the 2:38 mark in the first half, when they closed the gap to 29-26.
From then on, it was all Utah.
“We stopped playing defense, we stopped moving the ball,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “They came down and made some shots, got up on us and we just folded. We just said, ‘The game is over,’ and they hit more shots while they were ahead.”
The second-half surge was bolstered by the play of Morgan Warburton, who scored 20 of her game-high 24 points in the latter half to lead the charge for the Utes. Warburton finished the game 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, which ties a Utah school record.
The effort surely won’t hurt the junior guard’s free-throw percentage, which was already at an MWC-best 89.4 percent in conference play before the game.
“I just like shooting free throws,” Warburton said. “We work hard in practice on them, and I take a lot of pride in them. Every free throw can be the difference in the game.”
Warburton wasn’t the only Ute doing work against the Cougs, though. As is usually the case, Kalee Whipple and Mitchell pitched in superb performances, recording 18 and 16 points, respectively.
Mitchell, who was recently named one of nine finalists for the Nancy Liebermann Award, which is given to the nation’s best point guard, also tallied a team-best 12 assists and seven steals in the winning effort.
“Having a point guard on the team that knows what everybody is supposed to be doing — and that makes everybody around her better — is going to lead your team to wins,” Warburton said. “Leilani does that.”
Also contributing for the Utes was senior forward Jessica Perry, who scored 12 points and snagged 10 rebounds.
The win keeps the Utes perfect in conference play and edges them within one win of tying the 18-consecutive-win mark set in 1977. It also gives the Utes their second-straight blowout win over their rival to the south.
“We just needed better energy and enthusiasm in the second half,” Elliott said. “I thought they made the effort plays in the first half. That’s why it was close, so the second half wasn’t about X’s and O’s as much as it was about mental adjustments.”
Utah will have the chance to tie the all-time consecutive-win record on Saturday against New Mexico at The Pit.
Ty CobbMorgan Warburton attempts to control a fast break pass from Leilani Mitchell.