The streak continues.
The women’s basketball team put on an impressive display at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday night as it beat the Air Force Falcons 68-43, giving the Utes their sixth win in a row. Morgan Warburton led all scorers with 21 points and Katie King turned in another solid performance with 14.
The game didn’t look as though it would be much of a contest. The Falcons were last in the Mountain West and lost their first two conference games by a combined 85 points. However, the Falcons came out firing on all cylinders and jumped to an early lead, 7-5.
As time wore, on the talent disparity in the two teams began to show, however. Utah went on runs of 15-0 and 10-2 to go into the locker room up 36-24. Utah forced the Falcons into turnovers and converted those into fast-break opportunities. By halftime, Air Force had 11 turnovers and finished with 17.
“That’s definitely when we went on our runs, when we got out in transition is when we really started to pull away,” said Utah head coach Elaine Elliott.
The second half was all Utah. The Utes went on a 14-4 run to open the second half, pushing the lead to 50-28. Utah used a suffocating defense to hold Air Force to 11.5 percent in the second half, converting only three field goals.
“Air Force always works really hard,” Warburton said. “They are the hardest-working team in the conference. Coach Elliot talked about that coming in. That was one of our main focuses. We needed to be above them with their intensity level.”
Offensive output was again balanced for Utah. With the Falcons focusing on preventing Warburton and Kalee Whipple from beating them, the role players yet again stepped up in a big way. Eight players put up points and the team registered 19 assists on the game.
“I think this is really good for the young girls,” Warburton said. “They can now see what we can do as a team. Their roles are really important. And it’s good for them to know that because we have some tough games coming up on the road.”
Utah’s next game has an interesting backstory. The Utes will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., on Saturday to take on the Colorado State Rams8212;the same team that spoiled Utah’s otherwise outstanding season when it beat the Utes in the first round of the Mountain West tournament.
Tyler CobbMorgan Warburton collides with Air Force?s Liz Dunsworth on her way to the hoop. Warburton scored 21 points in the Ute?s 68-43 win.