Sometimes, your star players need to carry your team. Luckily for the Utes, they possess two bright ones.
Another strong second-half effort extended the Utes’ winning streak to 12 games in a row Sunday afternoon, as Utah beat visiting Wyoming 64-57.
Senior Morgan Warburton and junior Kalee Whipple both had standout performances for Utah, scoring 28 and 22 respectively. The win improves Utah’s record to 16-6 overall and 9-0 in the Mountain West Conference.
Utah never relinquished its lead after the 13-minute-and-36-second mark, when Warburton and Whipple capped off an 8-0 lead to put the Utes up 38-31. Wyoming was not able to get within one basket the rest of the night, as the Utes’ deadly scoring duo was too much for the Cowgirls to compete with. Warburton and Whipple combined for 50 of the Utes’ 64 points.
“Warburton really went to work in the second half for us,” said head coach Elaine Elliott. “Whipple hit some huge 3s too. This was one of those games where I’m just not sure what happened to us. Injuries and foul trouble really had us go to a makeshift lineup where we couldn’t run anything.”
Forward Katie King picked up three fouls in the first half and her fourth early on in the second half. King’s lack of minutes resulted in only two shot attempts the entire game. The Utes’ third scoring option was held to two points total, nine below King’s average.
Before their key 8-0 run in the second half, the Utes looked apathetic on both sides of the ball.
The first half saw Wyoming with plenty of success in out-hustling the Utes on the boards, as they grabbed eight offensive rebounds en route to eight second-chance points. The Utes were once again sloppy with the ball, as they committed 10 first-half turnovers, including 17 overall.
“It wasn’t good energy early,” Elliott said. “Hopefully it isn’t a function of the schedule. These kids won’t have a day off with school for three straight weeks due to the schedule because of playing on Sunday due to a TV deal. It’s hard to understand why you come out tired and lethargic sometimes, but that’s where the rebounding problem (in the first half) came from without a doubt.”
A lack of energy might have been behind Utah’s struggles in the first half, but the team has made a trend of mediocre first halves followed by strong second halves. Utah went into the locker rooms tied at 28 thanks to a last-second 3-pointer by redshirt freshman Josi McDermott. The second half saw the Utes come out much more focused, and they were able to pull away from the Cowgirls.
Strong second-half play has been a recurring theme during the past few games, including the wins over TCU and New Mexico.
“We seem to do that a lot,” Warburton said of her team’s impressive second-half play. “But we can’t get comfortable with the way we’ve been playing in the first half. Especially with San Diego State coming up, because at their place, they are really good.”
Utah’s next game is against the Aztecs and figures to be one of the Utes’ tougher remaining games on their schedule. SDSU is No. 2 in the MWC with a 7-2 record and hasn’t lost at home the entire year, posting an 11-0 home record.
Erik DaenitzMorgan Warburton drives past Janita Badon on her way to the basket. Warburton scored 38 points and pulled down 7 rebounds, as the Utes remained undefeated in conference play.