All good things must come to an end. It was one of the most remarkable runs in recent history in the Mountain West Conference8212; 25 regular season conference wins in a row.
Unfortunately the Utes were unable to make it 26 Wednesday night against San Diego State, as they lost a tough contest 55-49.
But when one streak ends, another can begin. Utah hopes to start up a new winning streak in conference play as it takes on the Air Force Falcons in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday.
When you take everything into consideration, the team’s conference win streak was impressive, especially with how hectic a basketball season can be. Before Wednesday, only six of the 13 players on the roster knew what it was like to suffer a loss in the conference play. The 25-game win streak was a major testament to how dominant the Utes have been the past few years in women’s basketball.
“We had a great run,” said head coach Elaine Elliott. “The players should be proud of what they accomplished. That record may stand for a while.”
“The streak didn’t last maybe as long as I would have liked,” Morgan Warburton said. “But it lasted a long time and I was happy to be a part of it.”
The loss might prove to benefit the Utes in the long run. Last year, when the Utes entered the conference tournament undefeated in regular season play, they suffered a surprising loss to last-place Colorado State. Elliott said now that the team has suffered a loss, they will better prepare themselves for the MWC tournament in March.
“It’s really hard to go in a tournament without ever having lost,” Elliot said. “This can serve as a remotivation for a rematch. That hunger doesn’t exist if you don’t ever lose. So, hopefully, we’ll have that working for us.”
Warburton said the loss will also serve as a wake-up call to the team.
“It’s better to get it out of the way now than to suffer this in the conference tournament,” Warburton said. “I think we’ll have more motivation to win now.”
Utah’s first chance of responding to its only conference loss of the season will be against last-place Air Force. The Falcons are 4-19 on the season and 0-10 in conference play. The timing of this game might not have worked any better for the Utes. The Falcons lose by an average of 15 points per game, and have only come within single digits of a conference foe once this year.
Still, the Utes hope to come out Saturday with a lot of energy, to show that the San Diego State game is completely behind them.
“It’s really important we start out strong,” Warburton said. “We just have to get our motivation and our confidence back. With Air Force, we know they’re going to work hard no matter what the situation is. We are going to have to play as a team. Hopefully, the Air Force game will get us back where we need to be.”
If the Utes are successful against Air Force, they will maintain their conference lead over San Diego State, which has two losses in conference this season. Tip-off is Saturday at 2 p.m.
Erik DaenitzKalee Whipple scored 20 points in the loss to San Diego State Wednesday night. Whipple and the team will look to finish the season strong and carry the momentum into the MWC tournament.
