It was going to take more than a game delay to stop Kalee Whipple from torturing the Air Force Falcons.
Whipple tied a career-high with five 3-pointers en route to scoring 23 points as the Utes got back to their winning ways, defeating Air Force 57-32 Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The game was delayed 30 minutes because of electrical problems, and the teams were forced to play at a small prep school gym instead of Air Force’s Clune Arena.
“In our most recent games (Whipple and Morgan Warburton) have been the leaders on offense,” said head coach Elaine Elliott. “Kalee had a good game both offensively and defensively. Warburton got into a little bit of foul trouble, but she settled in well in the second half.”
Warburton was able to chip in as always for the Utes with 17 points and five rebounds aside from the foul trouble.
The Utes took a commanding lead halfway through the second half. Air Force was able to stay within striking distance a few minutes into the second, at 28-20, until the Utes went on a 15-3 run to go up 43-23. Utah went up by 27 before the final buzzer sounded.
The Utes took the lead for good after a 12-0 run in the first half that started at the 11:24 mark. Down 11-9, Whipple and Warburton jump-started the Utes’ offense to take a 10-point lead, 21-11. Whipple made two of her five 3-pointers during the run.
Utah’s biggest stamp of the game came on the defensive end.
Against San Diego State, Utah allowed the Aztecs to shoot 41 percent from the floor8212;almost 10 percent above what the Utes usually allow.
The Falcons didn’t have the same good fortune. Air Force only shot 21 percent from the floor against the Utes.
“We focus on defense every game,” Whipple said. “After that loss (against San Diego State), we went right to scouting Air Force and we felt like we knew what they were going to do offensively.”
The final statistics on rebounding had to please Elliott. After giving up a lot of offensive boards down the stretch in the Utes’ loss to San Diego State, Utah made sure to clean up the boards against the Falcons. Air Force was out-rebounded 39-24 and only pulled down seven offensive rebounds on the night. Katie King led the Utes with 11 boards.
“Coach Elliott, before the game, said that rebounding would be one of the biggest keys of the game,” Whipple said. “Air Force outrebounds a lot of teams in our conference because of their hustle. She really wanted us to prove to her that we can hustle and get those boards as well.”
The only concern that might come from the win against Air Force was Utah’s lack of scoring from its role players. For the third consecutive game, only Warburton and Whipple reached double figures in scoring. Utah was able to get away with it against Air Force, but Elliott said it is imperative to get her role players touches down the stretch.
“That will be really important for us down the stretch,” Elliott said. “Halie Sawyer’s been in a shooting slump the past couple of weeks, but she’s better than that, and we’re just trying to work through that. When she gets back to playing to the way she was, it will benefit us greatly, but she’s played very well in other areas of the game. We need to focus on getting her the basketball though more than we have the last two weeks.”
The win against Air Force will keep the Utes atop the Mountain West Conference with a 10-1 record in conference and 18-6 record overall.
Tyler CobbMorgan Warbuton got into some foul trouble early but still scored 17 points in the Utes 57-32 win at Air Force Saturday.