Another year gone by, another Mountain West Conference Player of the Year for the Utes.
After a terrific senior season in which she helped lead the Utes to a second straight conference title, Morgan Warburton received the honor Monday.
This marks the second year in a row Utah has had a player win Conference Player of the Year, as Leilani Mitchell was presented the award last year.
Kalee Whipple and Katie King also received conference honors. Whipple was named to the All-MWC First Team for her efforts, while King was selected for the Second Team.
“Morgan, Kalee, and Katie have all done great things this season and certainly deserve recognition,” said head coach Elaine Elliott.
The MWC’s top honors wouldn’t be Warburton’s only award.
Apart from leading the conference in points per game at 18.7 and breaking the MWC record for consecutive double-digit scoring outputs with 63 straight and counting, Warburton also owns a number of school records. She is fourth on the U’s all-time scoring list, with 1,818 career points.
Warburton has cemented herself as one of the MWC’s best free-throw shooters during her four years, making more free throws, 413, than anyone else in school history, along with hitting a school-record 88.1 percent of her attempts from the charity stripe.
Warburton has also been good at getting others involved in the offense, ranking in the top five in conference in assists per game at 3.56.
The three-time first-team all-MWC selection has done more than just put up scoring records.
Warburton has also been instrumental in leading Utah to back-to-back conference titles.
“Morgan, more than any one other player in the league, has been responsible for carrying her team to a league championship,” Elliott said. “Being picked as the preseason Player of the Year and then actually performing to that standard is quite an achievement.”
Whipple has also been a large part of the Utes’ success the past two years.
After earning second-team honors last year, the junior forward finally cracked into the first team. She was second in the conference in scoring at 16.8 points per game, and leads the conference in games scoring 30 points or more. She was also the Utes’ most heralded defensive player, ranking fifth in the conference in steals with two per game.
“Through most of the season, I thought Kalee was the biggest challenge to Morgan being named Player of the Year,” Elliott said. “She is a talent.”
King has been the biggest surprise for the Utes this year. King’s scoring average doubled this year, jumping to 10.8 points per game. She is second on the team in rebounds, averaging 7.2 a contest. King also leads the team in double-doubles with six on the year.
“Katie has done all the dirty work for us, and I am happy to see her rewarded in this way,” Elliott said.
Joining Warburton and Whipple on the First Team was Helena Sverrisdottir from TCU and Paris Johnson and Jené Morris of San Diego State.
The Utes will start MWC Tournament play Friday, as they have received a bye through to the semifinals after earning the No. 1 seed.
Erik DaenitzMorgan Warburton won the MWC Player of the Year award for her performance during her senior season. Warburton has also laid clam to a number of school records this season.