LAS VEGAS8212;It’s not over until the fat lady sings, or in this case until the marching band plays Utah Man.
The Utah women’s basketball team followed the men’s example as Morgan Warburton hit a game winning shot with two seconds remaining, giving the U women’s basketball team a 56-55 win over the New Mexico Lobos and a place in the Mountain West Conference tournament finals.
“This was such a battle and they played it out until the end,” said head coach Elaine Elliott . “It’s really tough to beat a team consistently, it’s really tough to beat a good team and it’s really tough to beat New Mexico, just an amazing team and amazing game.”
Warburton’s layup gave the Utes a one-point lead with two seconds left to play, finishing off Utah’s 24-9 run that spanned the last 10 minutes of the game.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything else but winning the game,” said Warburton, who finished the game with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. “I was just thinking, “try to get to the rim, try to make a shot, make a play’ and it went my way that time.”
After a six-day layoff due to byes in the first two rounds of the MWC tournament, the Utes started the game listlessly. Defense was slacking and shots weren’t falling for Utah in the first 30 minutes of the game.
The Lobos were able to get under Utah’s skin as they forced turnovers, knocked down shots and pulled down boards to disrupt Utah’s flow and take a 16 point lead early in the second half.
“That’s New Mexico, they are just very good,” Elliott said. “They can take advantage of mismatches. It’s a very tough team to matchup against and we were not able to contain them in the first half and starting the second half, without a doubt.”
With 10:39 left in game the Utes were trailing by 14 and needed a spark to get them back into the game.
Freshman, Josie McDermott was that spark. The oft-injured McDermott came in off the bench and hit a three-pointer that started the Utes’ run.
“I’m just so proud,” Elliot said.
The rest of the team responded as the Utes stepped up on defense and offense for the remainder of the game.
As usual Kalee Whipple was big in the Utah comeback as she led the Utes with 14 points, nine of which came in the second half; Whipple also led the Utes with eight rebounds.
It wasn’t just Whipple making big plays though, in the last 10 minutes of the game as seven different Utah players contributed offensively, while holding the Lobos to just nine points.
“When it’s not going your way you’ve just got to find other ways and we grated it out on defense and found other people to hit shots,” Warburton said.
Utah’s rebounding in the second half, especially offensively, gave the Utes the opportunity they needed to get back into the game.
After being out-rebounded in the first half 16-14 the Utes collected 25 rebounds in the second half, including eight offensive boards that the team was able to convert into 10 second-chance points.
“We did a pretty darn good job on the boards, that changed,” Elliot said. “I felt like the loose balls were there and the second chances were theirs and I feel like that changed in the last 10 minutes.”
The win puts Utah in the championship game to be played tomorrow at 1 p.m., where they will face the winner of the other semi-final game featuring San Diego State and UNLV.
Erik DaenitzMorgan Warburton scored with less than 3 seconds on the clock to give Utah a 56-55 win over New Mexico. The Utes will now play for the tournament championship on Saturday.