Comeback Effort Falls Short Against Utah

SALT LAKE CITY -- Playing its second game in three days, the BYU women's basketball team was unable to overcome a well-rested Utah team falling 64-54 to Utah Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center. The loss was the Cougars' (15-5, 6-1) first in Mountain West Conference play, while the Utes (14-6, 7-0) remained undefeated in MWC action.

"We got out hustled and out executed," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. "We have to be able to step it up when it counts and be mentally tough."

Dani Wright got the Cougars going in the early going by scoring nine of BYU's first 12 points of the game. However, neither squad was able to establish any consistent momentum in the early going, as both teams struggled shooting from the field. The game was tied at 12 points apiece after the first eight minutes of play.

The Utes finally broke free and took a 17-14 lead with 7:53 left in the half behind 13 points from Morgan Warburton. A quick five-0 Cougar run gave BYU a two-point lead with 6:25 remaining in the half. The two conference leaders exchanged buckets over the next few minutes until Utah took a four-point advantage after a pair of Kalee Whipple free throws. The Utes shot 57 percent from behind the three-point line over the first 20 minutes to take a 28-24 lead going into the locker room.

Wright led BYU with 14 points in the first half, while the conference's leading scorer, Warburton, scored 15 in the half.

Utah came out hot to start the second half and took a 32-24 advantage with 17:41 left. A pair of back-to-back three-point shots put the Utes up 42-30 with 12:26 left to play. A tough Ute defense held the Cougars to just six points over the first 8:36 of the second half, and Utah capitalized on costly BYU turnovers.

A pair of Mallary Gillespie free throws cut the lead to 42-36 with 7:16 left. The Utes came back to build its lead to 51-40 with just over five minutes left in the game. The Cougars mounted a five-0 run to cut the deficit to six points after a Gillespie three-pointer.

BYU was never able to get any closer than six the rest of way and fell by 10 points at the end, as Utah shot 50 percent from behind the arc on the day and took advantage of 20 Cougar turnovers.

Wright recorded her third double-double of the season and the fourth of her career with a team-best 21 points, marking the 13th time this year she has led BYU in scoring. She also chipped in a game-high 10 rebounds to help the Cougars win the battle on the battle on the boards 38-35. BYU is now 11-2 on the season when outrebounding its opponents.

"Dani (Wright) did a great job keeping her composure," Judkins said. "She played very smart."

Utah's Warburton tied her career-high 25 points to lead all scorers. Whipple chipped in 16 points along with eight rebounds off the bench for the Utes.

BYU will be back in action on Thursday Feb.1 when it plays host to TCU at the Marriott Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Utah
01/27/07 1:05 PM at Salt Lake City, UTAH (Huntsman Center)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 15-5, 6-1 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 KEELE, Jennie....... f  2-6    1-4    2-4    0  3  3   5   7  1  0  0  3  33
52 RILEY, Lauren....... f  2-6    0-0    0-0    5  3  8   2   4  1  2  2  0  19
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c  8-13   2-2    3-6    4  6 10   3  21  3  7  0  0  37
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  2-9    2-5    2-2    1  3  4   5   8  2  2  1  0  34
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... g  2-10   1-7    3-5    0  1  1   2   8  6  1  0  2  34
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  0   5
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
22 FADDIS, Brittany....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   2
31 AINA, Rachel........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   1
32 SLADE, Shawnee......    1-7    0-1    2-3    4  5  9   5   4  0  2  0  1  25
54 KING, Cassie........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   2  0  2  1  1   8
   TEAM................                         1  1  2             1
   Totals..............   18-53   6-19  12-20  15 23 38  23  54 14 20  4  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5%   2nd Half:  8-24 33.3%   Game: 34.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-11 27.3%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 31.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-3  33.3%   2nd Half: 11-17 64.7%   Game: 60.0%    2
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HOME TEAM: Utah 14-6, 7-0 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 WARBURTON, Morgan... f  7-14   3-7    8-9    2  4  6   2  25  3  7  1  1  40
32 FILIPE, Joh-Teena... f  1-7    1-1    0-0    1  5  6   2   3  0  1  1  0  24
45 PERRY, Jessica...... c  1-3    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   4   4  1  1  1  1  22
03 ULSAKER, Brette..... g  1-2    0-1    3-4    1  2  3   1   5  3  1  0  2  32
05 CARLSEN, Heidi...... g  3-8    2-3    0-0    0  1  1   2   8  2  0  0  1  26
02 WHIPPLE, Kalee......    4-8    1-1    7-7    1  7  8   1  16  1  2  0  0  30
12 MURPHY, Shauna......    0-1    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   3   1  1  2  0  0   7
22 SAWYER, Halie.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
33 WARNER, Marie.......    1-5    0-1    0-2    1  2  3   4   2  1  0  1  1  18
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   18-48   7-14  21-26   9 26 35  19  64 12 14  4  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0%   2nd Half:  8-23 34.8%   Game: 37.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-7  57.1%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 50.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-5  80.0%   2nd Half: 17-21 81.0%   Game: 80.8%    3
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Officials: Marianne Karp, Clarke Stevens, Mike Petty
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Utah-None.
Attendance: 2178
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   24   30  -   54
Utah..........................   28   36  -   64
ID-467813