More to play? Utes hope so

LAS VEGAS — With its NCAA hopes dashed in a late flurry of BYU baskets Friday afternoon, the Utah women's basketball team is hoping to still be playing next week.

In the past, the Utes have sometimes turned up their noses at playing in the WNIT postseason tournament, but this year they hope their name is called when bids to that tournament are announced on Monday.

Utah coach Elaine Elliott explained that she makes the decision on the WNIT based on her team's experience and where it is emotionally.

"We would love to have that opportunity," Elliott said. "This year it's a great match. We simply are extremely young. It would be the next step for this team. There's no disappointment as far as not reaching our goals."

There's no guarantee that the Utes will even be invited to the WNIT, but if the Utes are invited, they could host a game at the Huntsman Center.

For a while, it looked like the Utes' chances to go to another NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the Final Eight a year ago, would stay alive with a victory Friday.

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half and by eight at halftime, the Utes came out strong in the second half. Following a BYU basket, Utah scored 10 straight points to tie the score at 32 and went ahead 39-34 on a 12-footer by Heidi Carlsen in the lane and a 3-pointer by Joh-Teena Filipe from the left corner.

The Utes still led 41-36 with 9:23 left after a pair of free throws by Morgan Warburton. But then they went eight straight possessions without scoring, missing seven shots during that stretch.

When asked what happened during the five-minute scoring drought, Elliott was very succinct.

"We couldn't score," she said.

The Utes had no answer for Dani Kubik Wright, who scored three straight inside baskets to take the lead for good.

A key for the Cougars was shutting down Warburton, who leads the Utes with a 16.1 scoring average. For just the fourth time this season, she was held to single-digit scoring, finishing with nine points.

While the Utes are hoping for at least another game next week, the future looks bright for next year as they lose just one senior who saw significant playing time this year in Carlsen.

The Utes return their top five scorers and eight of their nine top scorers next year.

Marie Warner and Jessica Perry are juniors, Warburton and Filipe are sophomores and Kalee Whipple and Brette Ulsaker, who were starters most of the season, are just freshmen.

When asked what grade she'd give her team, Elliott said, "We won 18 games and were in the semifinals of the championships, and we're playing for the conference championship the last week of the season. I give these kids an 'A.' "

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