Utah Utes basketball: Women advance to MWC semifinals
LAS VEGAS — Utah's Kalee Whipple was experiencing perhaps the most frustrating shooting night of her life, missing 11 straight shots as the Utes battled New Mexico into overtime Wednesday evening at the Thomas & Mack Center.
"My shot felt fine — I just couldn't get anything to fall in the basket," said the Ute senior, who led her team in scoring his year at 17.2 points per game.
Perhaps she was just saving up for the right time.
That came with 37 seconds left and the Utes clinging to a one-point lead in the OT. Whipple finally made a basket, swishing a 3-pointer from the left angle to put the Utes up by four and from there the Utes went on to a 51-45 victory.
With the win, the Utes advance to Friday's semifinals against No. 1-seeded TCU at 1 p.m. MST. A win there would put the Utes in the finals the following day with a chance to earn an NCAA berth with a victory.
"I am so proud of our kids and who they are," said Utah coach Elaine Elliott. "It was another grind-it-out game. We defended well, which kept it close and in the end we just made a play or two for us and we go home happy."
The Utes sank just 3-of-17 3-pointers, but besides Whipple's they got a big one from sophomore Janita Badon with 1:03 left in regulation to tie the game at 38, sending it into overtime. On that play, Whipple got a rebound and fired a pass out to Badon, who was wide open at the top.
In the OT, freshman Taryn Wicijowski, who led all scorers with 22 points, went to work, scoring six straight points and putting the Utes up 44-41. The Utes still led 46-45 when Whipple hit her big shot to give the Utes some needed breathing room.
"The big shot just felt like it was bound to fall," she said. "I was 0-for-11. I came off that screen and felt open, so just let it go and it went in."
After the Lobos cut the lead to two, Badon got free for a layup and then added a pair of free throws and finished with 13 points.
New Mexico coach Don Flanagan felt his team did a great job defending Whipple all evening, until the big shot.
"We got beat on a play we had defended all game long," he said. "We did a great job on Whipple. She's 1 of 12. That's as good as it gets. Then she hits the final three."
The Utes took a 23-20 halftime lead despite not getting a single point from Whipple, the team's leading scorer, who finally hit a pair of free throws with 8:34 left in the game.
The Utes led 35-32 and Whipple had a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key that went in and out. Then at the other end, the Lobos made consecutive 3-pointers by Sara Halasz and Eileen Weissmann in a 45-second span to make it 38-35 for New Mexico with 4:05 left.
