Utah Utes basketball: Whipple faces TCU again

LAS VEGAS — Kalee Whipple has seen both extremes in her two games against TCU this year.

At Fort Worth, she experienced her worst game of the season, scoring just two points on 1-of-12 shooting in a 62-41 loss. However, a month later in Salt Lake City, she had her best game, scoring a career-high 45 points and almost leading the Utes to a big upset before losing in four overtimes at the Huntsman Center.

The Ute senior forward will get a third chance against TCU Friday afternoon when the Utes take on the No. 1-seeded Horned Frogs at 1 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Whipple may be in line for a game more like the one in Salt Lake, considering the game she just had against New Mexico. In Wednesday's game, Whipple matched her 1-for-12 performance at TCU, although she did pull down a career-high 16 rebounds.

The Utes have been carried to the semifinals by freshman center Taryn Wicijowski, who scored 24 points against Air Force and 22 against New Mexico. The Utes' other starters will be Janita Badon (9.1 ppg), Halie Sawyer (6.7 ppg) and Rachel Messer (3.6 ppg).

The Horned Frogs are 22-7 this season and earned the MWC regular-season championship with a 12-4 record. They are led by MWC Player of the Year Helena Sverrisdottier, who averages 13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Emily Carter averages 14.8 points and Starr Crawford leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per game.

A win for the Utes would get them one step closer to their goal of making the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and fifth time in six years. It would put them in the finals Saturday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the BYU-San Diego State game, which will be played at 2:30 p.m.

The Utes, who finished tied for third in the MWC this year, defeated Air Force, 63-40, on Tuesday in the first round and knocked off New Mexico, 51-45, in overtime on Wednesday.

MWC women's tourney

Utah (21-10) vs. TCU (22-7)

Today, 1 p.m.

Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

TV: The mtn. Radio: 700 AM

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