Utah Utes basketball: Whipple's huge second half helps U. women to MWC title

LAS VEGAS — There's no doubt Morgan Warburton was the Tournament MVP for Utah after its come-from-behind, 63-58 victory over San Diego State the Mountain West Conference finals Saturday afternoon.

The Ute senior hit the winning shot in the semifinal win over New Mexico and hit the go-ahead shot in the title win, while leading her team with 24 points.

However, without the play of Kalee Whipple in the second half of Saturday's final, the Utes might be sweating it out today wondering if they'd make the NCAA Tournament.

Whipple scored all 21 of her points in the second half when the Utes came storming back to win and added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Afterwards, SDSU coach Beth Burns said her team got "kind of Kalee Whippleized. She's a great player."

Whipple said she was motivated after a poor first half when she had more turnovers than points.

"In the second half, I just kind of went out there and just kind of tried to rebound more, get to the offensive rebound, maybe I could get to the line, do things like that," she said. "I wasn't really focused on shooting. It just happened."

A day earlier, Whipple almost blew it for her team by missing five foul shots late in the game. In Saturday's final, she struggled in the first half going scoreless with three missed shots and a turnover.

"The first half, I don't know where I was," she said. "I think I was focused more on defense than I was on offense. I didn't take a lot of shots and didn't feel really open."

Coach Elaine Elliott said "there's been times when she'll get like that and you'll feel like her head's not there."

Whipple certainly came out on fire in the second half, scoring seven quick points in less than 21/2 minutes, on a short jumper, two free throws and a 3-pointer.

Whipple kept it going and made a big basket with the shot clock winding down and the Utes up one at 55-54. She caught a pass from Warburton under the basket and in one motion, threw it off the backboard and in.

"I was hoping I got it up on time," Whipple said. "I think that was just a boost of confidence for our team."

Whipple didn't mention it afterwards, but Elliott said she was hurting with an injury to her hip flexor.

"About six minutes into the start of that game, she made a cut," Elliott said. "She hurt her hip flexor from last night. I wasn't sure she'd play. That was where her head was early, I can promise you. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about that if a kid's kind of hurt. When it went away, I think she just really was focused."

The night before, Whipple had been embarrassed by her late misses at the foul line. With two seconds left, the Aztecs still had a chance when Whipple was fouled and the score was 61-58. This time Whipple calmly swished them both to ice the game.

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