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The University of Utah Athletics
Women's Hoops Downs New Mexico
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
January 29, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah's offense came from unlikely places on Thursday night but the Utes still got it done, pulling away from New Mexico in the second half to post a 61-50 win and move into a three-way tie atop the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division Standings.
The Utes gave New Mexico its first league loss of the season. Utah, New Mexico and Brigham Young are now all tied for first place in the division at 5-1. Both Utah and New Mexico moved to 14-4 overall on the season.
With Lori Red, Lauren Beckman and Tiana Fuertes, three of Utah's top six scorers, having quiet nights, head coach Elaine Elliott had to look elsewhere for offense. Freshman Katherine McColl, who is averaging just 5.3 points a game on the season, equaled her career high with 16 points. McColl made 6-of-8 shots from the field as well as her only three-point attempt in 23 minutes. She also had six rebounds. Lindsay Sodja also came off the bench to get a season-high nine points and five boards in 19 minutes.
Kristi Rose had her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Rose connected on 4-of-7 field goals and both of her three-point tries. Erin Gibbons had 10 points and had a game-high five assists.
"I was pleased with the fact that we got the win despite some of our big scorers not having their normal games," said Elliott. "Sodja and Kats (Katherine McColl) came in and had great nights. Sodja had her best game all year. It wasn't just her scoring. She was solid on the boards and did some very good things defensively. McColl was physical and boarded well, also."
Miranda Sanchez led the Lobos with eight points and Kristi Loiselle had seven. Utah outshot New Mexico 38.6 to 35.8 percent from the field and 26.1 to 25.0 percent from three-point range. The Utes attempted 23 treys, making six. The Lobos outboarded the Utes 40 to 28.
The Utes had built a 32-22 lead with 2:34 left in the first half before the Lobos closed out the first 20 minutes with an 8-0 run. However, New Mexico managed to make just three field goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half and went scoreless for seven minutes until Loiselle put down a three-pointer with five minutes left in the game. The U. outscored UNM by 23-6 over that stretch to take a 55-36 lead. New Mexico shot just 24.1 percent in the second half.
Utah hosts UTEP (8-10, 2-4 WAC) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at the Huntsman Center.
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