Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Western Colorado (EXHIBITION) on October 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Saturday, January 27
Salt Lake City, Utah
1:00 PM
University of Utah
64
vs
54
BYU
Utah Women Remain Undefeated in Conference Play
1/27/2007 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah women's basketball team took over sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference Saturday afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Morgan Warburton (Soph., Helper, Utah) tied a career-high with 25 points to lead the Utes over Brigham Young, 64-54.
Utah (14-6, 7-0 MWC) kept its conference record unblemished and extended its winning streak to seven games. BYU (15-5, 6-1 MWC) suffered its first defeat in league play, despite a 21-point, 10-rebound effort from center Dani Wright.
Utah led by four at halftime, 28-24. The Utes were on top 36-30 with 13 minutes left in the second half, when back-to-back three-pointers put them in control. Joh-Teena Filipe (Soph., Salt Lake City) hit her only attempt at a triple to push Utah's lead to nine. 33 seconds later, Kalee Whipple (Fr., Hiko, Nev.) hit her only attempt from behind the arc, giving Utah a 12-point lead, 42-30.
BYU trimmed its deficit to six points on three different occasions over the final 12 minutes. But each time, the Utes answered and held the Cougars at bay. BYU's last gasp came with 56 seconds remaining. Utah led by eight, 56-48, when the Cougars' Melinda Johnsen was fouled by Heidi Carlsen (Sr., St. George, Utah) on a three-point attempt. Johnsen hit two of her charity tosses to pull her team within six once again.
But the Utes, who shot 80.8 percent from the free-throw line, converted six straight charity tosses in the final 53 seconds. Whipple hit the first two, while Warburton drained the remaining four. Utah put the final nail in the coffin when Warburton took a baseball pass from Brette Ulsaker (Fr., McPherson, Kan.) over the top of the BYU defense for an easy layup.
The first half was a back-and forth affair. There were nine ties and seven lead changes in the first 20 minutes. With the score tied 24-24 and less than two minutes to go in the first half, Marie Warner (Jr., Hamilton, Ont.) gave the Utes a two-point lead. It was a lead Utah would never relinquish.
Whipple hit a pair of free throws for the Utes with 12 seconds remaining in the half. Those two tosses gave Utah a four-point edge, the largest for either team in the first half.
Whipple scored 16 points off the bench, including a 7-of-7 performance at the free-throw line. She also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Warburton's 25 points included 7-of-14 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 8-of-9 at the line. Wright was the only Cougar to reach double figures.
Utah was out-rebounded 38-35, marking just the second time that has happened this season. The Utes made up for allowing 15 offensive rebounds by turning the ball over just 14 times, their second-lowest total of the season. Utah shot 50 percent from three-point range, hitting 7-of-14 attempts from long distance.
Utah is back in action again Thursday at Wyoming. Tipoff at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie is slated for 7 p.m.
-UU-
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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