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Show 8 Monday, March 3, 2008 Women's Hoops #16 SPORTS Softball Men's Hoops iffl) 6 7 72 www.dailyutohchronicle.com #22 6 #25 STATE AT THE PEAK Natalie Dicou STAFF WRITER The Utah women's basketball team, which suits up just nine healthy players, was projected to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference before the season started. So much for pre-season predictions. Instead of finishing in the middle of the pack, the Utes have dominated the league and now sit at 14-0 in the conference with two games to go. The No. 16 Utes guaranteed themselves an outright regular season conference championship with a 67-53 win over No. 24 Wyoming on Sunday. "This season has been a great experience in all," head coach Elaine Elliott said. "In terms of the kind of games we've had, the different ways we've competed, we've had big leads, come from behind, had last second wins. I mean we've pretty much run the gamut in that regard, and I think that's carrying us forward for more success." After the game, the Utes took turns cutting down the net. "It's awesome," Elliott said. "It's really noOan easy thing to do. Ask the programs that haven't been able to get that notch in their belt. To do it is an amazing accomplishment for your team, TYLER COBB/frf Doily Utah Chmkle and I'm really happy for the play- Utah head coach Elaine Elliott celebrates the Utes' Mountain West Conference regular season championship. Elliott has lead the Utes to See TITLE Page 9 six MWC regular season titles in the nine years the Utes have played in the MWC. Road burned Tony Pizza SPORTS EDITOR Wyoming went to the line 17 more times then Utah and shot 26 for 27 from the foul line, which made the difference in the 72-64 win for the cowboys. Luke Nevil scored a game-high 22 points in the loss. Utah is now 6-8 in the conference and in a dead heat with TCU and Air Force for the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds. In an effort to shake the slow starts Utah has faced over the course of its losing streak, Nevill and transfer guard Tyler Kepkay began the game on the bench for the first time this season. In their place, Kim Tillie and Luka Drca started for Utah. The tactic, however, resulted in Utah holding a first-half lead for a mere minute and 52 seconds. That turned out to be all Utah would lead by for the entire game. But despite allowing Wyoming to hold a 47-36 lead, Utah made a run with 11:03 remaining in the game. Luka Drca's layup at the 10:57 mark sparked a 9-2 Utah run that pulled them within four points with slightly more than seven minutes to play. Like the first time these two teams played, Wyoming refused to allow Utah to get any closer. After Nevill's layup cut Wyoming's lead to four with less than three minutes to play, Brandon Ewing hit on three of his 14 points to extend Wyoming's lead back up to seven. After missing just his fourth free throw of the season on the front end of a one-and-one situation, Bryant Wyoming has figured out an unorthodox way of handing the U men's basketball team a loss. Traditionally, most teams without a 7-foot-i center opt to double Utah's Luke Nevill in the post. This season, Wyoming decided to let •Luke Nevill do his thing and instead focus on containing guys like Johnnie Bryant. For the second time this season, Luke Nevill (22 points, six rebounds, three blocks) had a career game against Wyoming, and for the second time, it was not enough, as the Cowboys dropped the Utes 72-64 in Laramie, Wyo. Four players reached double figures for Wyoming, including senior Brad Jones, who had four steals, three assists and four rebounds to go along with his 20 point afternoon. For Utah, the loss extended what has become a season-long four-game losing streak. What was once a battle for a top seed in the MWC tournament has turned into a struggle for a winning season for the Runnin' Utes. Just nine days ago, Utah was tied in the loss column with No. 4 seed San Diego State and just 11/2 games out of third place in the conference standings. After Saturday's loss, See NEVILL Page 10 Weber St. 1 0 corralled by U defense Cody Brunner ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Offense has never been a problem for heacl coach Elaine Elliott and the 2008 version of the U women's basketball team. On Sunday against No. 24 Wyoming, the No. 16 Utes proved that's not all they can do. Utah shut down the Cowgirl offense and grabbed every rebound in sight en route to a 67-53 win that enabled the Utes to claim the regular season MWC Championship outright. "Effort plays are everything," Elliott said. "Getting a rebound, getting a deflection, getting a stop—there are all kinds of ways to contribute, and those kind of effort plays help." Elliott's group held Wyoming's leading scorers in relative check on the night. Forward Hanna Zavecz, who averages 13.6 points per game on the season, scored 11 points on an abysmal 3-for-i2 effort from the field. Guard Justyna Podziemska averages1 13.1 points per game but didn't make a single field goal against the Utes and finished with just three points. Utah hade a defensive lapse late in the first half when it allowed Wyoming's Jodi Bolerjack to hit four 3-pointers, but Bolerjack was the only Cowgirl to score in the last 10:32 of the opening half. After the break, the Utes made a concerted effort to guard Bolerjack on the perimeter and force her to take the ball to the basket. The tactic worked. Bolerjack took only two shots in the second half and finished with 15 points after a 12-point opening half. "We had to stop her from shooting the ball,". Utah forward Kalee Whipple said. "We started fighting through screens and tried to make her more of a drivei. We really focused on making her dribble to get shots." • The Utes pulled down 39 rebounds—17 of which were on the offensive end—compared to only 23 for the Cowgirls. During one stretch late in the first half, Utah pulled down four consecutive offensive rebounds. Additionally, the Utes got familiar with the floor early and often diving for loose balls. The gritty play was keyed by the performance of Whipple, who ended the game with half of her team's 12 steals. "We call those hustle plays," said Whipple, who also recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win. "We talked about that at halftime. That's what's going to win games is when you're diving on the floor for loose balls and getting those hustle plays." The Utes know they can't always control how they shoot in the upcoming Mountain West Conference and NCAA Tournaments, so to have that defense and rebounding to fall back on is a blanket of warmth for the team. "Those things are a big deal to us," Utah guard Leilani Mitchell said. "Wyoming has lots of shooters, and they can penetrate. But our coaches did a great job preparing us, and we knew what we need to do coming in. It gives us confidence heading into our final two games and the tournament." c.brunner@ * chronicle.utah.edu Utah sports are making some noise O ne of the finer aspects of college life is the allegiance to university athletics. Students may attend just about any school sporting event forfreeand cheer on . classmates competing against some of the best athletes and teams in the country. Right now at the U, students have the pleasure of supporting a pretty sturdy athletics program. Yeah, the Utes compete in the Mountain West Conference, which is not ex"actly the crown jewel of the NCAA, but they are forcing the nation to look their direction. The football team got things rolling in the fall. After a 1-3 start which included season-ending injuries to key players, questionable losses to Air Force and UNLV and an even more puzzling win over UCLA, the season already seemed forgettable. Then a bonfire was lit under the team's collective butt. The result was a sevengame winning streak and JON Utah's seventh ClLBERT straight bowl win. In between the winning streak and the bowl game against Navy, something bad happened, but I've managed to block out the details. Basketball season brought new hope to wavering programs. The men's team came off a disgraceful season with the challenge of proving to the MWC—and its new coach—that they weren't the same punch line to every joke. Mission accomplished. The Runnin' Utes aren't exactly the creme de la creme of the conference, but they are still in the hunt for fourth place. No matter where they end up in the conference standings at season's end, the Utes have already surpassed last season's win total and are once again considered better than a solid church ball team. The women's team, on the other hand, is leaving no doubt that it is in the top echelon of the country. It lost four contributors from its 2006-2007 squad, but that setback hasn't fazed it one bit. The team boasts a No. 16 national ranking built on a school-record 19-game winning streak and an unscathed conference schedule. These ladies are scary good. In fact, take a peek at head coach Elaine Elliot's risume with the U. In 23 seasons, she has won nine regular season conference championships and posted only one losing season. Wow. The program has provided some quality women's hoops for some time. The list of admirable athletics programs at the U doesn't end there. How about the most accomplished program wearing crimson? The U gymnastics team is pushing for its nth national title. The Red Rocks are ranked No. 2 in the country and are mowing through competition like a John Deere in top gear. The ski team is always one of the nation's finest. The tennis team saw Elizabeth Ferris out-duel the nation's No. 1 player in January. Everywhere you look on campus, a Utah team is turning heads. Life's good being a Utah fan. The U athletics program might be considered a Division-I mid-major in most sports, but they are meddling with the national complexion of Halie Swayer's strong pressure defense forces Megan •* sports in a rather major way. Mcguffey out of bounds during her attempt to drive the 1 j.gilbert@chronicle.utah.edu basket. J |