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Show 7 Friday, February 19, 2010 The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Utes to face San Diego at critical point i n season TheDaily Utah Chronicle Corbin Godfrey STAFF WRITER Coming off two solid road wins last week against New Mexico and UNLV, the Utah women's basketball team will look to improve its 6-5 conference record and climb in Mountain West Conference standings when it takes on San Diego State (7-5) on Sunday afternoon in the Huntsman Center. The last time these two teams met was Jan. 20 in San Diego when the Utes fell to the Aztecs, 51-42. Utah got off to a slow start and struggled early in the game, as SDSU took an ii-point lead with just more than six minutes left in the first half. The Utes went on a late run to cut the lead to four, 29-25 at the half. It was a back-and-forth second half, until SDSU made a late run to pull away from the Utes. With the score tied at 39 with eight minutes and 25 seconds left to play, the Aztecs went on a 12-3 run to close out the game. After the game, Utah head coach Elaine Elliott attributed the loss to the 25 turnovers Utah had, but said she was pleased with the overall performance of the team. "I thought we competed really hard and gave ourselves a chance to win down the stretch," Elliott said. "It just came down to turnovers—not enough opportunities to score, but as far as their real commitment to compete and defend, it was there." Freshman Taryn Wicijowski led the Utes with i6 points and Janita Badon added 13 of her own. San Diego State's Jene Morris led all scores with 22 points. The Utes now find themselves right in the middle of a conference that is still wide open with five games remaining in the season. "Every win is huge," said guard Kalee Whipple. "In our conference this year everybody is beating everybody, so no one is out of the race yet and every win is a big one." With a conference record of 6-5, Utah is 3.5 games behind conference- Utah Season Stats SDSU Points / game 62.7 58.4 FG% .409 .435 .311 3-point FG% .303 FT% .683 .657 38.9 Rebounds / game 36.8 13.5 Assists / game 16.6 18.2 Turnovers / game 19.8 6.7 Steals/ game 9.7 Blocks / game 3.8 6.5 leading TCU. Following the SDSU game, Utah will still have the two home games against the conference's worst two teams—Air Force (o-ii) and Colorado State (4-7). The Utes' other two remaining games will carry more weight, as they are both on the road against Wyoming (7-5) and in-state rival BYU (8-3). "These games are important," Elliott said. "We want to finish near the top, and each win brings us closer to that in a conference that is wide open right now I really like our intensity right now and our girls bring great energy every day." SDSU is coming off a huge blowout win at home against TCU on Wednesday, breaking a three-game losing skid. The Aztecs beat down the conferenceleading Horned Frogs by 23 points 846i, led by 23 points from Morris. Paris Johnson added 19 points and Quenese Davis finished with a solid 14 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Aztecs, who never let their lead slip under double digits in the second half. This is a pivotal game for both teams, as a win could potentially pull either team into third place in the conference standings, with plenty of opportunity left in the season to climb even higher. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. c.godfrey@chronicle.utah.edu Here's how: Look for coupons: Find coupons in the Daily Utah Chronicle, Campus Deals, or online at www.crimsonbiz.com Make a purchase: Use the coupon between 1/17/10 and 2/25/10 and save your receipt. Show me the money: Bring your receipt to Tom Hurtado at the Chronicle offices in the Union rm 321 on Feb. 26 between 8am5pm. The 2nd and 10th person to show a valid receipt will get a free ski pass to the Canyons. cgRTIV, Walmart , VISION CENTER jiffylube GREEN Follow us on Twitter!) T ECHRONY Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Asian fusion cuisine & sushi bar 41111124C111111 111011if 3P0IG 1109/100WII Pith & Girth |
