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TCU drops 60-50 decision to Utah
Jan. 26, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes View the post-game press conference via All-Access
FORT WORTH--Kalee Whipple scored a career-high 30 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds to lead Utah past TCU, 60-50, in Mountain West Conference action Saturday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The loss dropped the Lady Frogs to 10-9 on the season, including 3-2 in MWC play. Utah improved to 16-3 overall and 5-0 in the MWC.
The Lady Frogs could find no answer for Whipple, who shot a sizzling 9-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. She also made 8-of-10 attempts from the free-throw line. TCU was able to force Whipple into nine turnovers, but the sophomore forward's hot touch proved to be too much for the Frogs to handle Saturday.
While Whipple was smoking from the field, the Frogs were cold. TCU shot only 22.2 percent in the first half while scoring only 19 points, its second-lowest total of the season for the opening frame. Despite the poor shooting, the Frogs trailed by only six at intermission after holding the Utes to only 34.8 percent from the field to open the game.
Utah pulled away in the second half and finished shooting 42.2 percent compared to the Frogs' 27.9 percent. TCU did manage to win the turnover battle, 13-24, but were out-rebounded by a 10-board margin in the final frame.
Lorie Butler-Rayford led TCU with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Micah Garoutte gave the squad a boost with a career-high nine points in only 15 minutes of action. Garoutte surpassed her previous career high of four points in the game's first four minutes.
Moneka Knight dished out a team-high four assists and Adrianne Ross helped fuel TCU's defensive effort by collecting four steals. Ross added seven points.
In addition to Whipple, Morgan Warburton scored 16 points for Utah, including nine in the second half. Leilani Mitchell registered eight points, all in the second half, in addition to eight assists, a TCU individual opponent high this season.
Whipple opened the second half with her third 3-pointer to give Utah its biggest lead to that point at 28-19. The Frogs finally found the offense it lacked in the first half midway through the second frame during a 9-2 run that featured three 3-point plays. Knight and Butler-Rayford each sank bombs from long rage, with Butler-Rayford also notching a traditional 3-point play to cut the lead to only two points at 36-34.
Utah responded with a 9-0 run to push back out to a comfortable advantage. Warburton accounted for five of the points with a trey and a layup that pushed the Utes' to their biggest lead of the afternoon at 11.
TCU again rallied, scoring nine straight points while holding the Utes scoreless over six minutes to cut the deficit to two points, but Whipple and Mitchell eventually sealed the game for Utah.
Whipple scored five more points on a layup and her fourth trey with three minutes remaining, and Mitchell drove the court for an uncontested layup directly following a Butler-Rayford 3 that cut the lead to four.
Despite opening the game with a 3:30 scoreless stretch, TCU found itself down by only two points in the early going. Garoutte put the Frogs on the board with five straight points on two layups, including a 3-point play after being fouled down low, on consecutive possessions. Garoutte's outburst preceded another TCU scoreless streak of nearly four minutes ended by two Jenna Lohse free throws and an Emily Carter trey.
Trailing, 10-6, Utah went on a 10-0 run in just over two minutes to take a six-point lead. Whipple fueled the Ute run with a pair of 3's, while TCU experienced its longest drought of the half--a 7:20 stretch where the Frogs were unable to hit a field goal. The squad went 4-of-23 from the field to open the game.
Warburton launched a trey at the 3:23 mark to put Utah up eight, 23-15, but the Frogs were able cut the deficit to six by halftime. Whipple (18) and Warburton (seven) combined to score each of the Utes' first-half points.
TCU returns to the road Tuesday with a 9 p.m. CST matchup with UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev.
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