Utah women advance

Taryn Wicijowski scored 24 points to help lead fourth-seeded Utah to a 63-40 victory over No. 9 Air Force in the opening game of the Mountain West Conference women’s tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“I think there was a lot of gaps in their matchup zone and I just kind of found those gaps where people couldn’t find me, or at least couldn’t double-team me,” the freshman said.
The game was a bit closer than expected as the Falcons actually got within eight points early in the second half.
Utah coach Elaine Elliott said Air Force is a much more competitive team than its 0-16 league record would indicate.
“They do a lot of things well. They really come at you,” she said. “I don’t think their record this year indicates the progress they’ve made or the talent they have, which means, in the future, look out.”
Senior Kalee Whipple, a first-team all-conference pick, had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.
She feels that despite a bit of a down season for the strong program, the team is playing well at the right time. Utah has now won eight of its last 10 games.
“I think this is the best time to peak,” she said. “We had some struggles at the beginning, but we’re here now and I think we’re ready to compete.”
Kathleet Schjodt had 12 points and four rebounds to lead the Falcons, who were outscored 13-2 on second-chance points.
Utah also had 22 points off turnovers to just eight for Air Force.

Format protects top seeds

The game was the first of three first-round games at the Thomas & Mack Center today.
The format for the women’s tournament is very different than the men’s side.
The top two seeds, TCU and BYU, have byes all the way into the semifinals.
No. 3 San Diego State is automatically into tomorrow’s second round.
The other six teams will have to play their way to a Wednesday game.
The Aztecs will play the winner of tonight’s game between UNLV and Wyoming, while Utah will now move on to play the winner of the upcoming first-round game between New Mexico and Colorado State.
Elliott said she thought it was fair when her team was getting a bye, so she has no problem now seeing the top two teams get such an advantage.
“It’s fair. We didn’t win the league or get second in the league,” she said. “I’ve never been a believer that you play two-and-a-half months and you just start over and everybody gets an equal chance.

Imported talent

It is common for the fans of college basketball teams to have a set cheer after made free throws during the course of a game.
In fact, a dueling cheer was going on at the Orleans Arena in a West Coast Conference tournament semifinal game. Each time Loyola Marymount made a free throw, its fans would yell a quick, “L-M-U.”
Gonzaga fans would answer with “Sucks” each time.
For some reason, the immature act was actually getting under the skin of several Loyola Marymount fans.
Very strange, but back to the original point.
The Utah fans have a cheer for each time forward Taryn Wicijowski makes a free throw.
In unison, the band will cheer “Oh, Canada.
The freshman hails from Regina, Saskatchewan. She was the conference’s freshman of the year and the only player from her class to appear on any of the three all-league teams. Wicijowski was a second-team selection.

Up next

The crowd is already starting to roll in, which on a day of all women’s games, means that New Mexico is about to play.
The Lobos will have by far the largest contingent of fans today, which is a sad statement on a day that UNLV will be in action in the nightcap.
At least they will all be wearing red.
New Mexico was a bit down on the women’s side this year, but it usually plays pretty well in this tournament.
The fifth-seeded Lobos will be playing No. 8 Colorado State in the middle game of today’s session.
The game will tip off shortly.