The Associated Press | Posted: Saturday, February 16, 2008 11:00 pm
SAN DIEGO -- After a lackluster first half, it didn't take long for Utah to take control.
Utah stepped up its defensive pressure and ran a more precision offense that led to easy baskets in the second half as the Utes pulled away for a 63-51 win over San Diego State on Saturday.
The victory was Utah's 16th straight, tying idle Chattanooga for the nation's longest active winning streak.
"This was not a pretty game," Utes coach Elaine Elliott said. "They didn't play well, either. It was not a well-played game. I was disturbed by the lack of intelligence in the game."
Utah (21-3, 10-0 Mountain West) had 19 turnovers, San Diego State finished with 21, and neither team shot well.
Kalee Whipple led the Utes with 15 points and 11 rebounds. She scored five points during a 15-2 run over the first 9 1/2 minutes of the second half after the Utes trailed 26-24 at the break. Utah led 41-30 at the 8:30 mark after holding the Aztecs to just one field goal in the first 12 minutes of the half.
"The big thing was to pick up our defense," Whipple said. "We knew we needed to get tough on defense."
Utah forced the Aztecs (13-10, 4-7) into 13 second-half turnovers.
Morgan Warburton and Leilani Mitchell scored 15 points apiece for Utah, which won despite shooting just 38.5 percent from the field. The Utes were held to less than 40 percent shooting for only the second time this season.
"The first couple of possessions (of the second half) we came out and did really well," said Mitchell. "We made it really hard for them defensively."
Jene Morris scored 13 points for San Diego State, which has lost 20 of 21 games to Utah. The Aztecs hit only 30.4 of its field-goal attempts.
"They have a great point guard (Mitchell)," San Diego State coach Beth Burns said. "That's why we trapped them, to make someone else make a decision."
It worked late in the first half when San Diego State's pressure defense led to numerous turnovers and an 11-1 run in the final 6:32 that turned a 23-15 deficit into a 26-24 halftime lead.
• No. 5 Rutgers 71, South Florida 50: At Tampa, Fla., Matee Ajavon scored 14 points and Epiphanny Prince and Myia McCurdy added 10 apiece as Rutgers rebounded from a controversial loss to beat South Florida.
The Scarlet Knights (20-4, 10-1 Big East) never trailed, shooting a season-best 61.9 percent from the field in their first outing since last Monday's 59-58 loss at No. 1 Tennessee -- a game Rutgers lost when the Lady Vols hit two free throws after the clock seemed to pause with two-tenths of a second left, allowing a foul to be called before time expired.
Shantia Grace scored 30 points to lead USF (12-12, 2-9).
• No. 6 Stanford 79, Arizona State 57: At Stanford, Calif., Candice Wiggins gave her fans something to remember in her final regular season game at Maples Pavilion, scoring 23 points to move into second-place on the Pac-10 career scoring list and lead Stanford over Arizona State.
The 12th straight win for the Cardinal (24-3, 13-2) sets up next weekend's showdown for first place at Haas Pavilion against rival California. The Cardinal, who have won seven straight Pac-10 regular season titles, trail the Golden Bears by one game with three games remaining. But by beating Cal at home last month, Stanford could be in control of the race with a win next Saturday.
Dymond Simon scored 13 points for the Sun Devils (16-9, 10-4).
• No. 9 California 66, Arizona 45: At Berkeley, Calif., Ashley Walker scored 24 points and California won its 16th straight home game with a victory over Arizona.
Walker had 12 points during a 21-6 run over the final 7:30 of the first half as the Bears overcame an early seven-point deficit to win their sixth straight game.
Devanei Hampton had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Natasha Vital had a career-high 12 assists for Cal (23-3, 14-1 Pac-10).
Amina Njonkou and Rheya Neabors had 10 points apiece for Arizona (9-16, 3-11).
• DePaul 81, No. 11 West Virginia 80: At Morgantown, W.V., Deirdre Naughton had 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead DePaul over West Virginia, ending the Mountaineers' school record nine-game winning streak.
The Blue Demons (17-7, 6-5 Big East) hit a season-high 14 3-pointers, including three in the final five minutes to rally from behind.
LaQuita Owens scored 22 for the Mountaineers (20-4, 9-2).
• St. Bonaventure 63, No. 14 George Washington 60: At Olean, N.Y., Dana Mitchell and Katelyn Murray scored 14 points each to help St. Bonaventure upset George Washington for the Bonnies' first victory ever over a ranked opponenent.
Cara Gustafson scored the final three points for St. Bonaventure to seal the victory and end a 26-game losing streak to the Colonials. St. Bonaventure (17-9, 5-6, Atlantic-10) entered the game 1-31 against their conference rival, with the Bonnies' only win, a 58-56 victory at Olean, coming on Feb. 23, 1989.
The victory set a new single-season school record for St. Bonaventure.
Sarah-Jo Lawrence scored 20 points for the Colonials (20-4, 8-2), who had a six-game win streak snapped. George Washington, which trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, fell short of completing a remarkable comeback.
• No. 16 Notre Dame 79, No. 21 Syracuse 67: At Syracuse, N.Y., Charel Allen had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Notre Dame pulled away from Syracuse in the final 3 minutes for their fifth straight win.
Playing the first of a three-game road trip, Notre Dame (20-5, 8-3 Big East) moved to 17-0 in Big East play against Syracuse (19-5, 7-4) and into a tie for fourth in the conference with Pittsburgh.
Erica Williamson had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Lindsay Shrader had 12 points for the Irish, who won last season's meeting with Syracuse 83-55.
Erica Morrow led the Orange with 19 points.
• No. 22 Wyoming 60, Air Force 32: At Laramie, Wyo., Justyna Podziemska scored 13 points and Hanna Zavecz added nine points and 14 rebounds to help Wyoming to a win over Air Force.
The Cowgirls (20-4, 8-3 Mountain West Conference) outscored the Falcons (8-15, 2-9) 25-4 over a 14-minute stretch in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Jodi Bolerjack had 10 points for Wyoming.
Kim Kreke and Alecia Steele each scored six points for the Falcons.