SALT LAKE CITY — Utah got off to a cold start Saturday afternoon against the SMU Mustangs but once they took the lead late in the first half they never relinquished it and came away with a 72-58 win.
The Utes (8-4) have won seven of their last eight games. From the 7:29 mark of the first half, when Utah trailed 23-15, the team went on a 14-0 run and never looked back.
Kalee Whipple led that charge, piling up 18 points before halftime and finishing with 28 for the game. She posted up her defender and displayed an array of underneath moves.
Her outside shot was pretty good, too, as she went 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
Utah coach Elaine Elliott put Whipple underneath when the Mustangs (10-3) were doubling on Taryn Wicijowski and the outside shots weren't going down. And that's when the team started the run that led to a 35-30 halftime lead.
"We take a holiday break," she said, "and the first game back is very often ragged."
Whipple hit an outside shot to start the second half and the Utes were on their way to victory.
"They played an in-out defense," said Elliott, "and we got good looks from outside."
But initially, those shots didn't go down. However, in the second half, the shots started dropping. A lot of those baskets came from the bench.
Janita Badon recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds — a high number for a point guard.
"The posts boxed out and I just went after the ball," she said.
In the second half, Utah's defense looked sharp and was a big part of the win.
"We were too soft in the first half," Elliott said. "We didn't have the intensity or the movement."
At halftime she made adjustments to get her own players to play hard, changing to a pressure defense.
"We had to choose a defensive tactic in order to kick our own butts," she said."
That tactic resulted in holding the Mustangs scoreless until the 15:32 mark of the second half.
Elliott said it's a good sign that the Utes are responding to the tough preseason schedule.
Utah plays next on Wednesday when they host Utah Valley at 7 p.m.
e-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com