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Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Friday, November 23
Honolulu, Hawaii
12:00 PM
University of Utah
71
vs
60
Akron - at Oahu Classic
Women's Basketball Rallies to Down Akron
11/23/2007 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2007
HONOLULU, Hawaii - The University of Utah women's basketball team (2-2 overall) turned an eight-point deficit into a 10-point lead as the Utes rallied from behind to top Akron, 71-60, here in the second game of the three-game Oahu Classic.
The win snaps a string that saw Utah drop back-to-back games, and Akron falls to 2-3 on the year.
It was Leilani Mitchell who paced the offense for the second straight game. She followed a 24-point outing against Marist yesterday with another 24-point effort tonight against Akron. She shot 9-for-15 from the field and added two assists and a steal.
Morgan Warburton hung 17 points on the scoreboard while Kalee Whipple scored 12.
However, Utah's spark came off the bench as Deanne Stevenson scored eight points. She was 2-for-2 from the floor, and she was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. However, she grabbed several key rebounds and added a game-changing steal at the end of the game to help the Utes preserve their late, second-half lead.
Stevenson had four boards but it was Whipple's seven rebounds that led the Utes. Utah held the slim 33-31 edge in rebounds and it shot nearly 46 percent (22-for-48) for the game. Akron shot just 39 percent (22-for-56) for the game. However, the Zips shot a nifty 42 percent (8-for-19) from three-point range.
The Zips had four players score in double figures, paced by the 15-point game of Kara Murphy. Laruen Stephenson's eight boards led all rebounders.
Neither team grabbed control in the early going, as the lead changed hands three times in the first 10 minutes. But, the game finally teetered Akron's way on an 8-0 run as it had the 24-16 lead. The Zips shot 7-for-14 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes and held the 19-13 edge in rebounds. All of that added up to a 36-30 Akron lead at the half.
Akron scored the first two points of the second stanza and held an eight-point, 38-30, lead. But, Utah went on a 14-5 run, and it took its first lead of the second half, 44-43, with 10:56 left. Akron continued to fight despite losing the lead. The game was tied another three times before Utah took the lead for good, 61-60, on Mitchell's jumper with 2:21 left in the game. The Utes then went 10-for-10 from the line in the last two minutes to ice the 11-point win.
The Utes return to action tomorrow when they play the third of three games in the Oahu Classic. Utah tangles with Nebraska here at McKinley High with tipoff set for 2:30 p.m., local time (5:30 p.m. MT). Those not able to attend the game can listen to it on 97.5 The Oasis.
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