The Air Force Falcons?

Not so much.

The 20th-ranked Utes weren't especially sharp or intense before an announced crow of 1,490 at the Huntsman Center, but they didn't need to be as they rolled past the hapless visitors 71-52 to get their 15th straight win.

"I love Air Force," said Utah coach Elaine Elliott. "They really come in and compete. It was a good, hard-fought game. Our kids had to play and they had to compete. That's the way it is going to be the rest of the way."

Having not lost since Dec. 3 at USC, Utah (20-3, 9-0) now has the second-longest winning streak in the country behind Chattanooga, which won its 16th straight Saturday

Air Force (7-14,1-8) was competitive for 10 minutes, and trailed just 16-14 when Kim Kreke made a three-pointer midway through the first half. But a stretch of turnovers and missed shots spelled the end of any upset hopes, as unrealistic as they might have been.

Against a quality opponent, the Utes - who were outrebounded 33-29 and shot 46 percent from the floor - might have had a tussle on their hands. But they were able to keep the Falcons from threatening thanks to another strong game from Leilani Mitchell, the Idaho transfer.

She registered her second straight double-double - 19 points and 10 assists - to offset a mediocre game from Kalee Whipple (nine points, eight rebounds) and complement a 12-point outing by Jessica Perry.

"At the beginning of the game, we kind of struggled a bit," Mitchell said. "We weren't playing hard and we were a little sluggish. We kind of talked about that at halftime and in our timeouts, that we needed to be a little more intense."

drew@sltrib.com