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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Utah women's basketball team didn't expect it to end this way.
The Utes thought their season would end in the Sweet 16, or maybe the Elite Eight if things broke right. But, as everyone finds out at one point or another, life throws curveballs at the least expected times.
The Utes, playing a virtual road game on Sunday night against Purdue, were beaten 66-59 by the Boilermakers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Mackey Arena. The defeat brings an abrupt end to a year that featured a 22-game winning streak, an undefeated Mountain West Conference regular season and all of the national acclaim that comes with it.
It also brings to an end the career of Leilani Mitchell, the sensational point guard who transferred to Utah for her senior season. And while Mitchell may very well wind up playing professional basketball in the coming months, peeling her Utes uniform off for the final time wasn't what she envisioned when the pairings came out last Monday.
"It's tough because we came in here with the expectation of winning this game," Mitchell said. "We played all season waiting for the postseason, so this is a hard way to go."
With the victory, the No. 9 Boilermakers advance to face Tennessee, a winner over Oral Roberts in the final game of the evening. Utah returns home with a two-game losing streak, which is a shocker considering the 22 consecutive wins that preceded it.
But Purdue took over down the stretch when it was able to pound the ball inside to Danielle Campbell, who scored 11 of her 14 points in the second half.
The turning point came late in the game. Down 54-52, Utah missed three point-blank layups, two by Morgan Warburton and the other coming from Kalee Whipple. A score there would have tied the game. As it was, the missed chances spearheaded a 9-3 Boilermaker run that staked Purdue to a 63-55 advantage and effectively put the game out of reach. The Utes, who were down 66-55 at one point, battled back, but the final score was as close as they were able to come.
"That was a big possession," Mitchell said. "Those are shots that we usually make. We both played hard. We got rebounds and they got rebounds, but that was a big possession."
Mitchell led the Utes with 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds. But the defense of Purdue guard FahKara Malone caused her to turn the ball over seven times. Warburton, a junior guard, scored a game-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, and Whipple scored 14 points despite shooting 3-for-11 from the field.
But several things that usually don't happen, mainly the Boilermakers hitting a season-high seven three-pointers, led to the Utes' demise.
Malone and Kalika France, neither of whom score in double figures on the season, scored 17 points each. Natasha Bogdanova scored 12 points, all on three-pointers. That outburst was unexpected, considering that they haven't shot that way all season.
"We were running the plays we always run," Malone said. "But we always try and get Natasha up there and isolate because a lot of times the posts don't want to come out. We just wanted her to knock down shots because we know she's capable of it and that's what she did tonight."
FG FT Reb
Purdue Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Bogdanova 34 4-9 0-0 1-4 0 2 12
Freeman 40 1-5 0-0 3-5 4 3 2
France 39 8-13 0-2 3-5 3 2 17
Campbell 26 5-10 4-4 0-3 4 4 14
Malone 37 4-12 7-8 0-2 4 3 17
Mioton 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Dildine 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Mosley 20 2-8 0-0 2-3 0 1 4
Totals 200 24-57 11-14 11-27 15 15 66
Percentages: FG .421, FT .786. Three-Point Goals: 7-14, .500 (Bogdanova 4-6, France 1-2, Malone 2-6). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 3 (Bogdanova, France, Campbell). Turnovers: 9 (Bogdanova, Freeman 3, Campbell 3, Mosley 2). Steals: 6 (Bagdanova, Freeman, France 2, Malone 2). Technical Fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Whipple 39 3-11 8-8 4-9 2 4 14
King 30 3-5 0-2 1-4 0 2 6
Perry 31 3-4 1-2 1-2 0 1 7
Mitchell 40 6-12 0-0 0-6 9 3 14
Warburton 36 7-18 2-2 2-7 2 2 18
Knight 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Sawyer 7 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Stevenson 12 0-1 0-0 2-3 0 2 0
Totals 200 22-51 11-14 13-35 13 15 59
Percentages: FG .431, FT .786. Three-Point Goals: 4-16, .250 (Whipple 0-3, Mitchell 2-7, Warburton 2-6). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 3 (King 2, Perry). Turnovers: 16 (Whipple 3, King 3, Mitchell 7, Warburton, Stevenson). Team Turnovers: 1. Technical Fouls: None.
Purdue 28 38 - 66
Utah 29 30 - 59
Officials: Mark Zentz, Angela Lewis, Rita Roach.
* IN BRIEF: Utah's season, which included an undefeated run through the conference and a 22-game win streak, comes to a screeching halt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Purdue.
* KEY MOMENT: Trailing 54-52, the Utes miss three successive close-range layups, and the Boilermakers follow with a 9-3 run to put the game out of reach.
* KEY STAT: Purdue takes control thanks in large part to a season-high seven three-pointers made.