College Park, MD (My Sportsbook) - Kalee Whipple scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds, leading the ninth-seeded Utah Utes to a 60-30 pasting of the eighth-seeded Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Katie King scored 18 points and Morgan Warburton added 14 for the Utes (23-9), who advance to play third-seeded Maryland in the second round. Wildcats (19-14) leading scorer Laura Kurz went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 11 points. Utah jumped out to a 10-0 lead after holding Villanova off the scoreboard for nearly four minutes to open the game. The Utes went on to take a 26-16 lead into the locker room at halftime. It was deja vu for the Wildcats at the start of the second half, as they missed their first 10 shots from floor while Utah quickly pulled away. Villanova shot a dismal 19 percent for the game, quickly exiting its first NCAA Tournament since 2004. |
