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WBK: Utah Buzzer-Beater Downs Cougars

March 11th, 2011

LAS VEGAS -- Michelle Plouffe's jumper at the buzzer lifted the Utah women's basketball team to a 50-49 victory over rival BYU in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon.

The Utes will face TCU, which defeated New Mexico, 61-40, in the other semifinal game, in the MWC Championship game at 1:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, March 11. The game will be televised on VERSUS.

Utah held a 24-23 halftime lead before BYU opened the half on an 11-2 run for an eight-point advantage, 34-26 with 11 minutes remaining. Utah was down by as many as 10 points in the second half.

With four minutes remaining and Utah down by eight, 45-37, Janita Badon answered a Haley Hall three with a layup to begin the Utah rally. Kristen Riley would miss the second of two free-throws after being fouled and Badon cut the lead to four by completing a three-point play on a layup, putting the score at 46-42 with three minutes left. After a missed jumper by Hall, Iwalani Rodrigues hit a three at Utah's end of the floor, cutting the lead to a point, but BYU attempted to stop the rally on a Mindy Bonham three to again put the Cougars up by four.

Both teams struggled from the floor in the final minutes. Jazmine Foreman missed a free-throw with a minute remaining to give Utah the ball back, and Rodrigues again cut the lead to a point with a three with 50 seconds left. BYU missed two shots on their possession (one was blocked out of bounds by Diana Rolniak) and Badon pulled down the rebound with 15 seconds remaining.

Although Rodrigues missed a contested jumper with under eight seconds after a timeout, BYU pulled the rebound in and stepped out of bounds, giving Utah another chance. Badon's inbound pass was tipped by a BYU player and rolled towards Plouffe, who picked it up and shot it as the buzzer went off for the win.

BYU struggled from the floor, shooting 31-percent, while Utah hit 42-percent of their shots. The Utes struggled with turnovers, allowing BYU to convert 19 turnovers into 19 points.
Badon had a game-high 16 points, while Rodrigues scored 15 and Plouffe had 10. Michelle Harrison tied her career-high with 13 blocks.

BYU started the game 0-for-9 from the floor and allowed Utah to take a 7-2 lead. Utah's largest lead of the half was six points, 18-12 with eight minutes remaining. The Cougars found their rhythm, buoyed by nine Utah turnovers and several free-throw opportunities, with an 11-1 run over the next five minutes to take a four-point lead, 23-19, with three minutes left.

The Utes closed out the half strong as the teams continued to battle. Utah held BYU to 0-for-3 from the floor, including two missed free throws in the final minutes and a forced turnover on an inbounds play in the final seconds. Rodrigues' made a three and Badon hit a jumper with 27 seconds remaining to give Utah the 24-23 lead at halftime. BYU averaged 27-percent shooting while Utah hit 44-percent from the floor in the half.