SALT LAKE CITY -- Weber State coach Carla Taylor grasped for the best way to describe her team's rebounding effort.
Hmm. How about "passive?"
"That's a good word to describe it,'' Taylor said. "Very passive."
Outrebounded 51-29 and suffering their worst shooting night of the season (23.7 percent). Ouch. The Lady Wildcats dropped a 56-41 decision to Utah Tuesday night at the Huntsman Center.
The Utes (3-3) scored the first 10 points and never looked back as Weber (3-4) made it respectable late in the second half but never really put itself into contention.
The rebounding concerned Taylor the most, especially the fact that freshman center Taryn Wicijowski had a double-double in the book before halftime. Wicijowski finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, complementing All-American Kalee Whipple's 16-point night.
"We were getting our butts kicked on the boards," Taylor said. "Utah was flying in after rebounds and we were just standing around. They were by far the more aggressive team. They acted like they wanted the ball."
Weber missed its first nine shots before Mikell Woodfield's tip-in with 14:13 remaining. No one got into a shooting rhythm -- Sarah Conner (3-6) was the only Wildcat to hit 50 percent from the field.
"We weren't disciplined and went out of everything we were trying to do," Taylor said. "We didn't stay in our game and took some shots we shouldn't have."
Despite the shooting and rebounding woes, Weber cut it to a 16-11 game on Caitlin Anderson's jumper with 7:35 left. Utah then went on 11-2 run by getting the ball inside to Wicijowski as the Utes opened up a 31-16 halftime lead.
Utah led by as many as 24 in the second half.
Tonya Schnibbe led Weber with 11 points, eight of those in the second half.
"We made it respectable, but we didn't compete," Taylor said.
Conner, who the game-winning free throws in last year's victory over Utah, finished with 10 off the bench.
The Wildcats host Utah Valley Saturday.
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