Wolverines suffer setback in season opener

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The Wolverines began their season with two games back-to-back on Nov. 14-15, ended with a split result of one loss and one win.

Montana State took the first season game from the Wolverines winning 94-71. “It is unacceptable for us to give up 94 points a game, it’s just unacceptable,” said coach Cathy Nixon. “Not here at home, not on the road. Obviously I’ve got to dig down in those kids and get them to work harder and work smarter because I think we’re a better basketball team than that.”

Despite the loss, Robyn Fairbanks and Julie McMurray had great games. McMurray came out strong right off the bat, was very persistent with her shots, and dominated the first half for the Wolverines. Fairbanks also showed strength with her shots and rebounds throughout the entire game.

“Robyn did her job. She scored 31 points, got 13 rebounds, and that’s a fantastic night,” Nixon said. “I think basically we have got to have some other kids step up and score.”

After its loss, UVU came right back out to take on Mesa State the next day. The Wolverines showed Mesa State what they had by winning 83 – 39.

By halftime the Wolverines were up by 23 points. The Wolverines showed their talent both offensively and defensively throughout the entire game as they displayed excellent teamwork. During the second half Mesa state just couldn’t keep up.

Once again McMurray and Fairbanks contributed offensively as well as pulling down plenty of rebounds for the Wolverines. Lauren Smith and Kayla Burningham also stepped up offensively and had a great game, Smith shooting 5-for-5 and Burningham shooting 4-for-6.

The Wolverines are on the road for their next six games and will return home to the McKay Center December 13 to take on Idaho State.