OREM – When it comes time for losing. It is always easy to be hurt. Sports is the ultimate do-or-die time. Winning is the goal, accolades and recognition follow closely. Though there are some cases when losing is a good sign, or rather a good omen.
Utah Valley women’s basketball played against West Coast Conference favorite Santa Clara. The final score was 64-62 with Santa Clara keeping the Wolverines at arms-reach. The game could’ve been decided by a couple of possessions, maybe one possession. And the women’s basketball team is taking this performance and running with it.
“Obviously we’re not here to celebrate a loss. But Santa Clara was picked unanimously to win the WCC,” said head coach Dan Nielson. “We knew it was going to be a battle, but really loved our effort.”
A battle is likely the best way to describe this game. Right from the start, the Santa Clara Broncos played like a ranked team, and UVU was still adjusting. After a few back-and-forth possessions, the score was 12-4. But Utah Valley was able to respond quickly and go on a 10-point run and lead for the only time during the game.
One of the standout players from this game was junior Elizabeth Gentry, who felt more frustrated than satisfied with the result. “It’s not like we fought so hard just to lose by 2 points. We fought so hard and we could have won that game.”
Utah Valley was playing catch-up for most of the game. Santa Clara would often set the pace and rhythm and it was up to the Wolverines to respond, and for the most part they did.
As the game progressed, coach Nielson would rotate the bench constantly. This was motivated by a lot of things. Partly for foul trouble, partly for athlete fatigue, and partly to stay aggressive.
After the halftime buzzer, the score was 31-25. UVU has tied it up a few times this game, but something hasn’t quite clicked. They are able to apply enough pressure to get the Broncos to take some bad shots and lock them down in the paint, but the offense is struggling. Maybe it’s the opposing defense, but there’s some piece missing.
“I think it’s frustrating ‘cause we could have won that game. We’re a really good basketball team,” said Gentry. “People might not think that, but we know our potential, and we know we could have won that game.”
As the second half started, the Broncos had their eyes set on the victory. They play well, getting five points ahead, but UVU is able to find a rhythm and begin matching them point-for-point. The third quarter ends with the Wolverines down five 47-42.
While the playmaking from UVU was impressive, as the fourth quarter began Santa Clara locked in and combined a line of threes to widen the gap to thirteen points with seven minutes left. For the Wolverines, a comeback of mountainous magnitudes is needed. And they realize this too.
“We stayed consistent. Obviously, we have to adjust to their game plan and to what they were running,” said Gentry, who ended the night with 18 points and 8 rebounds. “We just focus on what we could control. Our identity is points in the paint, our identity is disrupting them on defense.”
This strategy would lead the Wolverines to a 16-6 run in this final quarter, the score was 64-61 with just over a minute left and timeout was called.
But in that timeout, something clicked for the Broncos, they kept UVU 3 points behind. The score is the same and another timeout is called with 12 seconds left. It has to be a three-point play if UVU wants to send it to overtime.
After the teams huddle, Santa Clara is able to continue the defensive pressure and stop the play from the Wolverines, but send Gentry to the free throw line in the process. She makes one, Blackham runs up to Gentry and whispers something.
The plan is to intentionally miss the second free throw and grab the ball. This would give UVU a better chance at tying the game to send it to overtime. Gentry misses the second free throw and everyone goes for the ball. But in the chaos of going for it, the ball is knocked out-of-bounds by the Broncos. There are 0.3 seconds left and UVU still trails by 2.
With the final in-bound, Santa Clara barely reaches up and tips it, which triggers the clock, ending the game. The ball went straight to Gentry, who would have made the shot and sent it to overtime.
“The very last one was going to be tough with only point-three seconds, but I was proud the look was there,” said coach Nielson, who sounded optimistic post-game.
“I think a big takeaway is that the game was in our control. Yes, they are a good team. We respect them, but we think we’re a really good team too,” said Gentry. “Now we realize we could have won that game and winning that game was controllable.
Although a loss on paper, this opens a wide-variety of possibilities for this team. They have a difficult schedule, one that was chosen on purpose to prep them for the Big West conference. Their next game is Nov 14 at home against the Nevada Wolfpack.
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