The Utah Valley Women’s Basketball team hosted in-state rival Utah State in a highly anticipated matchup last Saturday afternoon.
It was a shooting clinic put on by the Wolverines as they scored a total of 68 points led by Ally Criddle and Jenna Dick.
Criddle ended with 13 points along with five assists and four rebounds while Dick was a huge help off the bench knocking down four three-pointers in what was a career high.
“We just got into a flow and we weren’t forcing anything,” Dick said. “Our offense just came with our defense and we were working as a team.”
The Wolverines forced 24 turnovers which led to 32 points on the other end.
Kylee Mabry was the first on the board for UVU as she anticipated a cross court pass, stole it and turned it into two.
Through the first quarter both teams were trading buckets but Utah Valley was able to find separation as they ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a six point lead.
UVU continued to apply pressure through the entire 2nd quarter and crashed the boards which led to a handful of second chance points.
“It was good to see our team gain some confidence and see the ball go through the hoop,” head coach Dan Nielson said. “It was nice to see what we’ve been working on come together today.”
Utah Valley continued their intensity up as Liana Kaitu’u scored two straight buckets with a three pointer that erupted the crowd.
UVU held Utah State to just five points through the entire second quarter while the Wolverines continued to shoot well as they went into the half with a comfortable 12 point lead.
“We were finally able to out rebound our opponent,” Nielsen added. “Then we kept up our trend from good assists to turnover which I thought was huge.”
The Wolverines out rebounded the Aggies 40-30 and 15 of those came on the offensive end helping the Wolverines get 2nd chance points.
Cheyenne Stubbs helped the Aggies stay in the game scoring 8 of their 12 points in the 3rd quarter. Utah State was able to cut the lead down to just nine but Dick knocked down a triple to push the lead back to double digits going into the fourth quarter.
The Aggies were not able to keep up with the outstanding shooting in the fourth quarter from the Wolverines.
UVU shot 6-6 from beyond the arc in the 10 minute stretch while holding Utah State to just eight points.
The Wolverines didn’t let up, continuing to knock down shots and create turnovers and with the crowd staying on their feet as they pushed the lead to 30 in what was a dominant win for the Wolverines.
Utah Valley will travel to Las Cruces in hopes to build off of this momentum. They will face the New Mexico State Aggies at 1 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 16. This game can be streamed on ESPN+.
