Utah Valley University Women’s basketball fell to the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks 72-46 on Thursday night at the William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas. With the loss the Wolverines fall to 4-14 on the year, 1-6 in Western Athletic Conference play, and 0-3 all time against SFA.
Poor shooting and turnovers attributed to the loss as the Wolverines shot 40% from the field, 12.5% from three, and 75% from the stripe opposed to the Ladyjacks 45.2%, 23.3%, and 56.3%. The Wolverines turned the ball over 23 times in which the Ladyjacks capitalized, scoring 23 points off of turnovers opposed to the Ladyjacks 10 turnovers leading to nine Wolverine points.
In the first quarter the Wolverines grabbed an early 4-3 lead with 5:54 remaining. A jumper, 3-pointer, and layup would give the Ladyjacks a 10-6 lead over the Wolverines which they rode out for the remainder of the quarter ending 14-10.
The Wolverines tied the game at 14-14 with a jumper from Kaylee Byon and a fastbreak jumper from Eleyana Tafisi coming off of a steal to start the second quarter. For the remainder of the half the Wolverines went ice cold, only scoring four more points while the Ladyjacks strung together a 21-4 run ending the half 35-18.
A jumper and a pair of free throws by Byon started the second half for the Wolverines. From then on both sides traded baskets ending the quarter at 51-30 in favor of the Ladyjacks.
Early on in the 4th quarter the Wolverines made a push at a late comeback going on a 6-2 run narrowing the deficit to 17. The Ladyjacks responded with a 10-0 run of their own bringing the lead up to 27 with a score of 65-38 with 5:02 remaining in the game. The Ladyjacks rode out their lead to a 72-46 win over the Wolverines bringing their WAC play record to 5-1 and move into sole possession of 3rd place.
Individually, Byron led the Wolverines with 15 points, Shay Fano and Tafisi led the team with 6 rebounds each while Tafisi tacked on 6 assists.
The Wolverines look to bounce back and find their first road win this Saturday Jan. 21 at Sam Houston. The game will tip off at 1 P.M. MT, you can watch live on ESPN+.
For a full schedule and more information visit gouvu.com.
