Wolverines compete over break to finish out pre-conference play

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Over the break, students left for the holidays, but the men’s and women’s basketball teams stayed to play a handful of games apiece.

After finishing finals, the lady Wolverines hit the court to host Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 18. Utah Valley found themselves on the lower end of an 81-74 game. Even with four players hitting double figures, the lady Wolverines couldn’t close out a win.

Two days later, the lady Wolverines hosted Boise State and again found themselves in a loss, 80-71. Although the game ended in a loss, sophomore transfer Sammie Jensen notched her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

After an eight-day break, the lady Wolverines headed to Missoula, Montana to compete in the Lady Griz Holiday Classic Dec. 28-29. Utah Valley met up with Montana and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, adding two more losses to their season, 75-53 and 63-48.

New Year’s Day saw the lady Wolverines host Montana State to start off the New Year. Utah Valley boasted high numbers, with Jensen tallying her sixth double-double of the season and junior Jenna Johnson scoring a season high 21 points. Montana State took the win, however, at 79-70.

The men’s basketball team took to the court Dec. 18 to begin the break with a game against in-state rival Utah State. With a record setting crowd in attendance, the Wolverines couldn’t pull ahead of the Aggie’s big run in the second half, finding themselves with a 76-58 loss.

Dec. 20 the Wolverines hosted Mayville State and picked up a win, 80-60. Geddes Robinson finished with a career high 21 points and 15 rebounds, while teammate Jordan Swarbrick finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and a career-best eight assists.

The Wolverines then headed to Oregon to battle Portland State University on Dec. 23 where Isiah Williams sunk a career high 26 points, but the Wolverines couldn’t pull a win, finishing 73-53.

Five days later, the Wolverines returned to home court to welcome Florida International University and NBA Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas, who is the head coach of the Panthers. Scoring by Williams, Holton Hunsaker and Swarbrick totalled 74 of the Wolverines 95-92 win over FIU.

The final road game of the year took place on New Year’s Eve in DeKalb, Illinois where the Wolverines competed against Northern Illinois University. NIU secured themselves an 86-76 win by hitting all nine final attempts from the field and hitting 12-for-12 free throws in the final minutes.

The day before classes began, Utah Valley returned to home court to host Haskell University, picking up a big 98-50 win.
Both the men and women will host Seattle University on Thursday in the UCCU Center beginning at 3 p.m.