Shane Maryott/UVU Review
After returning from WNIT competition, the women’s basketball team hit the home court over Thanksgiving, hosting Northern New Mexico and in-state rival Southern Utah University, and then again last Wednesday against in-state rival Utah State.
The lady Wolverines split the pair of games over the holiday taking a loss against SUU (63-73) and a win against Northern New Mexico (90-46), their first win of the season.
With a little bit of winning momentum on the lady Wolverines’ backs, the Aggies came to town only to take that away.
“We just dug ourselves in too deep of a hole,” said Coach Cathy Nixon.
The lady Wolverines hit the floor hard with plenty of energy and determination, but by halftime, the Aggies had snagged a good lead as the score stood at 43-28.
A second half comeback effort was not enough to close the gap the Aggies had built.
“I just told the girls, and I really do believe this, that as soon as we start competing for 40 minutes, we’re going to start beating people,” Nixon said. “I think we’re a pretty good basketball team, but we’re not good enough to turn it on and off and we just had it off for to much of this game.”
UVU was led by freshman Whitney Jenkins, who came off the bench and hit 4 for 4 from beyond the arch and finished with a career high of 19 points. Freshman teammate Kali Roche followed Jenkins, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds.
“Whitney was a great spark off the bench, not only offensively, but defensively,” said Nixon. “She [Jenkins] really brought an energy level. Whitney’s going to be a really good basketball player and it was great; we needed a spark tonight and she provided that.”
The lady Wolverines, going into last Saturday’s game against Idaho State, sit at 1-5 on the season and are looking to pick up some more winning momentum in upcoming competitions.
“Hopefully they’ll bring a level of motivation, and as coaches, we’ll prepare them and I really do think that if we compete for 40 minutes, then we’re going to start being successful,” Nixon said.
The lady Wolverines will be back in action this Thursday as they host cross-town rival BYU at 7:05 p.m.
