The Utah Valley University women’s basketball team defeated the University of Antelope Valley 77-61 on Saturday, Nov. 30 at home in the UCCU Center. This was the Wolverines first victory of the short season, snapping their five-game losing streak.
The Wolverines are now 1-2 at home — 1-1 while playing at the UCCU Center.
UAV started the game connecting on a pair of triples that propelled them to an early lead over UVU. The Pioneers used accurate shooting throughout the first quarter from behind the three-point line to give them a five-point cushion after the first ten minutes of play, shooting over 50 percent from beyond the arc with five treys.
The phrase “live by the three, die by the three” would come to fruition for the Pioneers the rest of the way, however. Although they went 5-for-9 from three in the first quarter, they would go on to shoot a dreadful 1-for-11 the remaining 30 minutes of the contest. This is what allowed UVU to get back in the game, especially in the second quarter.
The Wolverines outscored the Pioneers 20-6 in the second quarter, thanks to their tightened defense holding UAV to just 13 percent shooting during that span. UVU owned a 36-27 lead heading into the break.
UVU maintained their distance in the third quarter and entered the final period up by 10, but UAV kept things tight. With the Wolverines up 56-46 with nine minutes remaining in the game, the visiting squad scored six unanswered points to cut the deficit to four. Following the timeout, senior forward Jordan Holland scored four-straight points of her own and provided much of the offensive punch the rest of the way to secure the UVU victory. Holland finished with 17 points on the day.
Holland wasn’t the only one who made noise on the offensive end, however. Four Wolverines finished in double-figures with sophomore center Josie Williams posting a career-high 19 points, freshman center Megan Jensen pouring in 11 points and sophomore forward Eve Braslis adding 10.
The Wolverine’s defense was stout the last three quarters as well, forcing the Pioneers to commit 21 turnovers on the day compared to 12 of their own. UVU scored 28 points off of the 21 turnovers.
UVU will try to build on the momentum gained from the win over the weekend on Tuesday, Dec. 3, when they face Idaho State at 6 p.m. MST at the UCCU Center.
