The Utah Valley women’s basketball team played its first two conference games on Jan. 9 and 14, going against Chicago State and North Dakota on their home court.
Taking two more losses, the Wolverines now stand 0-2 in the Great West conference. Now on a 10-game losing streak, UVU has tied the record for the most losses in a row and a season. The last 10-game loosing streak was during the 2004-05 season.
“Hopefully our kids will keep fighting. That’s what this game’s about. You get into a conference where there are games consistently every week and we just have to fight,” said coach Cathy Nixon. “That’s what I’m encouraging the kids to do and to focus on the process of us competing possession to possession, and I just believe things are going to start to happen for us if we start to do that.”
During their competition with North Dakota, UVU fell behind after North Dakota tied the game at 13. The Wolverines stayed behind through the first half fighting to get some points on the board.
Entering the second half, there was a 16-point spread between the teams. The Wolverines were able to bring the score within 12 with just over seven minutes left in the game, before North Dakota took off again leaving UVU behind.
“I was really proud that the last ten minutes we did continue to compete, but that sense of urgency is what we’ve got to have the whole game,” concluded Nixon
Despite the loss, three Wolverines scored in the double digits including freshmen Kyra Prause, who hit four of her six three-pointers. Senior Julie Smith once again led her team in scoring finishing with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists. Erika Newbold finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, Prause put up a career high 12 points and Asumi Nakayama added eight with 12 assists.
UVU will return to its home court on Jan. 18 to face Longwood for the second time this season. Longwood took the win from the Wolverines early on in the season in Farmville, Virginia.
