Kyle Bruderer, Sports Writer
The Utah Valley University women’s basketball team handed Weber State their first loss of the year at the UCCU center in Orem, Utah on Saturday defeating the Wildcats 61-40.
“I’m really proud of the girls, this was the fifth game in eight days and that’s not easy for any team at any level,” said head coach Cathy Nixon. “The thing that made me the happiest was the vibe that we had. They came yesterday ready to prepare after a late night up at Utah State and their intensity at practice and at shoot around was really good.”
The ball had a very hard time finding the basket for both teams in the first half. The Wildcats missed their first eight shots and midway through the half the score was only 10-5 in favor of the Wolverines. Weber State was able to hang around for most of the haul as they stayed within five or six points but UVU went on a 10-3 run putting the score at 28-15 at the break.
Weber State took 16 more shots than UVU in their matchup but only shot 25 percent from the field. The Wolverines nearly doubled that number by making 48 percent of their shots. Both teams played impressive defense throughout the game, the real difference was that UVU managed to make a higher number of difficult shots including a couple of acrobatic left handed layups by the junior guard Patrice Toston.
“The thing I thought this game would be was kind of the battle of styles, they’re a little bit more of an open chaos kind of style and we’re a little bit more structured,” said Nixon. “I felt like we were able to control the tempo for most of the game. Probably the brightest spot for me was Patrice she was unbelievable, some of those moves that she made were just signs of things to come.”
In her first year as a Wolverine, Toston has made a name for herself by shooting 52 percent from the field and averaging 11 points over five games. She had a game high 19 points against Weber State.
“We’re improving everyday which makes it even more exciting and coming out and getting a win tonight was just great,” said Toston. “When other players have rough nights it’s always nice to have somebody else who can come through and score and play other roles so whenever I’m needed I’ll try to get it done.
Other notable performances from UVU include a 12 point and nine rebound effort from sophomore forward Karlee Norris, and freshman guard Mariah Seals finished with 12 points and seven assists.
Next up for UVU will be UC Davis on the road Nov. 26 at 5:45 pm.
