Women’s basketball: UVU beats Dixie State for second straight win
Photo by Mykah Heaton
OREM—The UVU women’s basketball team beat Dixie State University 68-56 in Lockhart Arena Saturday afternoon. DSU continues to seek its first victory of the season after Sam Lubcke turned in a phenomenal double-double performance.
Lubcke, the junior from Murray Bridge, Australia, scored 19 points and secured 16 rebounds propelling UVU (6-10) to victory. She was a defensive force down under, helping to limit the Trailblazers (0-12) to 20 points in the paint. She also shot a fantastic 80 percent from the field on 8-for-10 shooting in 38 minutes played.
“My goal going into every game is to get a double-double,” Lubcke said. “A few times I come short which is frustrating but that’s the mindset I take into every game.”
The Wolverines showed flashes of stingy defense holding the Trailblazers without a field goal for just over four minutes in the first quarter and five minutes in the third quarter but were unable to turn in a complete performance, allowing DSU to snag five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we had some lapses,” head coach Cathy Nixon said. “We let them have some offensive rebounds in the second half and I think that kept them in the game.”
UVU took an eight-point lead into intermission and although leading by as many as 16 points midway through the third quarter, DSU fought to keep the game close down the stretch.
The Wolverines improved to 5-1 on the season when leading in the fourth quarter but the Trailblazers’ run cutting the lead to six points didn’t sit well with Lubcke.
“We didn’t end very well,” Lubcke said. “There was a point in time when we were breaking away from them and we should have put the foot down but we let them get back into the game. It leaves a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth because we should have won by more.”
Two days after falling shy of a triple-double against Antelope Valley, Taylor Gordon had another exceptional game scoring 21 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out five assists.
The win came as the final tuneup before conference play begins for the Wolverines.
“It wasn’t perfect,” Nixon said, “but it feels good to get back-to-back wins and close out the preseason and the year with a win. The challenge with us is consistency and that’s been the theme all year.
UVU remains at home where it will face Grand Canyon University in the first WAC game of the season January 7 in the UCCU Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MST.
Ty Bianucci is a life-long fan of the San Francisco Giants, 49ers and Golden State Warriors who started on the sports beat for The Review, but now contributes investigative stories. He, along with two of his colleagues, were awarded the Sunshine Award in 2018 by the Society of Professional Journalists.