Women’s basketball: UVU outmatched, falls to in-state rival Utah

Photo by Mykah Heaton

SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Valley University women’s basketball team was outsized and outmatched against Utah Saturday and was defeated by the score of 100-52. UVU trailed 23-19 at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored 22-11 in the second quarter and the lead increased the rest of the game.

The Wolverines shot only 33 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers during the game.

“The word I would use to describe this is inconsistent with us collectively,” head coach Cathy Nixon said, “We have some possessions where we’re really good and some possessions where we’re really bad. Hopefully we can minimize those really bad possessions.”

The Utes had an impressive game offensively shooting 58 percent from the field including 50 percent from 3-point range. A total of five Utes finished with double-figures in points with sophomore guard Daneesha Provo leading all scorers with 18 points.  The Utes had 26 fast break points and outscored the Wolverines 44-26 in the paint.

“You watch Utah play and what they’re trying to do is just control the tempo,” Nixon said, “You look at how fast they transition offensively and then what they try to do is slow you down and they were very effective in that tonight. I thought they controlled the tempo of the game for probably 37 minutes.”

Taylor Gordon was the bright spot for UVU finishing with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting while adding five rebounds and four steals. Mariah Seals added 12 points in a very sluggish game offensively for the Wolverines.

“I thought Taylor was really good tonight. She was composed, she was confident, aggressive, she was really good on all accounts,” Nixon said.

A common theme that Nixon referred to after the game was the experience the team gained by playing a Pac-12 team like Utah. Nixon said the season is a journey and the team is trying to learn the process on both ends of the court. Nixon said the team is still young and there is lots of film to look at from the game to learn and improve as a team collectively.

The loss puts UVU at 0-3 on the season. The Wolverines’ next game is Tuesday against Eastern Washington at the UCCU Center.