Recap : Box Score : Cumulative Stats

MOSCOW, Idaho - The Utah Valley State women's basketball team battled Idaho to the final seconds of regulation but lost 62-59 in its season opener. The Wolverines led 59-57 with under a minute to play but Heather Thoelke hit a 3-pointer with 23.6 seconds left in the game to give the Vandals a 60-59 lead.

The Wolverines had two opportunities to take the lead and tie the game in the final seconds by a traveling call and a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Idaho the win. Idaho was picked to finish second in the Big West Conference this year.

Katie Wilson led Utah Valley State with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jessica Scabby came off the bench and scored 11 points on four-of-four shooting. Kelci Naihe and Miriam Palkki each added nine points.

Utah Valley shot 49 percent for the game and out rebounded Idaho 35-29.   

The Wolverines jumped out to a 9-3 lead four minutes into the game thanks to a Palkki 3-pointer, two free throws by Courtney Lynn and baskets by Allred and Wilson. Another basket by Wilson with 13:12 left in the first half gave Utah Valley an 11-5 lead.

But the Wolverine lead slowly diminished as they then went nearly nine minutes without a point. During the stretch, the Utah Valley offense missed 11 consecutive shots and soon trailed 18-11 with 5:11 left in the half.

The scoring drought ended when Jasmin Fantl hit a 3-pointer with 4:51 on the clock.

Neither team shot the ball well in the half. Utah Valley shot 29 percent from the field, turned the ball over 16 times, and trailed 30-20. Meanwhile, Idaho shot 27 percent and had 11 turnovers.

The Wolverines opened the second half by outscoring Idaho 20-4 in the first eight minutes to lead 40-34. They scored the first eight points of the half and cut the Vandal lead to 30-28 thanks to five points by Wilson and a 3-pointer by Allred.

Utah Valley State tied the game at 32-32 following a steal by Lynn and a basket by Naihe. Palkki later hit a 3-pointer, Scabby connected on a 15-foot baseline jumper, and a free throw to give the Wolverines a 38-34 lead with 13:28 left in the second half. Another basket by Wilson gave Utah Valley the 40-34 lead.

   Idaho quickly tied the game at 40-40 with back-to-back 3-pointers by Ticey Westbrooks and Heather Thoelke. Both teams traded baskets for the next six minutes and the score remained tied at 52-52 with six minutes left in the game. With 3:46 remaining, Wilson hit one-of-two free throws to give Utah Valley a 53-52 lead. Idaho regained the lead at 57-53 with less than three minutes in the game following Thoelke three and a Jessica Summers basket.

Utah Valley regained the lead at 59-57 with 1:24 left in game following another basket by Naihe and a 3-pointer by Palkki.

The Wolverines play at Gonzaga on Saturday at 8 p.m.