Opponent: Air Force
Date: November 23, 2005
Location: Orem, Utah (McKay Center)
Time: 7:05pm MST
Opponent: Fresno State
Date: November 26, 2005
Location: Orem, Utah (McKay Center)
Time: 7:05pm MST
This Week's Action ...
Utah Valley State continues its early season action with two games during Thanksgiving weekend. The first will take place on the eve of the holiday, as the Wolverines will match up for the first time against the Air Force Falcons. Then on Saturday night, Utah Valley State welcomes Fresno State to Orem. Both games will begin at 7:05pm.
Wednesday's game will feature live audio on WolverineGreen.com but Saturday's game will not be broadcast due to the Utah Valley State men's team being in action at Idaho State at 7:00pm.
The broadcast of home games will be on a game-by-game basis depending on the schedule of the Utah Valley State men's basketball games. The dates that conflict throughout the rest of the 2005-06 season are: November 29th vs. Westminster, December 28th vs. Portland, January 5th vs. Idaho State and January 7th vs. Weber State.
Big Debuts ...
Wolverine freshmen Robyn Fairbanks and Sandy Marvin made quite the first impressions in the season opener against Jacksonville State. Fairbanks, from Raymond, Alberta, had 21 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks to open up her collegiate career. Local Payson High School standout Marvin had 14 points and four rebounds.
Fairbanks' game was nearly the first 20 point/20 rebound performance in school history. And it was the first time that a freshman recorded a double double in her first game. Not only that, but her 21 points is a school record for points scored by a freshman. The previous high was Rebekah Fales 19 point performance at Jacksonville State during the 2004-05 season.
Another freshman, Ashley Grimm from Skyline High School in Salt Lake City, had seven points and six rebounds for a solid debut of her own.
Last Time Out ...
Wolverine freshman Robyn Fairbanks made quite the Division-I debut with 21 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks, but Jacksonville State ruined her party by outscoring the Wolverines by 16 points in the second half and winning 84-77 in the season opener for both teams.
Fairbanks had 15 points and 11 rebounds at the half, but in the second the Gamecocks stepped up their defense, allowing the Canadian to just three field goal attempts during the final 20 minutes of play.
"They took away our aggression...and we turned the ball over 26 times and we gave up 26 offensive rebounds," said Utah Valley head coach Cathy Nixon. "We're putting ourselves in a pretty tough situation. But if we can learn from it and continue to progress we'll be a better team."
Rebecca Haynes had a big game of her own for Jacksonville State. Haynes scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while shooting 7-11 from the floor. She also added four assists, three blocks and three steals.
Jacksonville State had an abysmal time from beyond the arc in the first half, going just 1-15. But in the decisive second half the Gamecocks were 5-11 from the three-point line, including 3-4 from Haynes.
Freshman Sandy Marvin had 12 of her 14 points in the 2nd half, all on three-pointers, but the Gamecocks' experience wore down the Wolverines in the end.
"Any time you play as many freshman as we did in their first Division-I game there's going to be some ups and downs," said Utah Valley State coach Cathy Nixon. "I thought there were some good moments. But we have to learn from this game so that we're better the next time."
Rebekah Fales was the other Wolverine in double figures with 10 points, while Jacksonville State had three others in double figures including Courtney Slaughter's 16 and Katja Fuess' 14 points.
Scouting the Opposition ...
Air Force is 1-0 on the young season after beating Northern Colorado last week at home, 67-60. Alecia Steele finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Falcons, while Jacki Novak scored 10 points in just 14 minutes of action.
The Falcons are in Utah for a two game swing that will take them to Weber State on Friday night. During the season, Air Force will end up playing every Division-I team in the state with the exception of Southern Utah. They are in the Mountain West Conference, setting up home-and-home tilts with Utah and BYU and they are playing the two non-conference games this week and will later play at Utah State.
Fresno State moved to 2-0 after beating Texas Southern 91-62 on Monday night. They opened up the season by putting up 93 points in a 93-84 victory over UC Irvine last week.
In Monday's win over Texas Southern, five Bulldogs scored in double figures led by Amy Parrish's 20 points. Fresno will face a big test on Wednesday night as they travel to #15 Stanford before heading to Utah.
Last season the Bulldogs beat the Wolverines 57-36 in Fresno in the only other meeting between the two schools. Miriam Palkki scored 15 points in that game to lead all scorers.
Up Next:
The Wolverines will hit the road for their first road game of the season on December 1st at Boise State. Then on Saturday, December 3rd both the men and women will play home games. The women's team hosts Oregon State at 4:30pm followed by a 7:05pm tip for the men against Sacramento State.
