PROVO, Utah - Utah Valley State's late charge against an undefeated BYU team fell short in the end as the Cougars held off the Wolverines 61-54 Saturday afternoon in Provo.

Utah Valley fell behind by as much as 18 points in the 2nd half before getting within six on a free-throw by Miriam Palkki with 1:57 left in the game. The Wolverines held the Cougars scoreless for 6:43 of the second half until Melinda Johnsen hit a free throw with :11 seconds to go.

"I was pleased with a lot of things," said Utah Valley State coach Cathy Nixon. "I was proud of the way the kids defended. We came in here against BYU and put ourselves in a position where we were competing for the win."

BYU took a 45-27 lead on back-to-back Mallary Gillespie three-pointers with 16:25 to go. Utah Valley State wouldn't go away though, as they kept the deficit with 10-13 points until finally breaking the double figure mark on a Hollie Beaman three with 3:34 to go.

But the Palkki free throw was all they would get rest of the way as both teams struggled mightily from the field down the stretch. The two teams combined to score just seven points over the final 6:29 of the game.

"When we got down we basically told the kids, 'hey, this is it the game's on the line. If you don't defend we don't have a chance.' Our kids we're tired...they we're tired," said Nixon. "But I really like how responded to that. We showed a sense of confidence and an assertiveness that you have to have to get back into a game like this."

Robyn Fairbanks had a phenomenal 2nd half, scoring 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting to finish with 19 for the game.

"We know if execute our plays, get the ball to Robyn...she's going to score," said Nixon "If she can add that low block presence to our game she's gonna be phenomenal."

Defensively, Palkki was matched up against All-American candidate Ambrosia Anderson. Anderson seemed to get the best of the senior match up in the first half scoring 13 points, but was held to just two points in the 2nd while shooting just 6-for-21 for the game.

"I thought Miriam Palkki did a phenomenal job defensively," said Nixon. "Overall I was pleased with our kids' defensive effort."

Fairbanks' 19 points led all scorers while Palkki and Beaman chipped in 13 apiece. The 13 points by Beaman is a career high. Gillespie led BYU with 17 points while Anderson had a double double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Nixon returned to BYU to coach against the uniform that she wore during her college days. She is still among the school leaders in points scored all-time.

"I have great memories of BYU. There's a lot of people here that are important to me," said Nixon. "I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into my time here at BYU and I have a lot of respect for this program...but I'm thrilled to be at Utah Valley now."

BYU won the rebounding battle 50-44 and has out-rebounded their opponents in every game this season. The Cougars shot just 4-for-14 from the free-throw line while the Wolverines hit 10-for-19. Neither team shot the ball well with UV hitting just 31% from the field compared to 37% from BYU.

Early on the game was tight with score 10-10 midway through the first half when Anderson scored 10 quick points capped by an alley-oop lay in from Melinda Johnsen to give the Cougars a 10 point lead. UV wouldn't go away though, as a Sandy Marvin three and an Ashley Grimm bucket and foul got the Wolverines within five at 24-19.

The Cougars closed the half on an 11-4 run capped by a Laura Stratton lay up with :03 seconds to go.

With the loss Utah Valley drops to 2-7 while BYU moves to 8-0 improving on its best start in school history. The match up between the neighboring schools was the first regular season game ever.

Next up for the Wolverines is their third and final in-state road game of the season on Tuesday at Southern Utah. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 6:05pm. UV will then have some time off to celebrate Christmas before hosting Portland on December 28th.