Box Score : Cumulative Stats

FRESNO, California -  The Utah Valley State women’s basketball was back in action after a long layoff Wednesday night in Fresno but couldn’t shake the cobwebs, losing to Fresno State 57-36.

The Wolverines did their best to hang with the Bulldogs after a slow start, but couldn’t quite make a dent in the early deficit.

Miriam Palkki led the Wolverines with 15 points, while Katie Wilson and Rebekah Fales both pulled down five rebounds a piece.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead after Mirenda Swearengin hit her first two three’s of the game. Fresno increased the lead to 24-8 when the Wolverines began to claw their way back into the contest. Palkki scored five quick points, followed by a Fales three to spark an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 10 at 26-16.

Fresno State finished the half on a 5-2 run to take a 31-18 lead into the break. The Bulldogs’ defense forced 19 first half turnovers, just one under the season average for the Wolverines.

In the second half, Miriam Palkki came up with the shot of the game to beat the shot clockwhen she banked in a 27-foot two handed hook shot with a defender all over her.

That shot cut it to an 11 point deficit at 37-26 with 16:29 to go, but Fresno State responded with an 11-4 run to take a 48-30 lead that was too much for the Wolverines to overcome.

The Wolverines will close out their regular season Saturday against Northern Colorado at 5:00pm. It will be the final regular season home game for seniors Courtney Lynn and Katie Wilson. The women’s game will be followed by the Wolverine men also taking on Northern Colorado. It will be the final home game ever for All-American candidate and the nation’s 2nd leading scorer, Ronnie Price.

March 3-5, Utah Valley State will host the Division I Independent Women’s Basketball Championship in the McKay Center. In addition to the Wolverines, Northern Colorado, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Texas Pan-American, IPFW and Savannah State will all participate.