Box Score : Cumulative Stats
OREM, Utah - It’s been a long time coming for the Utah Valley State women’s basketball team and Friday night in the 2nd round of the Division-I Independent tournament the Wolverines made it count with a big 78-41 win over Savannah State.
Utah Valley controlled the game from the opening tip, never trailing and jumping out to a quick 10-4 lead before a 34-7 run closed the half and for all intents and purposes closed out Savannah State.
“We did a great job bouncing back from last night, and that’s not easy,” said Coach Cathy Nixon. “We took a beating emotionally and it takes good character to come out and play like they did tonight. They showed that they do love the game and they love to work hard…and it was fun to see them playing together as a team.”
Miriam Palkki led Utah Valley with 20 points on a scorching 8-11 from the field in just 22 minutes. Rebekah Fales recorded the first double-double of her career, scoring 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds to help the Wolverines more than double Savannah State’s rebound total, 51-25.
“She’s a winner,” said Nixon of Fales. “She believes we’re gonna win and she believes she can go out there and have a positive impact and she usually does.”
Meredith Lynn had another solid game with six points, five rebounds and three assists after her seven rebound performance last night.
“More than anything Meredith’s showing that her commitment in practice is paying off,” said Nixon. “She’s a tough hard-nosed kid and she gets us going defensively.”
All 10 Wolverines that dressed scored in the game, including Katie Wilson, who was the third Wolverine to hit double figures in points with 12 to go along with six rebounds.
Utah Valley shot 47.4% from the field while holding Savannah State to just 25.5% from the floor.
Even with all of the shooting and rebounding stats heavily in their favor, maybe the most impressive stat of the night was 22 assists on 27 field goals made. Courtney Lynn led the team with six, five of which came in the deciding first half.
The final round of the tournament takes place tomorrow as Utah Valley State plays in the 4:30 game against Texas-Pan American, who lost to Northern Colorado 49-44 earlier in the day.
Savannah State will take on IPFW for 5th place at 2:00pm while the championship game pits Northern Colorado against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7:00pm. Corpus Christi beat IPFW Friday 82-60.
Saturday’s game will be the final game in the careers of seniors Courtney Lynn and Katie Wilson.
