Opponent: Cal State Fullerton
Date: January 26, 2006
Location: Fullerton, California
Time: 8:00pm MST

Opponent: UC Riverside
Date: January 28, 2006
Location: Riverside, California
Time: 5:05pm MST

This Week's Action ...
Utah Valley State will travel to Southern California for two games against Big West schools Cal State Fullerton and UC Riveride. The Wolverines will take on the Fullerton Titans on Thursday at 8:00pm MST followed by a Saturday matchup with the Highlanders and 5:05pm MST.

The game against Fullerton can be seen live on the web at www.FullertonTitans.com. Saturday's came features live audio at www.athletics.ucr.edu.

Utah Valley has won five of its last eight dating back to December 28th, but is 0-2 on the road during that time and 0-6 on the road during 2005-06. The Wolverines have not won a road contest since January 29, 2004 at Johnson & Wales and have never beaten a Divsion-I team on the road during their short D-I tenure.

Fairbanks Claims Player of the Week Award Again ...
Freshman center Robyn Fairbanks has been named Division-I Independent Player of the Week based on her performance last week against fellow Independent school Texas-Pan American.

Against the Broncs, Fairbanks hit 12-of-17 shots for 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds, five blocks and three steals. For the week she averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks per game.

The Canadian freshman also won the award on January 10th and has twice been named Independent Newcomer of the Week as well.

She is currently averaging 17.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, which are tops among all Independent players. She is also fourth in shooting percentage at 49.8% and second in blocks with 1.44 per game.

Last Week's Action ...
Utah Valley State went 1-1 last week, topping fellow Independent school Texas-Pan American 73-67 before dropping a 74-59 contest at Nevada.

Against Pan American, Fairbanks did it all scoring a career high 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, five blocks and three steals in 30 minutes of action.

On the strength of 21 first half points by Fairbanks, Utah Valley used 13-4 and 12-4 runs in the first half to build a 42-29 lead at the break, but slowly saw that advantage shrink midway through the second half.

The Broncs slowly crept back and with Fairbanks on the bench saddled with four fouls used a 9-0 run on three straight 3-pointers to turn a seven point deficit into a two point lead at 56-54 with 7:05 to go.

That's when Fairbanks worked her magic, with eight points, three rebounds, two steals and a block over the next 3:53 to help Utah Valley to a 67-60 lead and its fifth win in the last seven games.

Freshman Hollie Beaman had a strong night at point guard for UV, chipping in eight points while matching a career high with nine assists for the Wolverines.

Two nights later at Nevada, the Wolverines struggled offensively, shooting just 19-for-56 (34%) percent from the field while turning the ball over 25 times.

Sandy Marvin led Utah Valley with 13 points while Sabrina Keys and Dellena Criner each scored 14 for Nevada.

The Wolfpack seized control of the game using an 11-4 run midway through the first half to take a 24-15 lead.

Early in the second half, Utah Valley State went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to two on a Miriam Palkki jumper, but that's as close as they would come as Nevada used a 13-5 run to put the lead back into double digits.

Scouting the Opposition ...
Cal State Fullerton is 5-12 and coming off of losses at Long Beach State and UC Irvine in Big West action. They are led in scoring by Charlee Underwood's 13.3 points per game.

UC Riverside dropped to 5-11 following its last loss at Long Beach State. Kemie Nkele leads the team with 17.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Riverside plays host to Independent UC Davis on Thursday before taking on the Wolverines.

Up Next ...
The Wolverines will not play again until next Saturday, February 4th when they Divsion-II Grand Canyon in the McKay Center.