Pocatello, Idaho - Utah Valley State faced its first road test of the season and passed, earning a come-from-behind 89-82 overtime win Saturday at Idaho State in a wild game that featured several big runs from both teams.
The win moves UV's record to 7-1, continuing the best start in school history and runs the school record win streak to five games.
The Wolverines looked dead in the water with 54 second remaining in regulation before staging a furious comeback to force the extra frame.
Trailing 75-67, Asumi Nakayama and Hollie Beaman hit back-to-back three pointers in a span of 16 seconds to cut the lead to two. Following a steal, Robyn Fairbanks scored to tie the game at 75 and send it to overtime.
In the overtime, the Bengals (0-6) built an 82-77 lead with 3:16 left but would not score again. Sandy Marvin took over, hitting a three to cut it to two with 2:59 left and scoring again on a runner in the lane to knot it at 82 with 1:50 remaining.
The Wolverines took the lead for good when Robyn Fairbanks scored on an assist from Marvin with 1:20 to go.
"These girls are fighters," said head coach Cathy Nixon. "I'm so proud of their fight. It showed a lot of heart inside with all the things that went wrong. We definitely used our nine lives. It felt like we lived and died a thousand times today. We told the girls at half time, welcome to the road. But when it seemed like the game was out of reach we just fought."
Julie McMurray had career highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds and kept the Wolverines in the game in the first half, helping the team on a 36-13 run that spanned the end of the first and the beginning of the second half, taking a 51-40 lead.
Michelle Grohs scored the next seven points for the Bengals, helping ISU on a 12-0 run to re-gain the lead.
The Wolverines led 62-61 with 4:42 left before Andrea Lightfoot hit a three and Kaylynn Fager scored to give the Bengals a 66-62 advantage.
Fager hit a big three with 1:18 left that gave ISU a 73-67 lead before Lightfoot hit two free throws for that eight point edge.
Five Wolverines scored in double figures. In addition to McMurray's 20 points afternoon, Fairbanks and Marvin had 19 each while Nakayama added 12 and Beaman 11.
Lightfoot led all scorers with 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Grohs also had a double double with 20 points and 12 boards.
Idaho State fired up a school record 42 three pointers on the day, hitting 10. UV finished 12-for-27 from beyond the arc.
Early in the game, Idaho State jumped out to a 12-2 lead early as the Wolverines struggled to shake the early road jitters, hitting just one shot in nine attempts.
Utah Valley then warmed up, hitting its next four shots to get back into the game with a 10-2 spurt. Following a timeout though, Lightfoot led the Bengals on a 12-1, scoring 10 points herself, to give ISU a 26-13.
The run was aided in part by another shooting drought for Utah Valley, who missed its next 12 shots before Beaman hit a jumper to stop the bleeding with 4:46 to go in the half.
The Wolverines trailed by 12 when Rebekah Peterson and Julie McMurray led a 12-3 run to make it a three-point game at the half, 33-30.
After Peterson's lay-up cut the lead to 10, she stole the ball from Lightfoot and dished out an assist to McMurrray. McMurray closed the half by hitting a three as time expired to keep UV close at the break.
Utah and Idaho State will have a rematch on January 6th in Orem.
The Wolverines will face two in-state schools next week beginning with Southern Utah on Thursday at 7:05pm in Orem. UV will then travel to Weber State on Saturday for a 2pm contest against another Big Sky opponent.
