Opponent: Northern Colorado
Date: February 11, 2006
Location: Eaton, Colorado (Eaton High School)
Time: 7:00pm MST
This Week's Action ...
Utah Valley State will be back in action after last Saturday's win over Grand Canyon. They will take on fellow Indpendent Northern Colorado (12-9), who is in its last season without a conference and is set to join the Big Sky in 2006-07.
Utah Valley State is led in scoring by freshman Robyn Fairbanks 17.3 points ad 8.9 rebounds per game. She is second among all Indpendent players in scoring and rebounding, trailing only Longwood's Ashley Mason who averages 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
The Wolverines are currently 1-0 against other D-I Independents, with their only game so far coming against Texas-Pan American, a 73-67 win in Orem on January 17th. Just six games remain on the schedule for Utah Valley and all will come against D-I Independent school.
Following Saturday's game the Wolverines will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next Thursday, February 16 in the McKay Center. Northern Colorado makes the return trip to Orem on February 21st in what will be part of a doubleheader for the men and women. The women's game will take place at 4:30pm while the men will host Idaho State in what will be senior night for the Utah Valley men.
Senior night for the women will come three nights later when UV hosts North Dakota State on Friday, February 24th. Utah Valley will close out the 2005-06 season with a two-game road trip to IPFW (March 1) and Texas-Pan American (March 4).
Location Change ...
The game Saturday will not be held in Greeley, Colorado at UNC's Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion due to scheduling conflicts. It will instead be held at Eaton High School in Eaton, Colorado.
Fabulous Freshmen ...
Assuming head coach Cathy Nixon sticks with what she's been doing, Saturday's game will mark the 17th this season that four freshman have gotten the starting nod. Fairbanks, Hollie Beaman, Sandy Marvin and Ashley Grimm are the four newcomers that have had significant impacts on the 05-06 season.
Fairbanks and Marvin have started all 21 games so far while Beaman has started 18 and Grimm 16.
Last Time Out ...
The Utah Valley State women's basketball team fought through a poor night offensively and earned a 56-43 win over Grand Canyon on Saturday at the McKay Center. For the game Utah Valley State shot 28 percent from the field. The win ups the Wolverines record to 8-13 while Grand Canyon dropped to 4-18.
The Lopes connected on only 13 of 53 shots for 25 percent. The 43 points that Grand Canyon scored was a season low for a UV opponent.
"I don't know if it counts as a defensive battle when you just can't find the bottom of the basket," Utah Valley State coach Cathy Nixon said. "Obviously we had a hard time scoring. I was proud of the way the kids battled. I thought we were getting good shots."
Hollie Beaman led Utah Valley in scoring with 11 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds. Miriam Palkki added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Kaydee Allred provided a spark for the Wolverines off the bench scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds in 22 minutes of work.
Trailing 31-23 three minutes into the second half, the Wolverines went on a 12-3 run to take their first lead of the half at 35-34 following two free throws by Veva Whitear with 11:07 left in the game.
Utah Valley extended its lead to 39-34 foll owing a basket by Palkki four minutes later. The Wolverines later led 51-41 following an Allred 3-pointer.
"It wasn't pretty by any means," Nixon said. "It put pressure on us defensively but I thought we responded well. We got good contributions off the bench."
Scouting the Opposition ...
Northern Colorado is on a roll having won seven out of eight games and three in a row. The Bears' only loss during their current streak was a one-point overtime loss at Lamar.
They are coming off of a week that saw them sweep a tough texas road trip. They first beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on a buzzer beater before holding off Texas-Pan American 57-48.
UNC is currently 3-0 against other D-I Independents.
They are led in scoring by freshman Jabrenta Hubbard's 12.4 points per game. Heather Barbour averages 11.5 points per game for the Bears while Danielle Hagen leads the team with a 6.5 rebounds per game average.
Up Next ...
The Wolverines will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next Thursday, February 16th at 7:05pm in the McKay Center.
