Jan. 11, 2007

Box Score

Santa Barbara, California - Utah Valley State (10-8) dropped its fifth straight game, an 86-58 decision to a tough UC Santa Barbara squad on Thursday night in Southern California.

UCSB (8-8) used a 35-8 run over the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to run away with the game, winning its fourth straight.

Rebekah Peterson was a bright spot for the Wolverines as she scored a season high 16 points off the bench and hit 4-for-5 from the three-point line.

But for the second game in a row, Robyn Fairbanks was limited with foul trouble. She had 16 points in 24 minutes but was off the floor due to fouls over a crucial 16-2 UCSB run that ended the first half and started the rally.

That run gave the Gauchos a 39-25 lead at the break, but before that the Wolverines answered everything that was thrown at them; an 8-0 UCSB run to start the game was answered by an 11-1 UV run and a 10-3 Santa Barbara spurt was answered with a 7-0 run.

For the most part UCSB was the aggressor though, pushing the ball up the court nearly the entire contest and out-rebounding the Wolverines 52-32. 23 of those came on the offensive glass, leading to 20 second chance points.

Four Santa Barbara players finished in double figures, led by Jessica Wilson's 18 points, 10 rebounds seven steals, five assists and three blocks.

Utah Valley dropped to 2-4 on the road this season after winning its first two and fell to 0-5 all time against Big West schools.

The Wolverines will have an extended break before beginning play against fellow Division-I Independent schools. They will host South Dakota State on January 25th and North Dakota State on the 27th.