Jan. 27, 2007
Box Score
Photo Gallery
Orem, Utah - Cold shooting doomed Utah Valley State on Saturday as North Dakota State held off the Wolverines down the stretch for a 71-63 win Saturday afternoon in Orem. The loss drops Utah Valley's record to 10-10 and ups its losing streak to seven games.
The Wolverines shot just 36.9% from the field for the game, including just 27.8% in the first half and suffered through an 0-for-15 drought during the middle part of the game.
In her second start of the season, Rebekah Peterson scored a career high 23 points and set a school record by hitting five three pointers while also pulling down eight rebounds. Robyn Fairbanks had a double double, her eighth of the season, with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
For Peterson, she has hit 13 three's in the last three games and is averaging 18.7 points per game during that stretch.
"She's been a great spark for us...and we've been looking for that," said head coach Cathy Nixon of Peterson. "She has put herself in position to help us both offensively and defensively."
Lisa Bue led North Dakota State (8-9) with 16 points while Danni Heintzelman had 15 points and Brenda Slyt finished with 11.
"It doesn't feel good to come out and not be successful," said Nixon. "Right now we seem to be having enough ups and downs individually that the amount of time we're consistent isn't good. We can't let our lows be too low or we'll have too hard a time crawling out of it."
Utah Valley jumped out to an early lead thanks to some hot shooting from behind the three-point line. Fairbanks and Peterson hit back-to-back treys to start the game and put UV up 6-0.
The Wolverines seemed to be cruising along offensively, building an 18-10 advantage with 12:43 remaining in the opening half. After that Utah Valley couldn't buy a bucket. A scoring drought of 3:40 allowed the Bison to take their first lead at 19-18 on a Katie Dahlen three pointer.
The Wolverines regained the lead at 25-21 on a Peterson jumper with 7:03 left but wouldn't score the rest of the half. NDSU went on a 12-0 run to close the half and carried a 33-25 edge into the break.
The scoring slump continued into the second half as Utah Valley didn't score until the 16:19 mark of the half on a Fairbanks lay up. The entire drought spanned 10:44 and put the Wolverines in an 11-point hole.
UV fought its way back though, thanks to Peterson who scored five straight points to get the Wolverines within two at 55-53 with 4:35 to go.
But Slyt was huge for the Bison in crunch time. She came right back to give North Dakota State a 58-53 lead bucket and foul shot. Then when Utah Valley had cut the deficit to three on a Peterson layup with just under a minute to go, Slyt hit a big three with the shot clock winding down and just 1:15 left in the game to push the lead to six.
Kayla Dahlen sank four free throws in the final minute to ice it for the Bison.
The Wolverines will hit the road next week for games at New Jersey Tech on February 1st and at IPFW on February 3rd.
