Dec. 29, 2007
Box Score
OREM, Utah - Sandy Marvin, Robyn Fairbanks and Julie McMurray combined for 88 points as Utah Valley came from behind to win a wild 104-99 contest over Portland State on Saturday in Orem.
The win puts the Wolverines at 11-3 at the midway point of the season, the best start in school history, while 104 points breaks a team record for points against a Division I opponent. The 99 that PSU scored is also a record for points against Utah Valley.
Marvin's 34 points led all scorers and was a career high for the junior while Fairbanks added 30 for her 11th career 30-point game. McMurray had 24 points for Utah Valley, also setting a new personal career high.
"Robyn was fantastic. Anytime you can have a player that, everytime you get her the ball she's going to come through offensively and Sandy had one of her best games as well. They really kept us in it offensively. I'm just really proud of the kids. It was really a gut check when the game was on the line."
The three combined to take 52 of the Wolverines' 63 field goal attempts, hitting 34 of those shots to combine to hit 65% from the field. Overall, Utah Valley hit a school record 60.3% for the game.
Clair Faucher had 29 points and 12 assists for Portland State (9-3) while Kelsey Kahle added 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
"Personnel wise they're just so solid," said Nixon of Portland State. "She (Faucher) just runs that team so well...she's a quarterback that knows what she needs to do. To have them come in here at 9-2 and really be playing confident, I really hoped we would rise to the challenge...and I thought our kids really did step up."
After the Wolverines took an early 11-10 lead with 15:42 remaining in the first half, the Vikings went on a 15-3 run led by nine points from Faucher to take a 25-14 lead.
PSU hit six of its first eight three-point attempts, capped by a Delaney Conway three with 11:32 left in the half, to take a 28-16 lead, its biggest of the game.
The margin hovered between seven to nine points for most of the half before Portland State entered the break with a 52-44 advantage.
It took until the 12:08 mark until Utah Valley was able to crawl all the way back, tying it a 68 after Susie Cornejo hit two free-throws as part of her eight points.
UV capped the comeback when Fairbanks hit a baseline jumper on the next offensive possession to put her team up 70-68.
A Marvin layup put the Wolverines up three, 78-75, with 7:47 to go before back-to-back baskets by Kahle and Kelli Valentine, both on Faucher assists, gave the Vikings a one-point edge.
Fairbanks answered that with a layup to give UV the lead back with just under seven minutes left in the game.
Marvin hit a three put the Wolverines up 86-81 but Faucher came right back with a three and Kahle scored on a layup to tie the game.
Asumi Nakayama responded with a three to push the Wolverines back in front, 89-86, with 3:33 remaining. That three started a 10-1 run over the next 1:29 that helped propel UV to their 11th win.
Katia Hadj-Hamou made a three-pointer for the Vikings with 21 seconds left to trim the Wolverine lead to three but Marvin hit two free-throws to ice the game.
It won't get any easier for the Wolverines as Gonzaga comes to town on Monday for a 3:05pm tip-off.
