Dec. 5, 2007

Box Score

BOZEMAN, Montana - Utah Valley suffered its first loss of the season, 79-69, at Montana State on Wednesday night. The loss ends the best start in school history and the Wolverines' 11-game winning streak that dated back to the last season.

Julie McMurray had 18 points to lead UV while Robyn Fairbanks had 17 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in 25 minutes. Sandy Marvin added 14 for the Wolverines who committed 25 turnovers to just 12 by Montana State.

Utah Valley suffered its worst shooting percentage of the season, 39.7%, including just 30.3% in the second half. The Bobcats didn't sizzle the nets either, hitting 39.5%, but outscored UV 19-8 off of turnovers and 14-4 on second chance points after pulling down 18 offensive rebounds.

Rebecca Mercer had 30 for MSU while Sarah Strand had 12 points and nine rebounds and Krislyn Wallace had nine points and 11 boards.

After the Wolverines entered half time trailing 38-37, they used a quick 7-0 run to take a 44-38 lead.

UV lead 55-50 after a Fairbanks bucket with 10:34 left and had chances to push the lead to seven on a couple of occasions. But Fairbanks committed an offensive foul with 9:42 and Mercer answered with a three-pointer to trim the lead to two and start a 12-0 run that gave the home team the lead for good.

After Mercer hit 1-of-2 free throws with 4:55 to go to give Montana State a 65-59 advantage, McMurray and Fairbanks hit back-to-back buckets to get within two. Strand answered that with a three followed by two Wallace free throws to push the lead to 70-63 with 3:01 left.

UV got within three with a McMurray layup with 1:49 left but Strand hit a big layup as the shot clock expired with 1:14 left and MSU hit 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 44 seconds to ice the win.

Up next Utah Valley will be in Provo for a match up at in-state rival BYU. Tip-off for that game is set for 5pm MT.