Jan. 8, 2008

Box Score

OREM, Utah - A hot shooting Denver squad was too much for Utah Valley to handle as the Wolverines fell 101-75 in Denver on Tuesday night. Robyn Fairbanks had 27 points, five rebounds and two blocks to lead the way for UV.

The loss is the second straight for the Wolverines (13-5) and their fifth straight loss on the road.

The Pioneers (5-9) hit their first nine shots of the game and shot 63.8% overall including an incredible 14-of-20 (70%) from the three-point line in the game.

Nnenna Akotaobi lead five players in double figures for Denver with 19 on 7-for-9 shooting. Akotaobi was 3-of-5 from the three-point line as she and Brooke Meyer (4-for-4), Celena Otero (3-for-3) and Andie Mason (4-for-5) combined to go 14-for-17 from beyond the arc.

Rebekah Peterson had 10 points while Julie McMurray also contributed 10 points and five rebounds. Hollie Beaman came off the bench to finish with nine assists, seven of which came in the first half.

In hitting its first nine shots, Denver jumped out to a 23-7 lead less than five minutes in.

The lead was 29-14 when the Wolverines would make their only real run of the ballgame, a 10-0 spurt on a Fairbanks bucket, back-to-back threes from McMurray and Peterson and Lauren Smith layup. That trimmed the lead to 29-24, but the Pioneers answered that with an 11-0 run to build a 40-24 advantage.

Denver ended the half with a 55-32 advantage after hitting 22-of-33 from the field and 10-of-15 from the three-point line, both at 66.7%.

Utah Valley trailed by as much as 30 in the second half of the game that saw them allow over 100 points for the first time at the Division I level. 101 is also a record for points scored at the D-I level for Denver.

The Wolverines will now be off until January 24th when they begin their final 10-game stretch against fellow independent CSU Bakersfield on the road.