Dec. 3, 2008
Box Score
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - Julie McMurray scored a career high 30 points but Utah Valley started slow and couldn't recover, losing 77-70 at Hawai'i on Tuesday night in Honolulu.
A 2-for-16 start, combined with two quick fouls whistled on leading scorer Robyn Fairbanks, was too much to overcome for the Wolverines (2-4), who were scrambling the entire night to try and overcome the Rainbow Wahine (1-6).
Fairbanks picked up her second foul less than four minutes into the game and was forced to sit the rest of the half, going scoreless in the half after playing less than three minutes.
Offense was hard to come by early as neither team scored for a five-minute span with the score stuck at 9-5. The Wolverines ended up going over six minutes without a point until Kayla Burningham hit a bucket with 8:19 left in the half.
Hawai'i used a 14-2 run to build a 20-7 lead with 7:45 left in the half. Utah Valley trimmed the lead to seven after Sandy Marvin-Wall stole a pass and hit a 15-foot jumper before entering the half down eight, 31-23.
In the second half, UVU scored the first four points to get within four before the Rainbow Wahine went on a 12-2 spurt to run the lead to 44-30, the biggest of the game.
The Wolverines clawed back again though, eventually getting within three, 50-47, with just over 10 minutes left after Marvin-Wall hit a three. Hawai'I scored the next seven though to get the lead back to double digits with 7:26 left in the game.
That run was answered by six straight, capped by a three-point play from Fairbanks, making it 57-53 with 5:47 remaining. Megan Tinnan then led the Rainbow Wahine on the run that UVU would not be able to answer, hitting two three pointers and scoring eight during a run in which the lead was back up to nine, 67-58, with under four minutes to go.
McMurray hit 10-for-19 from the floor as part of her career night. Fairbanks finished with 15 point and five rebounds, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor, and Marvin-Wall had 11 points and four steals.
Four Rainbow Wahine players finished in double figures led by Allie Patterson, who had 20 on 8-for-11 from the field as Hawai'i shot 51.8 percent for the game. Dita Liepkalne and Tinnin both had 18 while Keisha Kanekoa had 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
The Wolverines will stay in Hawai'i for the Seasider Challenge at BYU-Hawai'i where they'll face Southern California on Friday at 4 p.m. HT and San Diego on Saturday at 1 p.m. HT.
