Dec. 31, 2008
Box Score
PORTLAND, Oregon - Two days after scoring a season high 102 points, Utah Valley suffered its worst shooting performance of the season and just 11 first half points, falling 86-60 at Portland Wednesday afternoon.
The first half stat sheet told the story as the Wolverines (5-7) were just 4-for-31 (12.9 percent) from the field after 20 minutes. Conversely, the Pilots (7-6) were 17-for-31 in the first half while turning 14 UVU turnovers into 15 points on their way to a 42-11 lead at the break.
The Wolverines finished the game 22-for-66 (33.3 percent), the first time this season they've been below 40 percent from the field. Portland was 32-for-59 (54.2 percent) for the game.
After Robyn Fairbanks scored the Wolverines' first bucket of the game at the 17:49 mark, Portland scored the next 20 points over nearly seven minutes to take a 25-2 lead. Utah Valley wouldn't score again until there was 10:44 left in the half on two Fairbanks free throws.
After consecutive buckets by Sandy Wall and Julie McMurray cut the lead to 17, at 25-8, Laiken Dollente scored 10 points as part of a 13-0 run, putting the Pilots up by 30.
McMurray led Utah Valley with 23 points while Fairbanks had her fourth straight double double with 18 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out in 29 minutes. McMurray had 18 of her points in the second half while Fairbanks, who was 5-for-7 after the break, scored 14 over the final 20 minutes.
Dollente led Portland with 14 points while Jessica Clemens had 11 and Karlie Burris finished with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
Jenna Johnson, seeing her first action since December 1 at Hawai'i, scored her first career points on two free throws late in the game. Johnson finished with two points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist for the Wolverines. Hollie Beaman finished with three steals also had two blocks in 20 minutes off the bench.
The Pilots also took a 3-2 all-time series lead with the win, keeping intact the streak of each team winning on its home court during the series over the past five seasons.
UVU will wrap up a busy week by hosting in state rival Utah State at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in the McKay Center.
