March 5, 2009
Box Score
OREM, Utah - Julie McMurray recorded the first triple-double in school history and Robyn Fairbanks had her second straight 40-point game as Utah Valley won its opener of the Division I Independent Championship, 75-66, over NJIT on Thursday.
McMurray had 19 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds after picking up her 10th board with 1:07 left in the game. Fairbanks, who scored 41 against NJIT last week, followed that up with 40 points and 16 rebounds and four blocks to up her average to 27.2 points per game, the top scoring average in the country.
"Really for me it's just a pleasure to watch her. She truly is just a competitor. It looks fairly routine but there are times when Robyn knows she needs to step up and she does it every single time," said head coach Cathy Nixon of Fairbanks. "The triple-double is awesome for Julie. I love to see her put her name in the record book."
The Wolverines (15-10) trailed just once, for 24 seconds early in the first half, but much like last week's game the Highlanders (7-20) could never be put away. NJIT hit 11 3-pointers in the game, seven of which came in the second half, and stayed close despite falling behind by double digits on five different occasions.
Utah Valley jumped out to a 20-7 lead, with 11 points from McMurray and nine from Fairbanks, with 12:15 left in the first half. The Wolverines went scoreless over the final 3:01 and the Highlanders closed the half on a 5-0 run to get within four, 32-28, at the break. McMurray and Fairbanks accounted for all but two of UVU's first-half points.
NJIT trimmed the lead to three early in the second on a Jill Dickinson three before a 14-2 run pushed the lead to 50-35, the biggest of the game for the Wolverines.
The lead was 13, 53-40, with 11:22 to go when Katie Piekielski hit back-to-back jumpers and Kehinde Oyelola and Jackie McCaffrey hit consecutive 3-pointers on a 10-0 NJIT run. After Fairbanks scored to put UVU up five, Oyelola hit another three to make it a two-point game, 55-53, getting NJIT as close as it had been since the 16:23 mark of the first half.
It stayed within a two-possession game until Fairbanks hit two free throws with 3:11 to go to put UVU up 68-61. Taiwo Oyelola answered that with a layup and a 3-point play on a layup and free throw to once again get NJIT within two, 68-66 with 2:12 left.
Oyelola's free throw was the last point the Highlanders would score though as back-to-back buckets from McMurray and Fairbanks and two Asumi Nakayama free throws with 20 second left iced the win for the Wolverines.
"They hit shot after shot and fought, literally, to the very last second," said Nixon of NJIT. "Tournament time, no matter who you play you have got to play well. I'm excited for the girls that we took that first step and tomorrow is another step. Nobody in this tournament is going to lay down and die, we have to earn it."
Twin sisters Taiwo and Kehinde Oyelola led NJIT with 22 and 17 points, respectively. Nakayama finished with eight points and five assists for the Wolverines. Both teams took exceptional care of the basketball. UVU finished with a season-low seven turnovers compared to just eight for NJIT.
Utah Valley will now face Longwood on Friday at 7 p.m. MT with the winner moving on to Saturday's championship against the winner of the Chicago State/Texas-Pan American contest, which begins at 4:30 p.m. Friday's first game will feature Savannah State, 74-39 losers to Chicago State on Thursday. Texas-Pan American used two late 3-pointers to edge Longwood in overtime, 65-60, in the opening game of the tournament.
