OREM, Utah -- The Utah Valley women dropped an 84-71 decision to North Dakota in Great West Conference women's basketball action Thursday at the McKay Center. The loss drops the Wolverines (3-15) to 0-2 in league play while the Fighting Sioux (5-12) notch a win in their inaugural Great West game.
Julie Smith scored 23 points to lead all scorers for the Wolverines while Whitney Ledger led the Fighting Sioux with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds. All five UND starters scored in double figures.
Kayla Bagaason finished with 18, Mallory Youngblut had 16 and Jossy Bergan and Corey Lof added 12 and 10, respectively. North Dakota shot 59.6 percent (31-for-52) for the game including 64 percent in the second half and scored 36 points in the paint.
Erika Newbold had 16 for Utah Valley and Kyra Prause knocked down four 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 12 points. Asumi Nakayama finished with eight points and a season-high 12 assists while Kaycee Mansfield also chipped in eight. The Wolverines hit 43.4 percent (23-for-53) from the field.
The loss is the 10th straight for Utah Valley, tying a school record, set during the 2004-05 season, for consecutive losses.
The Wolverines started well, hitting five of their first six shots to take an 11-7 lead five minutes into the game. Prause hit her first three at the 10:43 mark of the first half to give UVU a 16-13 advantage before Bergan came right back with a trey to tie it.
After Ledger scored on the next possession, the Fighting Sioux would lead the rest of the way. Bergan's three started an 18-3 UND run that put the visitors up 34-19 with 4:45 left in the half.
In the second half, a Smith bucket got UVU within 12, 46-34, with 17:54 to go before North Dakota went on a decisive 20-5 run over the next five minutes to take a 64-37 lead.
Utah Valley clawed its way back to make it a contest, using a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 12 with 7:12 left. Prause hit two 3-pointers during the run but the Wolverines could get no closer.
UVU will host Longwood on Monday at 7 p.m. in the final non-conference game of the year. The Wolverines also host South Dakota in Great West play next Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
