Jan. 18, 2010
Box Score
OREM, Utah -- Utah Valley held Longwood without a field goal for a key eight minute, second-half stretch to take control of the game and run away with a 75-60 win on Monday night in the McKay Center.
The win snaps a 10-game skid for the Wolverines (4-15) who were led by 24 points from Jenna Johnson and 18 from Erika Newbold. Newbold also pulled down eight rebounds while Kaycee Mansfield had 11 points and eight boards. Asumi Nakayama had her third straight game with double figure assists, dishing out 10 to go along with eight points.
UVU trailed 53-50 with 12:25 to go before using its defense to force the Lancers (4-15) into 11 straight misses from the field. A 14-0 run during a six-minute span gave the Wolverines a 64-53 lead with 7:08 left.
The Lancers scored three times from the free throw line to cut the lead to eight before Brittani Billups scored to trim it to six, 64-58, with 3:56 remaining. Billups' bucket was Longwood's first field goal since Crystal Smith scored at the 12:25 mark.
Utah Valley then scored the next 11 points to pull away and lead 75-58 with 19 seconds left. The Wolverines ended the game on a 25-7 run over the final 12 minutes.
"We got down in the second half and had that opportunity to fold but the girls responded defensively," said UVU head coach Cathy Nixon. "I'm really happy for the kids. It's easy to get discouraged when things aren't going your way but I thought we earned it tonight."
The Wolverines held Longwood to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half, 36.1 percent for the game. Utah Valley shot 45.3 percent overall including 50 percent in the second half. The Wolverines also outrebounded Longwood 40-31.
In the first half, UVU jumped out to a 14-7 lead early on before the Lancers ran off 11 straight points to go up 18-14. Longwood led 28-21 with 4:28 left in the half when Mansfield took over, singlehandedly giving the Wolverines a 35-32 halftime advantage.
She scored the final nine points of the half for UVU, including a 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer, to end the half on a 9-2 run.
Billups led Longwood with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Chelsea Coward added 16.
Utah Valley got the line 28 times, converting 22 free throws while the Lancers finished 14-for-16 from the charity stripe.
Johnson returned for UVU after a one-game absence while Kayla Burningham was back on the floor after missing nine games due to injury. Burningham hit her only field goal attempt, a 3-pointer, and had three points and two assists in 12 minutes off the bench.
"We had contributions from everybody. It was nice to have Jenna back...it was nice to have Kayla back. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going and Thursday come out and defend our home court," said Nixon.
The Wolverines, who are 0-2 in conference, return to Great West action on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. when they host South Dakota. The Coyotes are 0-1 in conference after a 54-51 loss at home to North Dakota over the weekend.
