Nov. 27, 2010
Box Score
OREM, Utah - Utah Valley cruised to its first victory of the season Saturday afternoon as it downed Northern New Mexico by 44 points, 90-46. Freshman Kim Bell led the way as she scored a season-high 25 points, while sophomore Sammie Jensen added her first career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wolverines (1-4) outshot Northern New Mexico 56-percent to 33-percent and outrebounded the Eagles, a drastic 55 to 17. UVU actually had more offensive boards than NNMC as it had 18 compared to the Eagles total of 17.
"It's difficult to build confidence as a young team when you are not winning," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said. "Hopefully this helps us get a little momentum. All along the focus has been on building ourselves and progressing along on that learning curve and hopefully this was a step in the right direction."
In a first half of runs, the much taller Wolverines began the game by scoring the first six points. The Eagles however battled right back in the early stages as they rolled off eight straight points of their own to take an 8-6 advantage. UVU came right back and scored nine consecutive points to go up 15-8 with 11:46 left in the opening half.
UVU took its first double-digit lead of the game at 24-14 following a three-point play from Bell with 9:00 minutes to go. Five and a half minutes later the Wolverines extended their lead up to 20 points, 41-21, after a three-point play from freshman Kali Roche.
The Wolverines finished the half with a 20-point lead at 46-26. Bell paced UVU as she put up a career-high 19 points in the first half alone.
In the second half UVU continued to extend its lead as it took advantage of its size by scoring numerous buckets in the paint. The Wolverines finished with 56 points in the paint to Northern New Mexico's 14. UVU's bench play was also dominant on the day as the Wolverines finished with 40 bench points to 14 from the Eagles.
In all, four Wolverine players finished in double figures. Behind Bell and Jensen, Roche added 15 points and seven boards and sophomore Kaycee Mansfield had 11. Jensen also dished out a game-high six assists as the UVU forward finished four assists shy of a triple-double. Nisa Duran led NNMC in that game as she scored 16 points.
"Kim and Sammie have probably been our most consistent players from day one," Nixon added. "I was really proud of how both of them played. Giving up your starting spot isn't easy but Kim really responded and played well coming off of the bench."
Next week UVU will look to continue its winning ways when it hosts in-state rival Utah State next Wednesday, Dec. 1. The Wolverines will then travel to Pocatello, Idaho to play at Idaho State on Saturday, Dec. 4.
