Dec. 28, 2010
Box Score
MISSOULA, Mont. - Utah Valley took an early lead at Montana Tuesday night at the 30th annual Lady Griz Holiday Classic but in the end the Lady Griz (4-8) outlasted the Wolverines (1-11) by the score of 75-53.
"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well and committed 27 turnovers," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said. "You either have to shoot lights out or take better care of the ball to win and we didn't do either. We knew their big kids were going to be a problem and I thought we did a pretty nice job against them. Hopefully we'll do better Wednesday and give ourselves a chance to win."
UVU came out and got off to a quick start against the host Montana Lady Griz as the Wolverines went up 4-0 right from the get-go. UM came right back however and tied the game at six-all on a made jumper from Stephanie Stender.
Montana then scored five more consecutive points to go take an 11-6 advantage. UVU junior Abbie Beutler brought the Wolverines within two at 11-9 on her second made 3-pointer of the half.
From there the Grizzlies, who are 56-3 all-time at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic, began to extend their lead. UM worked its advantage to 10 at 21-11 and took its largest lead of the first half at 13 into the break as it led 35-22 at intermission.
In the second half, the Wolverines did what it could to comeback from the double-digit deficit but too many turnovers (27) and only 33.9 percent shooting from the floor made it difficult for UVU.
With Montana up by 27 with just 3:57 to play UVU played much better in the final minutes as it forced six turnovers and converted them into late buckets. The Wolverines got within 20 with 1:31 to play on a made basket in the paint from sophomore Kaycee Mansfield but couldn't complete the late comeback as they fell by 22.
Mansfield and Beutler led Utah Valley offensively with 11 points apiece. Sophomore Sammie Jensen, the reigning GWC Player of the Week, finished just one point and one board shy of her fifth double-double of the season as she tallied nine points and nine rebounds. Junior Jenna Johnson and freshman Kali Roche too had strong performances as they scored eight and seven points respectively.
Three players tallied double figures for Montana. Kenzie De Boer led with 13, while Katie Baker and Sarah Ena finished with 12 and 11.
The Wolverines will conclude play at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic Wednesday at 5 p.m., when they take on the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. UVU will then return home for a New Year's Day date with Montana State at the UCCU Center in Orem at 3 p.m.
