MISSOULA, Mont. - Despite a double-double (12 points and 16 rebounds) from Sammie Jensen, Utah Valley dropped a 63-48 game to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic in Missoula, Mont. The double-double was Jensen's fifth of the year and after the game she was recognized for her play as she was named to the All-Tournament Team.
UVU fell to 1-12 with the loss, while the win was the Islanders first of the season as they improved to 1-11.
"It was a lot like Tuesday's game, we didn't shoot the ball particularly well and turnovers really seemed to hurt us," said UVU head coach Cathy Nixon. "We had a lot of chances and the bottom line was we probably missed too many open opportunities. We haven't found how to put it together on both ends of the floor yet and hopefully we can work on our confidence and keep plugging away."
In the early stages of the ballgame UVU came out ready to play as they traded buckets back-and-forth with the Islanders. Following a made Jenna Johnson jumper to put the Wolverines down just two at 14-12, TAMUCC made its run. The Islanders managed to go on an 18-2 spurt to take a commanding 32-14 lead with 5:45 to go in the first half.
UVU finally responded with its own run by scoring eight of the next 11 points to cut the deficit to 35-22. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi managed to extend its lead back to 16 points at the intermission as it took a 40-24 advantage into the break.
In the second half the Wolverines came out and looked determined to comeback and pick up their second victory of the season. UVU quickly cut the deficit to just 10 (42-32) following a made Abbie Beutler shot with 17:08 to play.
From there the Islanders responded however as they built their lead all the way up to 21 (54-33) a few minutes later. In the final minutes the Wolverines staged another late run but there wasn't enough time remaining to complete the comeback as UVU dropped the game by 15 points.
The Wolverines outrebounded TAMUCC 49-39 in the game but struggled controlling the ball as they committed 20 turnovers to the Islanders eight.
Johnson topped three UVU players that reached double figures in scoring as she finished with 14, while Jensen and Beutler put up 12 and 11 respectively.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished with five players in double digits with Jessica Jammer leading the way with 13. Adrienne Scott also had a big game for TAMUCC as she scored 10 points, grabbed 10 boards and blocked five shots on her way to being named to the all-tourney team.
UVU will now return home for a New Year's Day game with Montana State at 3 p.m. at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines will then hit the road for their first Great West Conference game of the season Jan. 8, at Chicago State.
30th Lady Griz Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team
Sarah Ena (MVP), Montana
Katie Baker, Montana
Mallory Youngblut, North Dakota
Adrienne Scott, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Sammie Jensen, Utah Valley
