Feb. 25, 2010

Box Score

HOUSTON - Utah Valley's Julie Smith scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 boards, while Jenna Johnson added 16 and Kaycee Mansfield recorded her first double-double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds in their 70-59 win over Houston Baptist Thursday afternoon.

"It's not easy to beat anybody on the road, so we knew we had to play well," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said after the Wolverines' first road win of the year. "It was a physical game and our kids stepped up and responded well. It is good to get a win."

Utah Valley won the first meeting between the two schools, 81-69, on Feb. 6 on Orem. The Wolverines are now 2-0 all-time against the Huskies.

With the win, the Wolverines improve to 6-22 overall and 2-9 in Great West Conference play, while HBU drops to 3-21 overall and 1-8 in league play.

The Wolverines erased an early 7-1 first-half deficit fueled in part by four points from Erika Newbold, who finished with seven points in the half and eight for the game, and a Smith three-pointer with 12:39 left in the half to give UVU to the 13-12 lead.

The game was tied at 20-20 with 7:30 left in the half before the Wolverines went on an 11-3 run to end the half to lead 31-23.

Johnson started the UVU burst a two-pointer and a three-pointer and Mansfield scored six straight points to end the half.

The Wolverines increased their halftime lead to as high as 19 points with 11:07 left on a pair of foul shots by Mansfield. HBU chipped away at the UVU lead and got as close nine with two minutes left in the game.

Destini Texada led the Huskies with 14 points. Kayla Burningham added eight points for UVU and Asumi Nakayama dished out six assists.

UVU shot 41.1 percent from the field for the game, including 50 percent in the second half. The Wolverines also outrebounded the Huskies 44-37.

The Wolverines host Great West Conference foe NJIT on Mar. 4 at 4:30 p.m. at the UVU Events Center in the final regular-season home game for seniors Smith, Nakayama and Blake Reynolds.