March 4, 2010

Box Score

OREM, Utah- The Utah Valley University women's basketball team sent Julie Smith, Asumi Nakayama, Blake Reynolds and Kayla Burningham out as winners in their final regular-season game as Wolverines with a 70-61 Great West Conference victory over NJIT Thursday afternoon.

Jenna Johnson led the Wolverines with 27 points, while Smith added 14 points and seven rebounds and Erika Newbold finished with 13 points and eight boards in the victory. Nakayama chipped in with eight points and 11 assists.

With the score tied at 41-41 midway through the second half, the Wolverines held the Highlanders scoreless for nearly four minutes while building a nine-point advantage.

Nakayama hit a jumper and Burningham drilled a three-ball followed by a pair of foul shots by Johnson and a bucket by Newbold in the 9-0 run. The Wolverines worked the lead to as high as nine points at 53-44 on a foul shot by Newbold with 8:07 left in the game.

NJIT (11-15, 6-4) cut the lead to three on a pair of foul shots by Ivana Seric with 1:17 left, but they wouldn't get any closer.

"I thought it was a great team effort. It was nice to see a good balanced effort on both ends of the court," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said. "I loved how we controlled the pace of the game. I thought there were a handful of possessions where we let them dictate the tempo, but for the most part I think we controlled it."

UVU shot 47.9 percent from the field, while NJIT shot 41.1 percent.

With the win, the Wolverines conclude the regular season at 7-22 over and 3-9 in Great West Conference play. The Wolverines open the GWC tournament on Thursday, Mar. 11, at the UVU Events Center. Their opponent has yet to be determined.

When NJIT's Jessica Gerald drilled a three-pointer with 12:50 left in the first half, the Highlanders led by a half-high seven points at 14-7.

Johnson, who scored 19 points in the first half, fueled a 13-2 run with 10 points, and it was her jumper with 8:44 left in the half that gave the Wolverines the one-point lead, and it was her three-pointer that lifted UVU to a four-point lead at 20-16.

Johnson scored seven of UVU's last nine points to end the half in raising the Wolverines' lead at the half to six at 33-27.

UVU shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, while holding the Highlanders to 32.3 percent.