Jan. 8, 2011
Box Score
CHICAGO - Chicago State enjoyed an 18-0 spurt in the start of the second half to run away with the Great West Conference opener over Utah Valley's women's basketball team 79-46 in Chicago Saturday afternoon.
The Wolverines (1-14, 0-1 GWC) trailed by just one at 27-26 before the Cougars (8-8, 1-0 GWC) began their big run to pull ahead. The run began with two minutes left in the opening half and spanned for the next seven minutes.
"We were very competitive in the first half, had good opportunities offensively and defended relatively well for all but a few possessions. In the second half, they came out and just increased their pressure and we totally didn't respond," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said. "We only took 20 shots in the second half as a result of too many turnovers and you're not going to win many ballgames doing that."
UVU came out and looked strong early on in the conference opener as junior Abbie Beutler scored back-to-back jumpers to give the Wolverines the quick lead. CSU came right back however as they jumped ahead on the scoreboard and took a 13-7 lead following a 3-pointer from Natalie Marlowe.
The whole first half stayed close as the Wolverines cut it all the way to one towards the intermission following a 5-2 run. CSU then scored six-unanswered to take a 33-26 lead at the break.
In the first half UVU was paced by nine from Beutler and seven from sophomore Sammie Jensen.
After the large Cougar run, CSU led 45-26 lead with just over 15 minutes to play. UVU freshman Whitney Jenkins finally ended the scoring drought as she drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 16. UVU did all it could to muster a comeback for the next couple minutes but it just couldn't as too many second half turnovers by the Wolverines was the difference.
Jenkins finished with 13 points off of the bench on 5-8 shooting and a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc to lead UVU, while Beutler also notched double figures with 12.
As a team the Wolverines finished with 28 turnovers that Chicago State converted into 40 points.
Tressa Beckel led CSU with 28 points and nine rebounds, while Coutney Waldon tallied 16.
The Wolverines will now have a week off before playing their final non-conference game of the season Saturday, Jan. 15 at home against Seattle University. The following week, UVU will head back out on the road for two GWC games at North Dakota and South Dakota on Jan 20 and 22.
