Dec. 8, 2011
Box Score
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OREM, Utah - Utah Valley's Sammie Jensen set a new single-game school record in rebounds with 21 and added 19 points to help the Wolverines (4-3) hold on to defeat Weber State, 63-59, at the UCCU Center Thursday night.
UVU needed all 21 of Jensen's rebounds to secure the win as the Wildcats (1-8) trailed by just two with 27 seconds to play. Utah Valley's Kaycee Mansfield had an opportunity to make it a two-possession ballgame but missed two free throws, but Jensen was there to pick her up by hustling down her record-breaking 21st board to give the Wolverines another chance. Weber State was then forced to foul Abbie Beutler and Beutler calmly sank both freebies to give UVU the four-point win.
"That rebound was huge for us," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said. "When she got it Weber State was desperate to get the ball back. It really was a game winner."
Early in the game UVU struggled with turnovers. The Wolverines committed six turnovers in the first 3:30 of the ballgame but Weber State didn't capitalize as much as it could have, as it scored just four points off of them.
With the Wolverines still playing sluggish, the Wildcats took an eight-point advantage, at 20-12 with 11:30 to go, in the first half. The Wolverines quickly erased the deficit however with a 9-0 run of their own to pull ahead 21-20. UVU's bench sparked the spurt as Alle Finch and Taylor Huber each hit 3-pointers during the run.
The game stayed tight the rest of the first half but Weber State hit a couple late buckets before intermission to take a 35-31 lead into the break.
Huber led UVU with eight first half points off the bench while Jensen added seven points and nine rebounds. Despite committing 13 first half turnovers, the Wolverines shot an impressive 5-of-8 behind the arc to keep themselves in the game.
In the second half UVU tied the game at 39-all after Kim Bell fed Mansfield for a layup with 16:24 to play. Weber State then went cold from the field over the next several minutes and the Wolverines capitalized by working an eight-point lead, at 55-47 with 5:19 left in the contest. The Wildcats then threatened late as Jordan Pfau and Megan Patterson hit a couple timely 3-pointers but UVU did what it needed to do to pull out the win down the stretch.
"This was a real team effort," Nixon added. "We had some kids come in off the bench and play big for us. Cydne Mason and did a great job at the point and several others, including Kali Roche defended the post really well. We really weren't at are best collectively, but every game is its own creature and you just have to figure out how to win it and that's what we did."
Behind Jensen's double-double, UVU's Huber and Erika Newbold each finished in double digits with 10 points apiece. Newbold also added eight rebounds and Mansfield finished with nine. Weber State's Mikell Woodfield led her squad by adding a double-double of her own with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The new single-game record of 21 rebounds set by Jensen broke Robyn Fairbanks' old record of 20 that she set at Duke on Dec. 18, 2007.
The game was the first of two season meetings between UVU and WSU. The Wolverines and Wildcats will conclude the season series when they once again meet up on Dec. 21 in Ogden.
Before then Utah Valley will stay home and play three more contests at the UCCU Center. The next game will be Saturday at 3 p.m. when UVU welcomes Southern Utah -- another in-state foe -- to town.
