OREM, Utah—Behind a strong performance from Rhaiah-Spooner Knight and a 52 percent night from the field, Utah Valley University notched its second straight win, 75-65, over Montana Tech on Monday night in the UCCU Center.

Spooner-Knight finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to guide the Wolverines (2-1) in what was the third of three games in four days to open the season.

"There were some really bright spots for us tonight," said UVU head coach Cathy Nixon. "Rhaiah had a great line and I thought Sam (Loggins) had better decisiveness on the offensive end. For us the focus right now is a sense of urgency and the process on the defensive end. I thought we had some moments that we were really good at that but we still have some work to do."

With UVU trailing 26-23, Spooner-Knight snatched a layup and Loggins knocked down a jumper to give the team a lead it would never relinquish. At the break the Wolverines led 42-34 with Loggins scoring 14 and Spooner-Knight with 11.
 
The Wolverines took control early in the second half, using their defense to spur an 8-0 run. Patrice Toston, Mariah Seals and Karlee Norris each forced a turnover and scored on the opposite end and Toston capped the run with a layup to give UVU a 53-38 lead.
 
The Wolverines would stretch the advantage to as much as 21 before Montana Tech was able to trim the deficit in the final minute.
 
Behind Spooner-Knight, who was 7-for-13 from the field, Toston and Loggins each added 16 points. Seals hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Wolverines and finished with nine points. Loggins, who shot 8-for-13, also had three blocks while Norris and Toston both recorded three steals.
 
Montana Tech's Martha Dembek led all scorers with 20 points and matched Norris with a game-high nine rebounds.

Utah Valley will next travel to Logan, Utah to play Utah State on Thursday Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.