OREM, Utah – A trio of players combined to score 56 points as Utah Valley University defeated Chicago State, 68-53, in its home finale on Saturday afternoon. Sam Loggins and Mariah Seals each scored 19 points and Rebecca MaWhinney added 18 for the Wolverines (11-17, 5-8).

MaWhinney scored all 18 of her points on six 3-pointers, tying the mark for the fourth-most makes in a game in program history. Seals made the other four – on just five attempts – and the team combined to hit 10-of-17 beyond the arc (58.9 percent).

"It was really good to see those two shoot the ball like that and I thought that Sam made some of her most decisive, aggressive moves of the season. We need that going forward in order to be successful," head coach Cathy Nixon said. "We had a good collective effort on both ends of the floor. It's good to see the progress we've made in the last month."

Loggins' offensive output was a season high for the junior center. She also hauled in a game-high eight rebounds with Utah Valley holding a 29-20 edge on the glass. Rhaiah Spooner-Knight grabbed seven boards and dished out six assists on a night the Wolverines assisted on 19 of their 25 made field goals.

"That's the result of good team basketball. The assists are great and I think that's an indication that we're improving as we get ready for the WAC Tournament," Nixon said.

The Wolverines connected on 6-of-9 from three in the first half with MaWhinney making five of her eight attempts from beyond the arc for 15 first-half points.
 
Utah Valley trailed 7-2 early before Seals hit the first of three straight 3-pointers to start a run of 13 straight. MaWhinney hit the next two triples before two Seals free throws and a Taylor Gordon jumper gave the Wolverines a 15-7 lead.
 
The score was 15-11 when another UVU spurt, this time 9-0, pushed the lead into double digits. Loggins made three consecutive attempts from the field before MaWhinney capped the run with another 3-pointer. Utah Valley led 33-21 at the break.

The closest the Cougars (4-23, 1-12) would get in the second half was seven, with 14:18 remaining, but came during a stretch of seven straight makes from the field for the Wolverines. Utah Valley led by much as 19 in the second half.

Layne Murphy led Chicago State with a game-high 21 points and also pulled down seven rebounds.
 
The Wolverines will wrap the regular season next Saturday, March 7 at Bakersfield. The WAC Tournament begins March 11 at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Saturday's win over Chicago State secures no worse than the fifth seed for the Wolverines. UVU can also be no higher than the No. 4 seed, putting the Wolverines in the opening game of the tournament at 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT against Seattle U.