OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University women's basketball dropped its WAC opener to Grand Canyon University, 62-46, on Saturday night at the UCCU Center.
 
The Wolverines (5-11, 0-1) were led by 21 points from Taylor Gordon, who eclipsed 20 points for the fourth straight outing, but couldn't overcome a rough second quarter. Sam Lubke finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for UVU while the Lopes (9-1, 1-0) were led by Jessica Gajewski who scored 14 of her game-high 22 in the fourth to help ward off any hopes of a Utah Valley comeback.
 
"That stretch during the late first and second quarter really derailed us and was the difference in the game," said UVU head coach Cathy Nixon. "We came out in the third quarter and played better, holding them to just eight points, but then gave up too many offensive rebounds in the fourth. We'll learn from this and get ready to compete next week on the road."
 
The Wolverines led 13-9 after the first quarter but were outscored 23-4 in the second, due in large part to 10 turnovers that Grand Canyon turned into 15 points. The Lopes went a 19-0 run over the first 8:48 of the quarter before a Gordon bucket ended the run. GCU led 32-17 at the half while Gordon led all scorers with eight.
 
The deficit was still 15 midway through the third but the Wolverines were able to whittle the game to single digits, 40-31, by the end of the quarter. Gajewski's fourth-quarter output included four of her six 3-pointers on the night.
 
Grand Canyon outrebounded Utah Valley 37-30, turning 16 offensive boards into 16 points. The Wolverines out-shot the Lopes, hitting 39.5 percent (17-for-43) from the field compared to 37.5 percent, but GCU got up 21 more attempts, hitting 24-for-64 overall.
 
The Wolverines hit the road next for a two-game swing at Chicago State (Jan. 12) and UMKC (Jan. 14). The next home game will be Saturday Jan. 21 against CSU Bakersfield at 3 p.m. MT.