OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University chipped away at an early deficit but could not come all the way back, losing for the first time this season, 65-60, to the University of Portland on Saturday afternoon in Lockhart Arena.
 
Sophomore Sophia Jacobsson came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points for the Wolverines (2-1) while the Pilots (1-0) were led by Haylee Andrews and Darian Slaga, who shared game-high honors with 19.
 
"It was a bit of a carryover from Thursday to the first 10 minutes tonight. We just didn't play like we need to play to be successful," said UVU head coach Cathy Nixon. "We fought back though and showed some grit and got into the game, we just didn't have any room for error. With our young team we'll use this as a learning opportunity and come back better for it."
 
UVU struggled to find the basket early on and trailed 19-10 after the first quarter. An 11-0 run by the Pilots to begin the second quarter extended the lead to 20, at 30-10. Jacobsson keyed a Utah Valley run that saw the Wolverines score 13 straight points. She scored five during the spurt that saw UVU close to within 30-23. The Pilots pushed the lead back to nine, 37-28, at the half.
 
The Wolverines began the third quarter on a 10-2 run with a 3-pointer from Alexis Cortez making it a 39-38 contest. The Pilots responded with a Maddie Muhlheim triple to make it a four-point game. Another three from Cortez got UVU within two later in the quarter, but again Portland answered with a 3-pointer, this time from Julie Spencer.
 
Utah Valley stayed within striking distance the rest of the way but could get no closer than four in the final quarter, doing so inside a minute to go before running out of time.
 
Cortez and Jordan Holland chipped in nine points apiece for UVU while Eve Braslis scored eight points and pulled down nine rebounds. Holland also had a career-best six steals and six rebounds. Spencer finished with a double-double for Portland, scoring 14 points along with a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Utah Valley returns to action next Saturday at 11 a.m. MT against Ottawa University (Arizona) in the UCCU Center.