OREM—Eve Braslis scored 18 points with seven rebounds to lead the Utah Valley University women's basketball team to an 86-79 win over La Verne on Thursday night at the UCCU Center.
 
With the win, Utah Valley moves to a perfect 2-0 on the season. The Wolverines continue their six-game home stretch to open the season against Portland on Nov. 10.
 
"You consider yourself fortunate when you can learn some good lessons and still come away with a win," said Utah Valley head coach Cathy Nixon. "Tonight we showed our youth and inexperience. We just weren't very good tonight in the things we need to do to be a good team. We weren't very tough and we weren't focused. For us to be successful we just need to be a lot better. We're fortunate to learn those lessons and come away with the win."
 
Tied 5-5 just two minutes into the first quarter, UVU went on a 13-3 run to jump out to an 18-8 lead with 3:36 remaining. La Verne then responded with a 12-5 run to tie the game, 23-23, at the end of the first.
 
The Wolverines took a 30-29 lead three minutes into the second quarter and then used an 11-2 run over a three-minute span to take a 41-31 lead with 3:37 remaining in the half. La Verne then out-scored UVU 6-4 the rest of the way to cut the UVU lead to a 45-37 advantage at the break.
 
The two teams played evenly through the first seven minutes of the third quarter until UVU went on a 9-2 run over the final 2:25 of the quarter to take a 64-58 lead. Josie Williams scored four of UVU's nine points during the run, all from the free throw line.
 
A 10-5 La Verne run capped off by a Bailey Kurahashi over the first three minutes of the fourth quarter gave the Leopards their first lead of the game, 70-69, with 6:12 remaining.  A Jordan Holland layup sparked an 8-2 UVU run as the Wolverines jumped out to a 77-72 lead with 2:49 left to play. UVU then out-scored La Verne 9-7 the rest of the way to secure the 86-79 win.
 
Braslis led the Wolverines with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. She also pulled down seven rebounds, dished out three assists and registered three steals on the night. Holland and Emma Jones were also in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Holland had seven rebounds and three assists to go along with her 14 points. Jones knocked down 3-of-5 shots from the field—all three-pointers. She was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
 
As a team, Utah Valley connected on a 51.7 clip (31-of-60) from the field, including a 40 percent mark (6-of-15) from long range. UVU knocked down an impressive 18-of-21 shots from the free throw line. The Wolverines held La Verne to 36.6 percent (26-of-71) shooting on the night.  UVU committed 12 turnovers while forcing ULV into 23.
 
Monica Silva led La Verne with a game-high 31 points. Kurahashi and Brittany McDaniel were also in double digits with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
 
UVU continues its six-game home stand on Nov. 10 against Portland. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.