LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Utah Valley University won its sixth straight and ended New Mexico State's 23-game home winning streak in WAC play with a 58-54 victory on Thursday night in the Pan American Center.
Josie Williams scored seven of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter and converted a big bucket to put the Wolverines up three with 49.6 seconds remaining. The win keeps the Wolverines (7-9) unbeaten at 4-0 in conference play and matches the program's longest win streak since the 2015-16 season. It's also the first home loss in conference play for the five-time regular season champion Aggies since the 2015-16 season.
"I'm just so proud of this team for believing and continuing to buy in. To win road games it's not always going to be pretty. The way we executed down the stretch and the composure we played with defensively, I'm beyond excited for our girls to get this," said head coach
Dan Nielson.
Utah Valley limited the Aggies (5-12, 2-2) to just 2-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter including just one make in their last 12 attempts to end the game. The Wolverines outscored NM State 16-9 in the final quarter.
Jordan Holland and
Maria Carvalho both scored 11, with Holland also grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Nehaa Sohail finished with nine and
Eve Braslis added 10, with the starting five accounting for 52 of the team's 58 points. New Mexico State's Gia Pack led all scorers with 25 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds.
After entering the fourth down three, the Wolverines trailed 47-43 before a 10-0 run gave gave UVU the lead for good. Holland started the run, Carvalho tied it and Williams gave UVU a 49-47 lead. Holland then put back her own miss down low for the 51-47 lead and Williams scored on a hook shot in the paint to give UVU its biggest lead.
Adenike Aderinto finally stopped the run with a jumper for the Aggies, but Carvalho scored late in the shot clock to push it back to six, 55-49. New Mexico State scored five straight – all from the free-throw line -- to get within one, 55-54, with 1:15 left. Williams' bucket to push it back to three came with 49.6 to go and Sohail added a free throw to make it a two-possession game.
The Wolverines finished the game at 43.6% from the field, rebounding after a 4-for-16 start in the opening quarter. NM State finished at 39.2% from the field.
Sohail scored Utah Valley's first six points and gave the Wolverines a 6-5 lead at the 5:45 mark of the opening quarter. The Aggies then used an 8-0 run behind a pair of shots from distance to take a 13-6 lead and force a timeout. NM State extended it to 10 straight points to go up nine before Holland got a steal and layup in the waning seconds of the first. Utah Valley trailed 15-8 after one.
The Aggies led 24-15 midway through the second when Gia Pack hit a three to give NM State its largest lead of the game to that point. Sohail got a steal and took it all the way for a layup and
Madison Grange buried her second three of the half to make it a 24-20 game, but NM State got those five points right back. Aderinto scored on a layup and Pack knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the half to extend it back to nine. Pack was 4-for-4 from three and had 16 points at the half.
The Wolverines closed to within six by the halftime, closing the second quarter by scoring five of the last seven points. Carvalho hit a deep three to beat the shot clock and Holland scored with under a minute remaining to make it 31-25 at the break.
Utah Valley hit five of its first six shots in the third, extending the run to end the half to 15-4. Carvalho gave the Wolverines their first lead since the opening quarter, 35-33, on a jumper. Adrianna Henderson responded with a three to put NM State back in front, 36-35. The Aggies led by one in the final minute of the quarter when Tayelin Grays scored to make it 45-42 after three.
The Wolverines close out the two-game road trip on Saturday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in a 1 p.m. CT/noon MT tip. UTRGV defeated Seattle U in overtime on Thursday night, 85-81.
