EDINBURG, Texas – Utah Valley University won its seventh straight game and moved to 5-0 in the WAC with a 76-67 victory at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday afternoon.
 
Eve Braslis had a game-high 18 points for the Wolverines (8-9, 5-0) while Alexis Cortez scored 17 and Jordan Holland added 16 points and nine rebounds. Nehaa Sohail scored 13 points and Maria Carvalho dished out 10 of UVU's 25 assists and also grabbed six rebounds. Holland's 16 points also leave her 22 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
 
Cortez, who scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half, keyed an 11-0 run to start the second half. She also knocked down a deep three to beat the shot clock later in the fourth quarter to stave off a comeback by the Vaqueros (8-10, 3-2) and give the Wolverines a two-game sweep of the New Mexico/Texas road trip.

"To sweep this trip is really big for us, especially against two really good, well-coached teams. Getting any road win is huge so to come here and do this is great," said head coach Dan Nielson. "We've talked about being ready and having different people step up for us. The match-ups were better going smaller today and Alexis was big for us. I'm proud of her for staying positive after not playing a lot the other night."
 
The Vaqueros hit six of their first nine shots from the floor to jump out to a 13-4 lead midway through the first. Utah Valley answered with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes. Sohail scored four during the run and Cortez intercepted a pass on one end and took it the length of the court to tie the game at 13-13. With the game tied at 15-15, Josie Williams scored down low to give the Wolverines a 17-15 lead after one.
 
After closing the quarter on a 13-2 run, Utah Valley scored the first five points of the second to take a 22-15 lead and make it an 18-2 spurt overall. Holland hit a three and Madison Grange hit a jumper from the elbow to cap the run and force a UTRGV timeout. The Vaqueros whittled away at the lead and tied it at 28-28 when Amara Graham hit a three with 3:29 left until halftime. The game was tied 32-32 at the break. Holland and Braslis both had nine to lead Utah Valley while Graham and Jordan Agustus both scored 10 points for UTRGV.
 
The Wolverines sprinted out of the half, going on an 11-0 run with Cortez scoring eight of the 11. Braslis had her second and-one of the game during the spurt that saw UVU take a 43-32 lead. Desirea Buerge hit a three for UTRGV to cut it to seven with just under minute to go. Braslis scored nine points in the third quarter and Utah Valley entered the fourth up eight, 57-49.
 
The Vaqueros crept back into it after extending their defensive pressure on one end and getting to the line on the other. An 8-0 run made it 62-59 with 3:57 to, but Cortez answered with a big three to beat the shot clock on the next possession and extend the lead back to six. UTRGV worked it back to a one-point game, 65-64, with 2:38 to play before the 9-0 run put the game away. Sohail scored back-to-back buckets to make it 69-64, and Holland buried a back-breaking three to give UVU an eight-point advantage and put the game away. 

Agustus led UTRGV with 17 while Graham added 14 and Buerge chipped in 13. UVU out-rebounded the Vaqueros 39-30 and hit 48.4% from the floor while UTRGV shot 41.8% overall. 
 
Utah Valley returns home next week to host CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 23) and Grand Canyon (Jan. 25).