OREM, Utah — Utah Valley University tried to mount a late comeback had a hole too big to climb out of in a 71-62 loss to Mountain West favorite Fresno State on Thursday in the UCCU Center.
Maria Carvalho had 20 points and 10 rebounds and six steals to lead the Wolverines.
Josie Williams finished with an identical line of 15 points and 13 rebounds for the second straight game and
Megan Jensen also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Returning Mountain West Player of the Year Haley Cavinder recorded a triple-double for Fresno State, finishing with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, while Amiee Book knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 15. The Wolverines (1-1) trailed by just one after the opening quarter but were outscored 23-7 in the second as the Bulldogs (1-0) built a lead that was too big to recover from.
"Credit to Fresno, there's a reason they're the preseason favorites in the Mountain West. They've consistently been at the top of the league and Coach White is a really good coach," said UVU head coach
Dan Nielson. "That second quarter really was the difference in the game for us. I did love the fight we showed. We kept competing and had some people step up and stay engaged. I really thought for three out of the four quarters we had good effort and energy but against a team like that you can't drop off. It's a tough lesson to learn but a good lesson to learn as we move forward into a couple of tough road games next week."
The Wolverines scored the first eight points of the game and built a 10-3 lead after five consecutive makes from the floor but went cold from there. After missing their first four attempts from beyond the arc, the Bulldogs hit a pair during a 10-2 run to take a 13-12 lead with 2:41 left in the opening quarter. Fresno State led 15-14 after one.
Utah Valley was mired in a shooting slump that lasted nearly six minutes to end the first and start the second, missing 10 straight attempts during that stretch. Meanwhile Book got hot, boosting the Bulldogs to a 31-21 lead with 3:47 left after knocking down her fourth straight attempt from three. The Wolverines couldn't buy a bucket for much of the quarter, while the Bulldogs continued to be efficient. Fresno State got a deep two from Haley's sister Hanna — also an All-Mountain West selection — to beat the buzzer as they closed the half on a 10-0 run to lead 38-21 at the break. Haley Cavinder had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists at the half while Book led all scorers with 12 behind her four treys.The Wolverines were just 3-for-15 from the field in the quarter.
After
Josie Williams scored to begin the third, the Cavinder duo both knocked down 3-pointers to give Fresno State a 44-23 lead. It was 46-27 when the Bulldogs reeled off six straight points to build their biggest lead of the game, 52-27. Utah Valley trailed 59-35 before closing the third on a run. Carvalho hit a jumper, Williams a corner three and Carvalho put back a layup right before the horn to make it 59-42 after three.
In the fourth, the run continued; Carvalho hit a pair from the line and
Ally Blackham — who finished with nine points — knocked down a her second three of the game to extend UVU's run to 10 straight points and make it a 59-47 game, forcing a Fresno State timeout.
Haley Cavinder snapped that run with a three from the top of the circle right at the seven-minute mark of the fourth, extending the advantage back to 15, 62-47. Book followed with her fifth three of the game to give the Bulldogs a 65-47 lead before Blackham hit another from long range with 5:44 to go and UVU trailed 65-50. Caravalho had a steal, scored and was fouled and converted the free throw to get UVU within 12, 65-53, midway through the fourth. A Williams putback cut it to 10, 69-59, with just over two minutes left but the Wolverines would only get as close as nine before the final horn.
The Wolverines had a 43-36 edge on the glass but the Bulldogs hit 44.1% from the field to 34.3% from UVU. Fresno State was also 12-for-24 from long range, converting seven more makes than the Wolverines, who were just 5-for-25 from three.
Utah Valley hits the road next week with a Tuesday contest at in-state rival and future WAC foe Southern Utah. UVU will also travel to Nevada for an afternoon game on Saturday, Nov. 20.
