SALT LAKE CITY — Josie Williams had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds and Tahlia White scored a career-high 15 points but Utah Valley University came up just short at Utah, 65-57, on Saturday in the Huntsman Center. 
 
The Wolverines (5-5) led 57-56 with 2:49 to go, but the Utes (8-2) finished the game on a 9-0 run. The game featured seven ties and 15 lead changes. Utah, which entered the game No. 15 in the country in the latest NCAA NET Rating, came in as one of the top scoring and 3-point shooting teams in the nation. UVU limited Utah to just 1-for-21 from three and 23 points below their season average of 88.7 per game, which ranked third nationally entering the day. 

"We talked all week about their capability to shoot the three and score so we'd knew we'd have to defend and mix it up," said UVU head coach Dan Nielson. "They've been blowing out teams early so we knew we'd have to be the aggressors and we came out swinging and I loved to see that. There are no moral victories but I'm proud of our effort against a team as good as Utah. It bodes well for the progress we're making and where we're heading. We've just got to bottle it up and keep playing like that."

Maria Carvalho added nine points while Madison Grange added seven points and four assists. Jenna Johnson finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds for Utah while Gianna Kneepkens added 10 points and Brynna Maxwell finished with nine points and 10 boards. 

Down 51-48 after three, Williams scored the first four points of the fourth and gave the Wolverines their first lead since the start of the second quarter on a putback with 8:09 left. Kneepkens put Utah back up by one before White hit a pull-up jumper just inside the paint to make it 54-53 with 5:53 left.
 
The game was tied 54-54 when Johnson got an offensive rebound and scored to give the Utes a 56-54 lead. White responded with a deep three late in the shot clock to put UVU back in front, 57-56, with 2:49 to go. Maxwell answered that with Utah's first, and only, 3-pointer of the game to push her team back in front by two. That was the last field goal from either team. Utah hit 6-of-8 attempts from the line down the stretch to secure the win. 

The lead changed hands eight times in the opening quarter with White capping the first with a driving layup left-handed layup that beat the buzzer. The Utes did all their damage inside the paint, as did Williams, who scored nine in the quarter for the Wolverines. White had seven off the bench in the first and including a three with 34 seconds left to give UVU a 17-14 lead. He layup at the end of the quarter put the Wolverines in front 19-18 after one.

Utah scored the first five points of the second before Carvalho, who was whistled for two fouls in the opening quarter, knocked down a three for UVU. The Utes scored the next six to extend the run to 11-3 to and take their largest lead of the half, 29-22. Utah Valley trailed by seven late in the quarter when Megan Jensen scored right before time expired to get the Wolverines back within five, 37-32, at the half.
 
Utah pushed the lead to nine, 45-36, but the Wolverines chipped away. Grange hit a 3-pointer to get within six and Williams later scored on a putback to make it 47-43 and Elina Tausina got free for a fast break layup and it was 47-45. Down four, 49-45, White hit her second 3-pointer of the game to get UVU within a point before Dasia Young pushed to a 51-48 lead for the Utes after three.

Utah scored 44 points in the paint and got to the line 27 times, converting on 18. The Wolverines finished with 26 points in the paint and were 7-for-10 from the line. Both teams got good bench contributions with UVU getting 23 points and Utah adding 20 from their respective benches. 

Utah Valley will wrap up its pre-Christmas schedule on Tuesday at Idaho State in what will be the final non-conference game of the season.