OREM, Utah — Utah Valley University jumped to a 30-2 lead after one quarter en route to a decisive 99-59 win over Dixie State University in the Old Hammer Rivalry on Saturday in Lockhart Arena.
Maria Carvalho finished with 22 points and became the 10th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points.
Josie Williams had a monster night with 24 points and 19 rebounds and
Kayla Anderson scored a career-high 17 points as the Wolverines (13-12, 8-6) won their fourth straight behind a season-high 99 points.
Tahlia White and
Madison Grange put all five starters in double figures by scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.
"I couldn't be happier with how we came ready to play today. This was a total team effort. Everybody stepped up for us," said UVU head coach
Dan Nielson. "We were really active defensively and starting the game like that was really key and we were able to maintain the rest of the way."
Williams' double-double was her 19th of the season while Anderson recorded her first career double-double after pulling down a career-best 10 rebounds on a day UVU outrebounded the Trailblazers (8-17, 4-10) by a margin of 53-18. Utah Valley had 17 on the offensive glass while Dixie State had just two, leading to a 19-0 advantage in second chance points.
Utah Valley also dished out a season-high 29 assists with
Eleyana Tafisi coming off the bench to finish with a career-high seven. Carvalho had six assists and no turnovers as Utah Valley turned it over just seven times.
Utah Valley's defense allowed just one field goal in the opening quarter, while the Wolverines shot 69.2% (9-13) to build the 30-2 lead. Dixie State was just 1-for-16 (6.3%) in the first. The Wolverines had two significant stretches in the first quarter, including a 16-0 run over the final four minutes. White led UVU with nine points and Grange made two 3-pointers for six of her eight first-quarter points.
In the second quarter, Carvalho surpassed 1,000 career points on a 3-pointer with 7:25 left. Dixie State chipped into the UVU lead before Anderson scored eight points over the final 2:27 of the half. She hit two treys and added a pull-up jumper to give the Wolverines a 51-26 halftime advantage.
In the fourth, Utah Valley had its second 30-point quarter and all nine players who entered the game scored. The Wolverines also held a 46-22 advantage on points in the paint. Shanaijah Davison led the Trailblazers with 19 points while Breaunna Gillen added 14. Williams scored her 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting as the Wolverines shot 54.3% (38-70) from the field.
Utah Valley will now make its final road trip of the regular season next week, with games at Seattle U on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. MT, and finish the trip at California Baptist on Saturday, Feb. 26, with a 2 p.m. MT tip from Riverside.
