OREM, Utah — Utah Valley dropped a Saturday afternoon WAC contest to Abilene Christian, 71-50, in the UCCU Center.
Eleyana Tafisi led three players in double figure with 14 points for UVU (4-13, 1-5).
Shay Fano added 13 points and nine rebounds while
Kaylee Byon, who set a career high with 19 on Wednesday at Southern Utah, finished with 12 points. Madi Miller led all scorers with 20 points and was 5-for-9 from three. Aspen Thornton added 18 for the Wildcats (9-8, 3-3), who finished 11-for-25 from beyond the arc.
The Wolverines were successful on their first four field goal attempts and built a quick 10-5 lead just three minutes into the game. From there though, UVU hit just one of its final eight attempts of the opening frame while the Wildcats hit eight of their next 10, going on a 18-2 run over the final 6:34. Turnovers hampered UVU in the first, with eight giveaways leading to eight ACU points.
Utah Valley struggled to buy a bucket the rest of the half, hitting just three of their last 20 attempts to finish the half 8-for-26 overall. Abilene Christian shot 53.3% in the first half, going 16-for-30, including 5-for-12 from three.
The Wildcats outscored the Wolverines 21-7 in the second quarter and had 11 points apiece from Thornton and Miller to give ACU a 44-19 halftime advantage. Tafisi led UVU with seven at the break.
Byon score the first eight points to start the third, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and a driving layup to make it a 44-27 game. Abilene Christian answered though, scoring the next eight points — including consecutive triples from Miller — to push the lead back to 52-27. Byon scored 10 of the team's 13 points in the third quarter and Utah Valley trailed 56-32 after three.
Abilene Christian cooled off in the second half and finished the game at 43.9% overall (25-for-57) while Utah Valley was 21-for-54 (38.9%).
Next week, Utah Valley will head to Texas for a two-game trip that will take the team to Stephen F. Austin next Thursday before playing at Sam Houston on Saturday, Jan. 21.
