PROVO, Utah — Despite a staunch effort on the defensive end, Utah Valley University struggled to put the ball in the bucket, falling 59-44 at BYU on Tuesday night in the Marriott Center. Tessa Chaney finished with 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Wolverines (1-1).
 
UVU forced 20 BYU turnovers but the Cougars (3-0) won the rebounding battle, 55-27, while the Wolverines hit just 28.6% (16-for-56) from the field.
 
"We wanted to turn them over and speed them up and to turn them over 20 times and hold a Big 12 team under 60, I'm definitely proud of that. Especially on the road," said UVU head coach Dan Nielson. "We've got to find some confidence with our shooting and obviously the rebounding has got to be better. But I'm genuinely proud of our girls. If we can maintain the defense and energy, and start knocking down some shots, I like where we're headed. Especially headed into conference play."
 
The Wolverine guards had success taking the ball to the hoop early on. Ally Criddle and Kylee Mabry both scored multiple times on driving layups, with Criddle scoring all six of her points in the opening quarter. She beat the buzzer with a floater that got Utah Valley within three, 16-13, after one.
 
The Wolverine post players both found themselves in early foul trouble. Liana Kaitu'u picked up two quickly in the first and had three before the break, while Chaney had two fouls in the first 20 minutes. Kaitu'u finished the first half with six points and scored on consecutive possessions to bring the Wolverines within two, 19-17, early in the second.
 
The Cougars would close the half on a 15-4 run as turnovers were problematic during a seven-minute stretch where the only UVU bucket would come on a Halle Nelson layup. Lauren Gustin and Amari Whiting both score four points during an 8-0 spurt before Nelson's bucket made it 26-19 with 6:11 to go before the half.
 
Whiting scored four straight, with both coming on breakaway layups after steals, as she had 10 of her 11 first-half points in the second. BYU led 34-21 at halftime.
 
Utah Valley missed its first 13 attempts from beyond the arc before Saige Gibb knocked one down at the two-minute mark of the third making it a 43-28 contest. After starting 0-for-12, Utah Valley would make three of its final five attempts from three. Woolston made a trio of 3-pointers in the third and scored nine of BYU's 14 points in that quarter as the Cougars stretched the lead to 48-32 after three.
 
Woolston led all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting while also pulling down 10 rebounds. Gustin finished with 13 points and 21 rebounds and Whiting added 13 points and nine rebounds.
 
Utah Valley will head to the Twin Cities this weekend to face St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. The game is set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. MT.