OREM, Utah — A fourth-quarter comeback attempt ran out of time for Utah Valley in a 72-64 loss to UT Arlington on Thursday in the UCCU Center.
Jenna Dick matched her season high for the second straight game, leading UVU with 15 points and a career-high five steals, while
Tahlia White added a season-high 14. The Wolverines (5-9, 0-5) used a 15-4 run in the fourth to trim a 17-point deficit to six after Dick hit one of her four 3-point makes with 3:53 to go to make it 63-57, but that's as close as Utah Valley would get. The Mavericks (7-8, 3-2) got game-highs of 20 points and eight rebounds from Adela Valkova while Avery Brittingham added 17 points and seven rebounds to lead UTA to its sixth straight win.
The game was back-and-forth early with eight lead changes in the opening quarter alone. The first three makes for the Wolverines were all from beyond the arc, with White hitting two of those as the team started 3-for-4 from three. The Wolverines led 16-15 after one despite eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes.
The Mavericks had a pair of 8-0 runs in the second quarter that evolved into a 16-2 spurt and a 31-18 lead.
Halle Nelson ended that when she scored, was fouled, and knocked down the free throw with 51 seconds left to make it 31-21. The Wolverines went into halftime down 33-22 after being outscored 18-6 in the second.
White scored on a 3-point play out of the break to make it 33-25 before the Mavs went on their third 8-0 run to take their biggest lead to that point, 41-25. Dick hit a three for Utah Valley to start a quick 8-2 run that trimmed the deficit back to 10, 43-33. That was answered with six straight to stretch in back to 16. UVU trailed 55-42 after three.
After UT Arlington scored the first four points of the fourth to take its biggest lead, 59-42,
Amanda Barcello keyed a 7-0 run with a reverse layup and later capped the run with a three. That shot cut it to 10 and forced a UTA timeout with 7:18 remaining. After Dick's triple made it 63-57, UT Arlington got four straight from Valkova to push it back to double digits before Dick scored four, including her fourth make from distance to make it 67-61 with just over one minute to go. UVU would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
Both teams turned the ball over 22 times in the game, but UT Arlington was able to make Utah Valley's giveaways hurt, outscoring the Wolverines 31-13 in points off turnovers. Up next, the Wolverines will host UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT in the UCCU Center.
