OREM, Utah — Utah Valley University opened the season with a convincing 72-48 win over Kansas City on Wednesday night in the UCCU Center. The Wolverines (1-0) were balanced offensively, with six players scoring at least eight points, while forcing 35 turnovers behind 23 steals.
 
Graduate transfer Danja Stafford Collins made her UVU debut with a stat line that read nine points, 10 rebounds, five steals, five assists, and a plus-minus of +29. Utah Valley also got 33 points from its bench, 11 each coming from Halle Nelson and freshman Kendra Kitchen.
 
"Danja does so much more than just what's on the stat sheet. She's a part of everything we do and is so good at the unseen things. At halftime, she was the one in there saying we can't let up and I thought our start to the third quarter was indicative of that leadership on this team," said UVU head coach Dan Nielson, who moved to 5-1 in his sixth season opener at the helm.
 
"I love looking at the scoreline. I think that speaks to what we can do as a team. We've got a lot of weapons, and even some of the kids that didn't play as much are going to have a huge role and are capable of it, so I love where we're at. Obviously, we love that kind of win. We've got things to work on, but it's a great way to start the year."
 
Tessa Chaney and Ally Criddle each scored nine points while Amanda Barcello chipped in eight. Criddle had seven assists and four steals on a night UVU assisted on 21 of 24 made field goals. Kylee Mabry also scored six points and nabbed four steals as Utah Valley scored 35 points off of the 35 turnovers. The Wolverines also limited KC guard Alayna Contreras to nine points on 3-for-15 shooting after she led the Roos to a road win at Utah State on Monday with 29 points in their season opener.
 
The Wolverines had eight steals in the first quarter alone, but the Roos (1-1) were able to stay in the game by forcing seven UVU turnovers while the Wolverines also missed five free throws in the first 10 minutes. UVU had six different players score in the quarter and led 14-12 after one.
 
Utah Valley began the second quarter on a 12-0 run, holding Kansas City without a field goal for over five minutes. The Roos started the second 0-for-8 from the floor before Tamia Ugass scored on a putback to make it 26-14 at the 4:31 mark.
 
Kitchen, in her first game at the collegiate level, sparked a run that helped stretch an 11-point lead to 16 by the break. She scored seven of her nine first-half points over the final 3:09 and hit a jumper shortly before time expired to make it 38-22 at the break. Kitchen's nine points led all scorers in the half while Stafford Collins hauled in six boards.
 
Utah Valley came out of the half with eight straight points, four coming from Chaney. Her layup less than two minutes into the quarter extended lead to 46-22. Kansas City chipped into the lead over the last six minutes of the third. While UVU slumped from the field the Roos ended the third on a 15-5 spurt that made it 53-39 after three.
 
Criddle buried a three and Chaney scored the next three points to extend the lead back to 20, 59-39, to put the game out of reach. Nelson hit her second three of the game in the fourth and was 4-for-5 overall while hitting both of her attempts from long distance.
 
The Wolverines hit 43.6% (24-for-55) from the field while holding Kansas City to just 34.5% (19-for-55) overall while the Roos were also 0-for-9 from three. Wednesday marked the first time UVU held its opponent without a made 3-pointer since February 12, 2022, a 66-32 road win at New Mexico State.
 
Utah Valley hits the road for the WAC/Conference USA scheduling alliance that will take them to Kennesaw State. That game will tip at 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT on Saturday, Nov. 9 and will air on ESPN+.