STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Utah Valley University had chances late but fell short, 60-55, at Tarleton State on Thursday night in Wisdom Gym in WAC women's basketball action.
 
Eleyana Tafisi matched her season high with 13 points to lead the Wolverines (8-13, 3-9) while Saige Gibb added 10 and Tessa Chaney chipped in eight points and six rebounds. Jakoriah Long and Miannah Little had 15 apiece for the Texans (7-14, 4-8) who moved a game in front of UVU as both teams fight for a spot in next month's WAC Tournament in Las Vegas. 
 
Utah Valley took an early lead behind a strong start defensively. Both teams had scoring droughts early, and the Texans missed their last nine shots of the opening quarter and were scoreless over the final 5:48. The Wolverines trailed 6-5 and went over five minutes without a point before closing the quarter with six points to lead 11-6 after 10 minutes of play. UVU had five steals and forced seven Tarleton State turnovers in the first.
 
Halle Nelson hit a corner triple and Liana Kaitu'u scored down low with a left-hand hook to give UVU a 16-8 advantage early in the second, but the Texans ran off 10 straight points to take an 18-16 lead. Tarleton State led 28-27 at the half.
 
It was a 34-33 contest three minutes into the third when Tarleton State scored nine of the next 11 points to take its biggest lead, 43-35, matching UVU's biggest lead of the game from the first half. The Texans had a 47-39 advantage heading into the final quarter of play.
 
The Wolverines chipped away in the fourth. Ally Criddle scored four points during a 5-0 spurt to being the fourth and, after the Texans pushed the lead back to five, Saige Gibb scored on a driving layup to make it 49-46 with 4:56 to go.
 
Tarleton State stretched it to seven, 53-46, before five straight points cut it back to two, 53-51, on a layup from Tafisi with 1:48 left. Little then delivered a huge bucket, hitting a jumper from the free-throw line while also getting fouled. She hit the free throw to push it to five, 56-51, with 1:13 left. Tessa Chaney hit two free throws with 38 seconds left to trim it back to three, but Lexi Bull scored a back-breaking layup with 16 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and clinch the win for TSU.

The Wolverines forced 20 turnovers, recorded 13 steals, and scored 25 points off of the giveaways while turning it over themselves just 14 times. Tarleton State had a 37-29 edge in rebounding with Bull leading all players with 10 boards. Utah Valley will head to Abilene Christian for a Saturday afternoon contest that tips at 1 p.m. CT/noon MT. The Wildcats defeated Seattle U, 82-63, at home on Thursday night.