OREM, Utah — Siblings Cambree Blackham and Ally Criddle had career nights to help Utah Valley University to an 86-75 win over UT Arlington on Thursday night in the UCCU Center. Blackham had career highs of 23 points and six assists, while Criddle established a new career-high with 18 points and matched her season-high of eight assists.
 
Blackham was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc with Criddle also making a pair of 3-pointers in the contest. Kylee Mabry and Tahlia White also reached double figures in the scoring column, with 11 and 10, respectively, while Danja Stafford Collins pulled down 15 rebounds while handing the Mavs (8-7, 3-1) their first conference loss of the season. 
 
"I really thought we competed today," said UVU head coach Dan Nielson. "UTA is really, really talented and has a lot of weapons, and I thought even though we were sloppy with the ball to start, that we were able to set the tone defensively. We got them sped up and then as the game progressed, we were able to out-execute them and turn them over. I loved our toughness. Everyone that played tonight was ready and gave us good minutes."
 
The Wolverines (10-6, 2-2) had an 11-2 run in the opening quarter after Mabry sparked the run with one of the team's five 3-point makes in the opening half. That turned a 6-5 deficit into a 16-8 lead with just under a minute left in the first. The Wolverines were hampered by 10 turnovers in the opening quarter but led 16-12 after one.
 
Both teams had significant runs in the second quarter; Blackham opened the second with back-to-back 3-pointers and Criddle scored, was fouled, and knocked down the free throw as the Wolverines scored nine straight points to begin the quarter and take a 25-12 lead. All three baskets came after UVU forced turnovers. With Utah Valley up 10, 25-15, Blackham keyed another run with her third make from three in the half. That began an 11-2 spurt with two buckets from Criddle as the Wolverines took their biggest lead of the game, 36-17, with 4:13 left until half.

UT Arlington closed the half on a 13-2 run to get within eight, 38-30, by the break. Aspen Thornton got to the line six times during that stretch, converting on five as she had seven in the half. Blackham led all scorers with nine as UVU shot 51.7% in the half.
 
The third quarter, like the second, saw the Wolverines extend the lead before UTA chipped away to get back within 10, 65-55, after three. After Love scored the first bucket of the third to get the Mavs within six, 38-32, Amanda Barcello sparked nine straight UVU points with back-to-back buckets. Criddle hit two 3-pointers in the quarter and Blackham added her fourth triple in the third. Criddle's free throw with 2:02 left in the quarter put the Wolverines up 63-45 before the Mavs closed to within 10 by the end of the third.
 
Like it had throughout the contest, Utah Valley withstood any attempt by UTA to get back into the game in the fourth. The Mavs got no closer than nine in the final frame, with Blackham quickly scoring four points to push it back to 13 with just over four minutes remaining.
 
The Wolverines forced 25 UTA turnovers, scoring 30 points off the giveaways. Utah Valley shot 47.6% (30-for-63) for the game while UT Arlington was 25-for-60 (41.7%) overall.
 
UVU will now head to St. George to face Utah Tech in the Old Hammer Rivalry on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT from Burns Arena. The Trailblazers were 80-70 winners over Seattle U on Thursday night.