OREM, Utah – Utah Valley defeated Tarleton State, 70-67 on Thursday night inside Lockhart Arena. UVU (10-10, 3-6) three Wolverines scored in double figures, led by Amanda Barcello's 17 points as the team shot 40% from the field in the victory. Gia Adams led Tarleton State with a game-high 25 points.
 
Kaylee Headrick scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, with Kylee Mabry adding 12 points to the UVU tally on Thursday night. UVU had 18 steals in the contest, led by six for Halle Nelson, which was one off a career-high for the senior, who added seven points and six boards. Mabry added four takeaways, and Cambree Blackham finished with nine points, five rebounds, and two steals.  
 
"I was really proud of our effort tonight. It's been a tough few weeks for us, but I thought we did better at reacting to adversity tonight," said UVU head coach Dan Nielson. "Our team defense the second half was much better and I thought we played with good pace on offense. Now we just need to use this win to build some confidence going into next week."
 
Utah Valley forced five turnovers with five steals in the first 6:29 of the first quarter and to build a six-point lead that started with five points from Barcello. Nelson scored four points during a 6-0 run for the Wolverines on two layups to put UVU up 13-7 with 4:42 left in the first quarter. Tarleton State's Gia Adams broke up a run with a jump shot, but the Wolverine lead was pushed back out to 19-8 after a triple from Barcello and a fastbreak layup from Mabry.
 
Adams scored the Texans' first ten points of the second quarter, and they erased the UVU lead. Gracie Sorenson was effective in her minutes, scoring eight points in the second quarter, with a career-high six rebounds. Her first two buckets kept the Wolverines ahead, including a 22-20 lead, and later kept them ahead 26-25 with 5:44 left in the first half. Tarleton State went on a 7-0 run to go up 35-29 with 2:15 left in the half, but the Wolverines chipped away with a pair of free throws from Nelson before Sorenson capped her scoring with 1:31 left.
 
The Wolverines jumped back in front after holding Tarleton State to a field goal for over 4:00 minutes in the third quarter, forcing nine turnovers and scoring 13 points off turnovers, allowing them to jump back in front. Kylee Mabry sparked UVU with a 7-0 run during the quarter that started with a transition layup before she knocked down a corner 3-pointer and then went to the line to hit two from the line.
 
The Wolverines held a 59-53 lead when Blackham blocked an attempted 3-point attempt to force a shot clock violation. Utah Valley used the stretch over the first 5:10 of the fourth quarter to go up 60-53 after a 6-0 run, taking advantage of getting to the foul line. Blackham hit a three from the wing to extend the lead to 63-53 with 4:22 left.
 
The Texans kept chipping away and got the deficit down to four with 1:18 left in the game, but Blackham and Headrick were solid at the line down the stretch to help close out the game for the Wolverines.
 
 UP NEXT
Utah Valley travels for two games next week, beginning at Abilene Christian on Thursday, Feb. 5, before they wrap up the road trip in Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 7, against UT Arlington.