Late run propels UVSC women

OREM — The Utah Valley State women's basketball team parlayed a late 12-0 run Friday into a 60-51 victory over visiting Gonzaga.

"We just stepped up huge the last five minutes of the game," UVSC coach Cathy Nixon said. "We played really good defense, and our conditioning kicked in a little bit at the end."

With the Wolverines trailing 49-48 and less than five minutes to go, freshman Hollie Beaman and senior Miriam Palkki led UVSC on the 12-0 run that put away the Bulldogs.

Palkki fought off a crowd to come down with a critical defensive rebound and then on the other end drained a short baseline jumper to put Utah Valley up 50-49.

Gonzaga had no answer for Beaman's explosive ball-handling. Twice during the decisive stretch, Beaman drove to the right and blew past her defender — she got fouled and sank a pair of free throws the first time and made a layup the second.

Between them, Beaman and Palkki combined for nine of the 12 points UVSC scored in the game's final five minutes.

The back-and-forth first half featured several runs by each team.

Gonzaga center Stephanie Hawk's layup nine minutes into the game capped a 9-0 Bulldog run and put Gonzaga up 17-7.

But UVSC answered right back with eight consecutive points of its own, highlighted by an acrobatic 3-point play from freshman Sandy Marvin.

Bulldog junior Katy Ridnour got hot late in the first half, spurring Gonzaga on a 10-2 run that led to a 30-25 halftime lead for the Bulldogs.

After Gonzaga scored the first points of the second half, UVSC tied the score at 32-32 with a 7-0 spurt that included a 3-pointer by Palkki.

From that point until UVSC went on its late game-deciding run, neither team led by more than four points.

Palkki led the Wolverines with 18 points. Freshman center Robyn Fairbanks had 12 points and nine rebounds for UVSC, and Beaman added 10 points.

Hawk led all scorers with 19 points but scored only three of those 19 in the second half.

NOTES: Last season, the Wolverines lost at Gonzaga 87-41 . . . The win improves Utah Valley's home record to 4-4 . . . UVSC sophomore Rebekah Fales Peterson had two points and three steals in her first game after getting married Dec. 22 . . . Marvin saw her streak of double-figure scoring in seven consecutive home games come to an end Friday — she finished with nine points . . . The Wolverines return to action Jan. 2 on the road against Montana State.

UTAH 73, SUU 47: Utah's three seniors led the No. 23-ranked Ute women to a 73-47 victory over Southern Utah Friday night at the Huntsman Center. Julie Larsen of Logan scored a season-high 18 points, including 5-of-6 shooting from behind the three-point arc, to lead all scorers. Kim Smith saw her streak of double-figure scoring reach 50 games. Shona Thorburn recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. Utah never trailed in the contest, and the game was tied just once, 5-5 with 15 minutes left in the first half. Southern Utah was paced by Cassie Hahl, who tallied 14 points.

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