UVSC men, women triumph over Texas-Pan Am

OREM — Both Utah Valley State basketball teams achieved statistical milestones with their season-ending victories Saturday over squads from Texas-Pan American.

Playing at the McKay Center, the UVSC men defeated the Broncs 66-57 behind 26 points from sophomore Ryan Toolson and senior David Heck's 13 points. With the win, the Wolverines edged North Dakota State for the inaugural United Basketball League title. Utah Valley's record of 22-7 represents the highest winning percentage by a Division I independent in more than 20 years, dating all the way back to Notre Dame's 23-6 finish in 1985-86. Also, UVSC was one of only five teams in Division I this year to use the same starting lineup in every regular-season game.

"Very few times do you have a team that exceeds your expectations, but this team did," men's coach Dick Hunsaker said. "I just can't say enough good things about our team and the wonderful ride we have had this year."

Toolson made all four of his free throws against UTPA to finish the season with the highest free-throw percentage in Division I. In fact, Toolson's 97 percent average (96-for-99) from the charity stripe is the second-highest in NCAA history, bested only by Missouri State's Blake Ahearn shooting 97.6 percent in 2004-05.

In Edinburgh, Texas, the Wolverine women rode sophomore center Robyn Fairbanks to a 60-53 victory over the Broncs. At 15-13, UVSC finished the year with as many wins as the previous two seasons combined.

Fairbanks torched UTPA for 29 points on 11-for-16 shooting and hauled in 12 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. After spending most of the season ranked second in the nation for scoring average, Fairbanks finished fourth at 23.7 points per game.

"(Fairbanks) has carried us all year long," women's coach Cathy Nixon said. "It's not easy to do when every single game teams have focused so much on stopping her."

The week that was

SOFTBALL: At the Sun Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., the Wolverines lost all six of their games over the weekend to drop to 3-11 on the season. UVSC lost two games to Houston by one run, falling to the Cougars 7-6 Friday and 1-0 in 10 innings on Saturday. In its final game of the weekend, Utah Valley got crushed 12-0 by No. 2 Arizona State.

Heidi Boyer spearheaded the Wolverine offense with a .438 batting average in the six games, and pitcher Corie Jensen starred in the extra-inning loss to Houston by pitching all 10 innings while giving up four hits and striking out nine.