"I think first of all, when you are down, you work so hard to get back in the ball game," said head coach Joan Bonvicini. "We were able to come back, but we allowed them to shoot really well from the field in the first half and we were unable to consistently put two consecutive plays together. That was disappointing."
"We are a better team than this and we have to be a lot smarter and do a better job both offensively and defensively," commented Bonvicini.
Seattle U's offense was out of sync early and Utah Valley took complete advantage of it. The Wolverines went on a 14-2 run in the opening minutes until Elle Kerfoot (Surrey, B.C.) sent in a three-pointer and Sylvia Shephard (Alta Loma, Calif.) added a six foot jumper heading inside the 14-minute mark.
Kerfoot was one of three players to score in double figures, putting up 12 points and making a seven assists.
Midway through the half, behind fresh legs off the bench, SU saw their outside shot begin to work for them. The Redhawks closed in on the Wolverine's double figure lead to make it 16-13 off an Ashley Ward (Irvine, Calif.) trey.
Daidra Brown (Seattle, Wash.) would give Seattle U their first lead of the game behind back-to-back layins and Salena Dickerson (Federal Way, Wash.) made it a 6-0 SU run at 8:39, 19-17.
Senior Dickerson would score in double figures for the 11th time this season and in her fifth consecutive game. She would finish with a team leading 15 points and added five boards.
Julee Christianson (Missoula, Mont.) came in off the bench to make an immediate impact. She sent in a three-pointer from the corner at 7:51 to give SU their largest lead of the game thus far, 22-18. Dickerson added a basket from downtown of her own to work to give the Redhawks control of the game and a five point lead.
Seattle U's offensive and defensive efforts began to get in sync and they worked to set the tempo of the game, but they were unable to preserve their momentum. At 5:40, UVU would retake the lead, 26-25, off a Kyra Prause layin, but SU would continue to battle the point advantage. Despite their efforts, UVU would regain control and go into the break with a 37-32 advantage.
At 15:49 in the final half of regulation, down 41-40, Bonvicini substituted the entire bench into the game in an effort to put fresh legs on the floor and work to stymie the Wolverine offense. Their defensive efforts held Utah Valley off the board for nearly three minutes, but they could not take advantage of the Wolverines scoring drought.
With less than 10 minutes to go, SU began to play with more urgency, but UVU was the first to respond to the quickened game pace by putting up consecutive three-pointers to hold a 58-46 advantage.
At 5:42, Kerfoot made it a 60-53 game with a pair of free throw baskets. Ward would follow with a solo drive to the hole to make it a five-point contest.
Ward would go on to score 13 points in her third consecutive start. She also grabbed down six rebounds and led the squad in minutes played with 28.
Utah Valley would cling onto their lead in the final minutes of action and held Seattle U off the boards to close out the contest by going on a 12-7 run.
UVU shot 43.3 percent (25-for-53) from the field, while holding SU to 36.4 percent (24-for-66) in the game.
The Redhawks will head next to Chicago, Ill. to square off with Chicago State on Monday, Jan. 17, in a 7 p.m. CT contest. SU will close out their road swing in Laramie, Wyo. on Wednesday, Jan. 19, in a 7:05 p.m. MT game at the University of Wyoming.