Seattle University (15-9) returned home for the first time in February to face the Utah Valley Wolverines (12-12) as part of their annual pink game. The Redhawks notched their 15th win of the season with a dominating 70-41 win over the Wolverines behind a double-double by Kacie Sowell and double digit scoring figures by three other Redhawks. With this win, Seattle U also clinched their first winning season since 2008-09. Both teams donned pink warm-ups and shoelaces for the Pink Day celebration to honor and raise awareness for breast cancer research.
Prior to the match-up, two special pre-game presentations took place. As part of the team's Pink Day celebration, members of the team and coaching staff escorted breast cancer survivors to center court where they were presented with a pink rose by head coach Joan Bonvicini.
A second special presentation honored senior Elle Kerfoot, as she recently passed the 1000 career points mark on Feb. 9 at Portland State. Kerfoot is just the 11th player in program history to pass this mark.
"I think in the first half, we were a little ragged, and part of it was because we hadn't played in over a week," said Bonvicini. "But we really came out strong, aggressive, and really got in rhythm right after halftime and [we] got everyone involved. We forced a lot of steals and our field goal percentage was 60 percent after half, which was great."
The Redhawks got on the board first with a jumper by Talisa Rhea at the 18:41 mark and the team continued to put unanswered points on the board. They scored the first six points and held the Wolverines scoreless until the 13:06 mark when Utah Valley junior Erika Newbold drove in a layup and put the Wolverines' first score on the board.
Seattle U held the advantage throughout the entire first half, letting the Wolverines get within four twice in the half, but this proved to be the closest point margin. A layup by Utah Valley's Jenna Johnson at 11:53 put the Wolverines within four, the Redhawks leading 8-4, and another layup by Johnson put Utah Valley back within four at 9:02, with a 12-8 score on the board.
A free throw by Seattle U's Maggie McCarthy put the Redhawks up by five, 13-8, and they continued to increase their lead throughout the rest of the half.
Kacie Sowell increased the lead to eight, 19-11, with two free throws at 4:08 amidst a defensive battle during which neither team scored, aside from free throws, for over four minutes. A layup by Kerfoot increased the lead to 13, 24-11, with 1:17 left, and the Redhawks held an 11-point lead, 24-13, at the halftime buzzer.
The Redhawks returned to the court even stronger in the second half behind an immediate three-pointer and subsequent jumper by Rhea and a jumper by Sylvia Shephard within the first minute of the half. Seattle U scored six unanswered points to start the second half and increased the lead to 22 with a three-pointer by Rhea at the 15:18 mark.
The Redhawks increased their lead to 34 with a layup by McCarthy at 6:57 giving them their largest lead of the day, 62-28. They finished the game with a 29 point lead and came away with the win, 70-41.
Seattle U shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, 21-for-35, and 47 percent for the entire game, shooting 31-for-66. They also shot 66.7 percent from the free throw line in the second half, 2-for-3, and 54.5 percent on the game, 6-for-11.
Utah Valley shot just 27.1 percent, 16-for-59, from the field, but shot 60 percent of their second-half free throws, 6-for-10, and 53.8 percent, 7-for-13, of their free throws for the game.
Rhea led the Redhawks with 19 points and six rebounds, shooting 8-for-16 from the field, including 2-for-8 from behind the three-point line. Sowell added 15 points and 11 rebounds, Shephard scored 10 points and had four steals, and Daidra Brown added 10 points, six rebounds, and six steals.
Johnson was the leading scorer for the Wolverines, scoring ten points and three rebounds and Newbold added six bounds and five rebounds.
The Redhawks will play two next week, heading to Chicago, Ill. to take on Chicago State on Wed., Feb. 22 at 5:00 p.m., before returning home to face UC Riverside on Sun., Feb. 26 at 2:00 p.m.