The Wolverines (3-14, 0-4 WAC) opened the game on a six-point run, with Rhaiah Spooner-Knight contributing four, before a complete line change for the Redhawks near the 17 minute mark.
Ashley Ward (Irvine, Calif.) and Renee Dillard-Brown (Seattle, Wash.) cut the deficit in half, 8-4, at 16:36, and would come within three, 10-7, on a three-pointer by Kim Flournoy (San Diego, Calif.) at 15:58.
Sylvia Shephard (Alta Loma, Calif.) brought the Redhawks back within three again, 12-9, at 14:27 on a jumper but back-to-back baskets by Spooner-Knight gave Utah Valley a seven-point lead, 16-9, just over a minute later.
Over the next two and a half minutes, the Redhawks went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 19-16, at 10:42 with contributions by Shephard, Kacie Sowell (Ventura, Calif.) and Makenna Clark (Lake Tapps, Wash.).
Whitney Jenkins tied the game at 19 just 30 seconds later and Utah Valley regained the lead until Taelor Ross (Vancouver, Wash.) retied the game at 22 with 8:04 left before halftime.
The Redhawks and Wolverines would trade the lead before Sowell retied the game two more times, the second time, 29-29, at the 4:53 mark, after which neither team would score for the next two and a half minutes.
Jenkins regained the lead for Utah Valley, hitting a three at 2:26 and the Wolverines would keep the lead into the halftime break. UVU led by as many as five, 38-33, at half after a steal and fastbreak layup by Jenkins.
The Wolverines started where they left off, going on a 6-1 run to open the second half and increase their lead to double digits, 44-34, at 16:35.
The Redhawks would answer back with a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to trail by just two, 48-46, following a Wilma Afunugo (Plano, Texas) layup at 12:01.
Ashley Klemz hit a three-pointer soon after while Makaily Worthington hit a jumper and Jenkins went 2-for-2 at the line, but back-to-back baskets by Ward and a jumper by Alexis Montgomery (Beaverton, Ore.) closed the deficit back to just three, 55-52, at 9:55.
Kaylee Best (Seattle, Wash.) hit a clutch three to tie the game, 55-55, at 8:44 while Rebecca Mawhinney and Ward traded free throws to retie the game. After two nearly scoreless minutes, Montgomery and Sam Loggins would trade baskets to retie the game at 58 with 6:12 remaining.
Shephard went 2-for-2 from the line but Loggins would quickly retie the game before Best hit a three to regain the Redhawk lead, 63-60, at 4:21. Spooner-Knight would put the Wolverines within one at the four-minute mark, but this would be as close as they would come as the Redhawks would close with a 8-2 run to win, 75-67.
Ward, Shephard, and Sowell led the Redhawks with 15, 13, and 11 points, respectively, while Spooner-Knight led all players on the floor with 18 pts. Best scored a career high nine points and Afunugo tied her career high with 10, also grabbing a career high seven rebounds.
Utah Valley led from the field and from behind the three-point line while Seattle U had a better shooting percentage from the field, going 14-for-21 (66.7 percent).
Seattle U returns home for a single game each week over the next two weeks, hosting Grand Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 25 and Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 1. The Idaho game has been designated as the team’s annual pink game and fans can contribute to the cause by visiting the team’s donation page HERE. If the team reaches their goal of $2,014 raised, Coach Bonvicini will be pied in the face following the game.