Seattle U built a nine point lead out of halftime in the opening four minutes of the second half to lead, 46-37, after leading by five at the break. Masha Shtikel (Shoreline, Wash.) hit back-to-back three-pointers off the bench to give SU their largest lead to that point, 55-44, with 11:15 remaining in the contest.
Utah Valley would respond with a 8-2 run over the next two minutes to trail by five, 57-52, just under halfway through the second half but SU put together a run capped off by a Kaylee Best (Seattle, Wash.) three to lead by double digits once again.
Taylor Gordon and Taelor Ross (Vancouver, Wash.) traded layups with over three scoreless minutes between them as SU led by 10 once again at the 2:31 mark and the Redhawks would lead by double digits for the remainder of the contest.
“We redid our team goals this week and we just had a different emphasis in practice,” said head coach Joan Bonvicini. “Everyone stepped up – I thought Crystal [Allen] did a great job and Kaylee [Best] as well, but this was a great team win. I want to also give Masha [Shtikel] credit for coming off the bench and hitting some key three’s that were instrumental for us. We did a great job rebounding, we really went to the glass, and we’re getting better and gaining confidence. This was a step in the right direction.”
The Redhawks started with hot shooting from the start, taking a 7-2 lead at 17:33 on back-to-back jumpers by Best and Claire Metoyer (Desoto, Texas) and a three-pointer by Crystal Allen (Fort Worth, Texas).
The Wolverines responded with a 12-2 run to lead by five, 14-9, at 11:35 but Kristin Stoffel (Mill Creek, Wash.) tied the game at 16 just under halfway through the first half.
Jazmine Johnson (Lakewood, Calif.) and Best sunk back-to-back sets of free throws to regain the Redhawk lead and Seattle U would lead by as many as 10, 30-20, with just under five minutes left before halftime after a pair of Allen three’s.
The pendulum swinging again the other way, Utah Valley answered with a 6-0 run on layups by three different Wolverines before SU was forced to call a timeout at the 2:57 mark. UVU continued the run after the timeout to tie the game at 30 but back-to-back layups by Best and Wilma Afunugo (Plano, Texas) put a stop to the run.
A confidence booster with six seconds before half, Allen hit her fourth three-pointer of the game to put Seattle U ahead by five, 37-32.
Allen led all players on the court with a career-high 21 points, including four three-pointers, and eight rebounds. Best added 17 while seven other Redhawks contributed to the point tally. With a pair of three-pointers, Shtikel also recorded a season high with six points and career high with four rebounds.
SU led in nearly all major offensive categories including from the field, from behind the arc, and from the free-throw line. The Redhawks also outrebounded the Wolverines, 44-27.
Seattle U hits the road next weekend, closing a stretch in which they played 11 of 12 at home (dating back to Nov. 29). They will face UTPA (Jan. 15) and New Mexico State (Jan. 17) before returning home to host Chicago State and Kansas City the following weekend.
Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com as well as Facebook (Seattle U Athletics; Seattle University Women’s Basketball), Twitter (@su_athletics; @su_wbb), and Instagram (su_redhawks; su_wbb) for all the latest updates on the team throughout the 2014-15 campaign.