Utah Valley loses at home to UNLV 73-63

The Utah Valley women’s basketball team lost to UNLV at home on Wednesday by a score of 73-63. The Wolverines fall to 4-3 overall on the season. 

The first quarter started out slow as it took the Wolverines three minutes to get their first points. Midway through the quarter sophomore forward Shay Fano made her season debut after coming off an injury. The Wolverines trailed 18-11 at the end of the first as they were sloppy for much of the quarter. The team had zero free throw attempts to the Rebels ten and gave up four offensive rebounds. The team also had six turnovers. 

Junior center Josie Williams started to play well in the second quarter as she finished with eight points and four rebounds by the half. The Wolverines cleaned up some of the sloppiness from the first quarter but still trailed 36-26 at halftime. As a team they shot 35% from the field and were getting outrebounded 22-13 at the half.  

In the third quarter Junior guard Maria Carvalho had three straight buckets for six points to stop the Rebels small run and keep the game within 10 points. Everytime the Wolverines started to cut into the deficit the Rebels always had a response. UVU trailed 56-45 after the third quarter. 

The Wolverines head coach Dan Nielson picked up a technical foul early on in the fourth quarter after a no-call on the offensive side of the ball. UVU found themselves on the bad end of a run as they fell down by as much as 20. Coach Nielson put in the bench and the unit was able to battle back to bring the game within 10 points but the Wolverines still lost 73-63.

As a team the Wolverines shot 41% from the field and got outrebounded 29-28 for the game. Williams was the only Wolverine in double figures scoring as she finished with 11 points and five rebounds. 

The Wolverines next game will be the first of six on the road as they take on Montana on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be aired on ESPN+.