Jan. 10, 2013

UVU Game Notes

OREM, Utah -- Having won four of its last six games, the Utah Valley University women's basketball team will look to continue its hot stretch Saturday afternoon when it welcomes Chicago State to the UCCU Center for a Great West Conference contest.

The game will tipoff at 3 p.m. and live stats, video and audio will all be available for fans by visiting WolverineGreen.com and by clicking on the women's basketball schedule.

The Wolverines are 6-11 overall and 1-0 in conference play after defeating Texas-Pan American, 71-66, in overtime at home last Saturday. Senior forward Sammie Jensen once again led UVU with 21 points and 14 rebounds while senior guard Cydne Gray dished out a career-high 11 assists. Jensen's stellar performance was good enough for her to earn her fifth GWC Conference Player of the Week award on the season.

Three other players topped double figures in the Wolverines' last game as junior guard Whitney Jenkins finished with 12 and sophomore guards Tina Doughty and Taylor Huber both added 11.

With the Broncs leading by two in the closing seconds of regulation, UVU's Jenkins sent the game to overtime with a layup with 2.5 seconds to play. The Wolverines then went on to outscore UTPA 8-3 in overtime to pick up the victory in their Great West opener.

In its last six games, UVU has wins at Northern Arizona and at Air Force as well as home victories over Carroll College and UTPA. The Wolverines two losses during the stretch came at No. 25 Colorado and at in-state foe Southern Utah.

Jensen leads the Wolverines with a double-double average of 17.3 ppg and 12.7 rpg. Jensen's 12 double-doubles currently rank her tied for second in the nation and her 12.7 boards per night are good enough for fourth. Doughty is next for UVU in scoring with an average of 8.8 points per game, while Jenkins is third with 7.6.

About Chicago State
Chicago State is just 1-15 this season and Saturday will be the Cougars' first conference game of the year. CSU was picked to finish fourth in the Great West this year and has dropped 13 straight games. Just four of their 13 games have been at home however as the Cougars have played a road-heavy schedule so far this season.

Sophomore guard Tierra Williams leads Chicago State in scoring with 9.4 points per game. Fellow sophomore guard Jackie Jones is next with an average of 6.8 ppg and she also leads the Cougars in assists with 3.3 per contest. Freshman forward Layne Murphy leads CSU in rebounding with 6.5 boards per game.

Saturday will be the 14th all-time meeting between UVU and CSU and it won't be the last, as Chicago State recently announced that it will be joining the WAC this summer. The Cougars hold an 8-5 all-time series advantage. Both teams split the season series last year.

Up Next for the Wolverines
The Wolverines will step out of conference play next week by traveling to Bakersfield, Calif., to take on future WAC foe CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Jan. 19. UVU will then stay on the road and head across the country to face NJIT in Newark, N.J., the following Saturday.