Jan. 17, 2013

UVU Game Notes

OREM, Utah -- The Utah Valley University women's basketball team will look to add to its three-game winning streak as it travels to Bakersfield, Calif., to take on future WAC opponent CSU Bakersfield Saturday afternoon.

The game will tipoff at 3 p.m. MT at CSUB's Icardo Center. Fans can listen to live audio at wolverinegreen.com as well as follow live stats by visiting gorunners.com

The Wolverines (7-11, 2-0 Great West) defeated Chicago State 71-38 at home last Saturday. Senior Sammie Jensen led the way against Chicago State with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Fellow senior Kaycee Mansfield also had 16 points and nine rebounds.

UVU jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and never looked back against the Cougars. The Wolverines led from start to finish and had four players. Sophomore Tina Doughty had a solid game with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, while fellow sophomore Taylor Huber added 10 points off the bench. The double-double for Jensen was her 13th of the season, which currently ranks her third in the nation in that category.

UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said the collective effort has added to the team's recent success.

"Mostly I think it's just a matter of being more consistent," Nixon said. "I think early in the year we had different players who played well at different times and we felt like if we could get more of them playing well at the same time we were going to be pretty good."

Nixon hopes the Wolverines can continue playing together as they travel this weekend.

"Hopefully we can keep the momentum that we have built the last couple of games," added said. "Bakersfield is playing better overall and is a team that presents some difficulties to us matchup wise. Our goal is just to go down there and play well."

Jensen, who recently picked up her sixth Great West Conference Player of the Week award this season, leads the Wolverines in scoring and rebounding with averages of 17.6 ppg and 12.7 rpg. Her 12.7 boards per contest leads the Great West and ranks her fourth in the nation in that category. Doughty is next in the scoring column for UVU by averaging 9.0 ppg. In her last five games, Doughty is averaging 12.6 points per night.

About CSU Bakersfield
The CSUB Roadrunners are coming off an 88-75 road win against Great West Conference opponent Houston Baptist Tuesday night and are 5-15 overall this season. The Roadrunners have won too won three straight games as they also defeated Nevada in Reno on Jan. 5 and Texas-Pan American at home on Jan. 8. CSU Bakersfield is playing their final season without a conference to call home, as they will join the Wolverines in the WAC next year.

Senior Amber Williams has scored over 30 points in the `Runners last two games and is currently leading the team with an average of 14.2 points per game. Sophomore Janae Coffee leads CSUB with 8.2 rebounds per game. Coffee also set a CSUB record with nine blocks against the Broncs a couple weeks ago and has a team-high 37 for the year.

Saturday's game will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two schools with CSUB holding a 4-1 series advantage. The `Runners defeated the Wolverines 81-74 in the last meeting on Dec. 18, 2010 in Orem. UVU and CSUB will also meet up at the UCCU Center in Orem a month from now as they play again this season on Feb. 27.

Up Next for the Wolverines
The Wolverines will travel to Newark, N.J., to face NJIT on Saturday Jan. 26. UVU will conclude its three-game road trip in Houston, Texas, against Houston Baptist the following Saturday.