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UVU center Josie Williams goes up for a shot during the WAC game against Cal-Baptist at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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UVU guard Madison Grange goes up for a shot during the WAC game against Cal-Baptist at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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UVU guard Maria Carvalho drives to the basket during the WAC game against Cal-Baptist at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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UVU head coach Dan Nielson talks to guard Ally Blackham during the WAC game against Cal-Baptist at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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UVU center Josie Williams battles for the jump ball during the WAC game against Cal-Baptist at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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After 45 straight days without playing a home game and not having played any game at all in two weeks because of COVID-19 issues, the UVU women’s basketball team finally got to get on the court at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday.

Their opponent?

Oh, just the WAC defending champs and league-leaders from Cal-Baptist.

There would be no easing back into action for the Wolverines as they hosted the talented Lancers.

Even with the adversity, UVU battled hard against Cal-Baptist and had chances to stay close. The Lancers, however, proved to be too much and pulled away to get the 83-68 win.

“I’ll give them credit,” Wolverine head coach Dan Nielson said. “They hit more shots today. They’ve always been a good shooting team, but this year they haven’t shot it quite as well. But they made a lot in the first quarter. But the second and third quarters were more where we needed to be. We were down by four heading into the fourth quarter in a game we could win, but we lost some focus defensively. We took some steps forward but it was frustrating when you want to get the monkey of your back.”

The monkey Nielson was referring to was the current six-game losing streak, which wasn’t helped by the health situation.

UVU endured COVID-19-related delays last season as well, but Nielson said this one was harder in many ways.

“It’s been harder only because it’s been more condensed,” Nielson said. “Last year we got it out of the way before conference and we were healthy. This year since our Utah game, between injuries and the flu and then COVID, it’s kind of been a bit of a MASH unit not knowing who’s going to be available until the night before. People’s timing are off and so it’s been it’s been hard, but a lot of teams are dealing with it.”

The Wolverines did seem to struggle to get in rhythm early on and Cal-Baptist took advantage, scoring the first five points of the game and going up by as many as 12 points in the first quarter.

But UVU kept chipping away and — thanks to some Lancer foul trouble — cut the deficit to just two points late in the third quarter.

The Wolverines got fouled and had a chance to tie but could only hit one of the two free throws, allowing Cal-Baptist to maintain the slim lead.

“We knew we could stay with them,” Nielson said. “Last year they beat us bad in the one game and it was one quarter, the first quarter. But I was proud of our fight today.”

In the final frame, the Lancers pounded the ball to center Caitlyn Harper and she came up big.

She tallied 15 of her 30 points in the final 10 minutes, helping Cal-Baptist pull away.

“I think our posts are pretty good defensively but I have to give her credit,” Nielson said. “She kicked our butts in there.”

UVU was led by 22 points and 13 rebounds from center Josie Williams, while guard Madison Grange scored 12 (8-for-8 from the foul line) and forward Shay Fano added 11.

Lancer guard Tiena Neale also put in 15 points by going 5-of-6 from beyond the 3-point line.

Nielson admitted that when a team goes through a stretch where it hasn’t won for a while, it can impact a team’s confidence.

“I think getting a win would make all the difference,” Nielson said. “It’s kind of like our first year when we struggled in preseason, then we got that first win against Utah State and we rolled off seven or eight in a row. Throughout all of last year and our first 10 games this year, we played some good basketball and we kind of changed expectations. We really thought we should win, but now that confidence is fragile. I think you lose a couple of games you don’t expect to and it’s a little easier to add a little more self doubt. Getting that win would just be a major boost for our confidence. We just keep telling them that once we get that one, we know we can get on a little roll.”

The Wolverines (5-9, 0-3) hope that will happen on Monday when they play at Dixie State in a game that is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.

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