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UVU women’s basketball gets third win in four games, beating Seattle

By Jared Lloyd - | Jan 24, 2022
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UVU freshman Eleyana Tafisi goes up for a shot during the WAC game against Seattle at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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UVU junior Maria Carvalho shoots a shot during the WAC game against Seattle at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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UVU junior Babalu Stewart shoots a shot during the WAC game against Seattle at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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UVU junior Maria Carvalho drives into the lane during the WAC game against Seattle at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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UVU junior Kayla Anderson dribbles up the court during the WAC game against Seattle at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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UVU head coach Dan Nielson directs his team during the WAC game against Seattle at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

UVU head women’s basketball coach Dan Nielson knew his team needed to get some positive momentum after it suffered a six-game losing streak.

“We left after that game and drove down to St. George because we were playing there on that Monday (Jan. 17),” Nielson said on Monday. “It was really interesting to see the energy on the bus, see the girls talking about the game plan, already engaged in the next game. It’s like a parent seeing your kids doing the stuff you ask them to do. It’s really positive right now and they are really committed.”

After the Wolverines got a close win at Dixie State, they went on to tally another narrow victory at UT Rio Grande Valley before dropping a double-overtime contest at Lamar on Saturday.

But UVU didn’t have time to think too much about that defeat, since it had another game at home against Seattle on Monday.

“Today was our fourth game since last Monday,” Nielson said. “I was really proud of the girls. We didn’t get back to Orem yesterday until about 1 p.m. We had a quick walkthrough then and then shootaround this morning, so I was proud of their focus and their buy-in. We were actually glad we were playing today to get the taste of that loss out of our mouths.”

The Wolverines came back strong, pulling away to get the 65-51 victory over the Redhawks.

“Today was probably the most complete game we’ve played all year as far as the team playing as a group,” Nielson said. “We’ve relied probably too much on Josie (Williams), Maria (Carvalho) and Madison (Grange) to score points. The thing I was most happy about was that we had Babablu (Stewart) come in and was aggressive, and we got buckets from Eleyana (Tafisi) and Megan (Jensen). It was a really satisfying team win.”

UVU used a surge to build an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter, only to see Seattle score eight straight to tie things up.

With control of the game in the balance, the Wolverines got five quick point from junior Kayla Anderson, a bucket from sophomore Shay Fano and a 3-pointer from Carvalho.

“It was our bench that came in and were able to build the lead,” Nielson said. “I thought that was really big. It’s something we have struggled with this year where we have built a lead and then let teams come back. Hopefully that is a step in the right direction. To win against good teams, you have to do what we did today.”

The Redhawks never got closer than nine points throughout the remainder of the game and UVU got the win.

The Wolverines were paced by 16 points from Carvalho, 13 from Stewart and 12 from Williams. Seattle’s leading scorer was McKenzi Williams, who had 10.

Nielson hopes this victory will give his squad even more to build on as they head toward the final weeks of the season.

“We’ve won three out of four now,” Nielson said. “We’ve got a big game with Chicago State coming up and they are playing really well. After that we have the weekend off, which will be big for our health. Hopefully we can keep some momentum going.”

UVU (8-10, 3-4) hosts Chicago State at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday at 6 p.m.

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