Utah Valley improves to 22-7 overall and keeps a one-game lead over Sam Houston in the WAC standings with a 13-3 record. The 13 wins ties the Wolverines with the 2013-14 team for the most WAC wins in program history.

“At halftime, we talked a lot about keeping our composure in a hostile environment that was playing with some extra motivation because it was senior night,” said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. “Abilene Christian is a great team and we just needed to stay the course. We had too many turnovers in the first half and we cut those down in the second half and that helped us win tonight.”

The game was tight throughout, leading to a 58-58 tie with 2:32 remaining.

An Aziz Bandaogo dunk gave the Wolverines a six-point 64-58 lead with 37 seconds to play, but ACU’s Immanuel Allen knocked down a three, was fouled and made the free throw to cut the UVU lead back to just two points, 64-62, with 20 seconds left to play. Darthard then knocked down a pair of free throws and UVU held ACU without a point the rest of the way to secure the 66-62 win.

Darthard scored his 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field and a perfect 7-of-7 mark from the charity stripe. He also dished out three assists with two rebounds and a pair of steals.

Justin Harmon scored 12 points on a 5-of-11 clip from the field. He pulled down three rebounds with three assists and an assist. Bandaogo was also in double figures with 10 points to go along with five rebounds, one assist, and a block.

Woodbury came off the bench to score nine points with eight rebounds, while Tim Fuller added eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting with seven rebounds, three blocks, and two assists.

Utah Valley shot 50 percent (27-54) from the field on the night with a 28.6 percent (4-14) mark from long range. UVU held Abilene Christian to just a 37.7 (23-61) mark from the field, which included 34.5 percent (10-29) clip from three-point range.

Utah Valley committed 15 turnovers on the night, but only had four in the second half. UVU forced ACU into 16 turnovers with 10 coming in the second half. The Wolverines outscored ACU 40-18 in the paint.

Airion Simmons and Allen led the Wildcats with 13 points apiece.

Utah Valley now returns home to wrap up regular season play against UT Arlington on Wednesday and Stephen F. Austin on Friday at the UCCU Center. Both games will tip-off at 6 p.m. MT.

Wolverine women’s hoops loses final road game

Utah Valley dropped its final road game of the WAC regular season at Seattle U, 66-51, on Saturday in the Redhawk Center.

Shay Fano led the way for the Wolverines (6-21, 3-13) with 18 points and six rebounds while Kaylee Byon finished with 14 points. The Redhawks (5-21, 5-11) got a game-high 24 points from Irena Korolenko and Peyton Howard finished with 16 points and eight boards.

UVU got within seven in the third quarter, but Seattle U pushed it back to 13 after three, 48-35, and kept the lead in double figures for the remainder of the contest.

The Wolverines will wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games next week. UVU hosts UT Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday at Utah Tech on Thursday on Senior Night for the team’s lone senior, Kayla Anderson.

UVU softball blasts past Portland State

Brooke Saili tossed a complete game, allowing just one earned run while striking out four, and the Utah Valley softball team’s bats broke out for 11 hits to topple the Portland State Vikings 12-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

Four Wolverines had multiple hits, including a 3-for-4 night from Angelique Mann, who had a double and two RBIs. Taylor Wooten went 2-for-2 with 4 RBIs, including a bases-clearing double in the sixth at the heart of a five-run rally to ice the game for Utah Valley.

Kalena Shepherd went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Rylee Thorpe went 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. Jaeden Barajas drove in two on a 1-for-3 night.

“It was exciting to see the bats start to come alive,” said head coach Cody Thomson. “I know we are capable of being a great hitting team and tonight was a great example of that.”

Utah Valley’s night cap versus No. 19 Texas A&M was rained out after an inning and a half.

The Wolverines wrap up the weekend with one more game against the San Diego Toreros. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT and will start after the conclusion of No. 1 UCLA vs No. 2 Oklahoma on BLD Wrigley Field.

Kemboi and Chaney have big weekends at WAC indoor championships

Utah Valley University’s Everlyn Kemboi and Habtamu Cheney both capped banner weekends at the 2023 WAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday by each earning the Outstanding Track Performer of the two-day event.

Both runners brought home gold in the 3,000; Kemboi set a new course record while defending her title from last season and also won the top track performer award for the second straight season. Cheney won his race in dramatic fashion, overtaking the leader in the final stretch to earn the win.

“The WAC is a very good, competitive conference. I think it’s one of the top four conferences in the country. It’s been pretty impressive to watch what’s happened over the past couple of years. The depth of the conference and the effort our kids put in were impressive,” said UVU head coach Scott Houle. “I’m happy with how we came to compete, and we know what work needs to be put in to take that next step. I’m excited for what we did this weekend and now we get ready for the outdoor season.”

Kemboi’s finish came in 9:21.33 while Mazzie Melaney Preston also finished ahead of the previous meet record and was third overall with a time of 9:34.42. Both runners were coming off big showings in the 5,000 on Friday, with the duo first and second and both beating the prior meet record. Kemboi’s time in Friday’s 5k of 16:00.32 also established the new WAC mark. Madison Flippence, who was also fourth in the 5,000, was fourth in Saturday’s 3k with a time of 9:44.49.

Cheney’s win came a day after he went wire-to-wire to win the men’s 5k. After taking an early lead in Saturday’s 3k, Cheney ran the final 200 in 29.310 and surpassed Southern Utah’s Isaiah Labra just moments before crossing the finish line. Also scoring for the Wolverines in the 3k were Joel Mendez (8:21.73), Kale Sharp (8:24.19), and Max Mahon (8:25.80), who finished sixth through eighth.

As a team, Utah Valley’s men finished fourth with Grand Canyon winning the title. On the women’s side, the Wolverines finished fifth with Stephen F. Austin capturing the team championship.