Utah Valley University dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker, 67-66, to Southern Utah University on Saturday in Lockhart Arena.

Tahlia White led the Wolverines (9-15, 4-11) with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five steals while Ally Criddle finished with seven points, nine assists, seven steals, and five rebounds before fouling out in the first overtime.

Eleyana Tafisi added 13, Jenna Dick finished with 12, and Kylee Mabry added nine points and four steals on a night the Wolverines forced 32 turnovers and took 30 more field goals than the T-Birds (7-17, 5-10).

UVU had 24 steals, three shy of matching the school record, more than it has had against any other NCAA Division I program in program history. White recorded career-highs in both rebounds and steals, while Criddle notched career-bests in both assists and steals.

The Wolverines were without Tessa Chaney for the final 7:14 of regulation and both overtime periods after she fouled out in the fourth quarter. Chaney, who was a plus-25 while on the floor, was limited to 18 minutes due to foul trouble.

SUU’s Samantha Johnston led all scorers with 20 points while Ava Uhrich and Daylani Ballena finished with 15 each. Ashley Banks had a game-high 13 rebounds as SUU had a 52-38 edge on the glass.

After Southern Utah held a 20-17 lead following a low-scoring first half, both teams traded dominant quarters in the second half. Utah Valley outscored Southern Utah 28-11 in the third to take a 45-31 lead, but the T-Birds forced OT after outscoring the Wolverines 23-9 in the fourth.

In the third, the Wolverines forced 10 turnovers and had eight steals while going 9-for-15 from the floor. UVU outscored the T-Birds 20-4 during a 7-minute stretch of the third quarter.

After SUU closed to within seven in the fourth, Dick scored and was fouled for a 3-point play, and Tafisi followed with a layup to push it back to 12, 50-38, with 3:53 to go. The T-Birds closed regulation on a 16-4 run with the final 10 coming from Johnston, including a game-tying three with seven seconds left in regulation.

UVU scored the first six points of the first extra frame, the first four coming from Tafisi.

SUU didn’t convert from the field in the first overtime, getting to the line six times and making all six free throws, including two from Alexa Lord with 14 seconds left to send it to double-OT.

In the second overtime, Dick scored to put UVU up two, 64-62, with 3:37 left before a 5-0 run by Southern Utah made it 67-64 with just under one minute left. Dick scored with 36 seconds left to get back within one, but the T-Birds were able to hold on for the come-from-behind win.

Utah Valley scored 42 points in the paint and had 28 points off of SUU’s 32 giveaways, but the T-Birds recorded 13 blocks, five from Johnston and four from Banks.

The Wolverines will head back to Texas next week where they’ll face a crucial contest at UT Rio Grande Valley next Thursday before finishing the trip on Saturday at Stephen F. Austin.

UVU wrestling wins four titles at Cowboy Shootout

Utah Valley wrestling had four take home titles on Sunday at the Cowboy Shootout at the University of Wyoming. No. 29 Haiden Drury won one of the 141-pound divisions, going 2-0 on the day. Jacob Carson, Kael Bennie, and Jack Forbes also won their divisions.

Forbes finished the tournament 4-1, with one of the larger pools for the round-robin style competition. He opened the day with an 18-2 tech fall over Wyoming’s Winston McBride but fell in his second-round match by an 8-5 decision to Kevin Zimmer (Wyoming). Forbes quickly bounced back and won by a major decision in his third match, and after his opponent took a medical forfeit, he capped the day with a tech fall over Lane Catlin of Wyoming by a 19-3 final.

Bennie finished 1-1 and had one opponent in his pool. He opened the day with a 3-0 decision over Tyce Raddon, but the UVU redshirt’s day was cut short with a medical forfeit before the second contest. The day’s final match between the two Utah natives was declared a no-contest.

In his opening match of the day, Carson fell by a 4-1 decision to Arizona State’s Tristan Mascarenas before he had a bye in the second round. The day ended on a positive note for the UVU freshman as he pinned Wyoming’s Dylan Catlin in 42 seconds.

The Wolverines wrap up the regular season next weekend with a home dual on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 11:00 a.m. MT with California Baptist. It will mark the last home match for head coach Greg Williams, and eight UVU seniors will be honored pregame. UVU will then begin preparations for the Big 12 Championships on Mar. 9-10 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Wolverine softball edges Oregon State

Avery Sapp pitched her second complete game of the weekend and the bottom half of the order came through clutch to help lead Utah Valley (4-5) to a 5-4 win over the Oregon State Beavers (5-5) on Sunday morning.

The six-through-eight hitters of Megan Gibbs, Taylor Wooten, and Mya Higareda combined to go 4-for-9 with two doubles, four RBIs, and two runs scored to help lead the Wolverines to the come-from-behind victory. Angelique Mann also went 1-for-3 with an RBI double.

“The whole weekend was a good challenge for us, and I thought we played really well,” said head coach Cody Thomson. “We’re starting to get into a groove. Taylor had a really big weekend for us coming back from injury, and Sapp’s continuing to grow as a pitcher.”

Today’s win secured a 4-1 weekend for the Wolverines. It is the first time Utah Valley has had a four-win weekend at a preseason tournament since the 2020 season, when the Wolverines went 5-1 at the UNLV Tournament.

Utah Valley will head to Arizona for five games at the ASU/GCU Classic. The Wolverines will face off with a pair of familiar foes in New Mexico State and Idaho State at GCU Softball Stadium, then head over to Tempe for games against Texas State, Arizona State, and Seton Hall.

UVU baseball wins series against CSUN

Utah Valley University baseball split a pair of contests on Sunday. They defeated CSUN 10-6 before dropping the nightcap to UC Riverside 8-4.

Calyn Halvorson finished 2-for-4 with four RBI’s in the morning win, which gave the Wolverines a 2-1 series win over CSUN. Burke Camper and Daniel Dickinson each scored two runs for UVU.

In the second game against UC Riverside, Halvorson and Jayden Smith each finished with two hits in the loss. Jacob Beltran made his UVU debut and pitched one inning, allowing one hit.

The Wolverines will stay on the road next week for a matchup with WCC foe Saint Mary’s that will begin on Friday, Feb 23. The two will play a doubleheader on Saturday and wrap up the series on Sunday, Feb. 25.

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