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UVU sophomore guard Amanda Barcello plays defense during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU junior guard Tahlia White drives to the basket during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU sophomore guard Kylee Mabry shoots a 3-pointer during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU junior guard Eleyana Tafisi goes up for a layup during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU head coach Dan Nielson directs his team during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU junior guard Ally Criddle goes up for a layup during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU sophomore guard Kylee Mabry goes up for a shot during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU players watch the introductions before the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

The UVU women’s basketball team would like to petition the league to just play the first and fourth quarters for the rest of the season.

Coming into Thursday’s WAC home game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem, the Wolverines had outscored their opponents 202-176 in the first period and 227-191 in the final period in their 13 games.

It’s been the other two quarters that have been the problem for UVU — and the visiting Mavericks took advantage.

Everything seemed to be going fine for the Wolverines the first 10 minutes of action has the home team led most of the way was up 16-15 heading into the second period.

Then disaster struck.

UVU went ice-cold on offense and couldn’t stop UT Arlington as the Mavericks scored 16 of the first 18 points of the frame to be build a double-digit lead. The visitors ended up outscoring the Wolverines by 12 points in the frame to go up 33-22 at halftime.

That cushion would be too much for UVU to overcome as UT Arlington secured the 72-64 win, keeping the Wolverines winless in WAC play (0-5, 5-9 overall).

While the third quarter wasn’t nearly as bad as the second for UVU, the Wolverines still saw the Mavericks extend the lead by a couple more points so the home team faced a 13-point hole heading down the stretch.

As they have frequently this season, UVU refused to go down without a fight and chipped away to make things interesting in the fourth quarter.

A big 3-pointer from the corner from Wolverine senior guard Jenna Dick with just under four minutes remaining capped an 8-0 run and cut the deficit to just 63-57 with plenty of time left.

But UT Arlington found the answer by getting the ball to 6-foot-2 senior forward Adéla Válková in the post. Válková got fouled on the next possession and calmly drained both free throws, then got an offensive rebound and putback to push the lead back to 10 points.

UVU tried to rally, again getting the lead down to six points in the final minute, but the home team could get no closer and UT Arlington closed out the eight-point win.

The Wolverines were led by Dick, who came off the bench and made four 3-pointers on her way to 15 points.

UVU junior guard Tahlia White was the only other Wolverine in double figures as she finished with 14. She had half of those points in the first couple minutes of action as she drilled a pair of 3-pointers and 1-of-2 free throws to tally the first seven points of the game for the Wolverines.

While the home team had eight other players score in the contest, no one else put in more than seven points for UVU.

The Mavericks were led by 20 points and eight rebounds from Válková, while Avery Brittingham added 17 and Gia Adams chipped in 10 points.

The Wolverines ended up being outrebounded 40-33 and had seven shots blocked by UT Arlington. UVU ended up making 35.1% of their field goals (20-of-57), while the Mavericks shot the ball at a 41.1% clip (23-of-56).

UVU will look to end its WAC skid when it takes the floor again on Saturday. The Wolverines will host UT Rio Grande Valley at the UCCU Center in Orem with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

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