Utah Valley saw its season come to an end after dropping the regular season finale, 81-50, on Saturday to Abilene Christian in the UCCU Center.

Following the game, Utah Valley’s three seniors were honored: Jenna Dick, Liana Kaitu’u, and Elina Tausinga all started the final game of their careers on Saturday.

Dick was poised to surpass 1,000 career points until an injury sidelined her for four games over the past three weeks. She had five points on Saturday to finish with 979 career points and 243 made 3-pointers.

Kaitu’u finished with four points while Tausinga pulled down one rebound as all three seniors made contributions on the court.

Tahlia White led the Wolverines (10-19, 5-15) with 14 points, Ally Criddle and Kylee Mabry both scored seven, and Eleyana Tafisi finished with six points, eight assists, and three steals. The Wildcats (14-15, 10-10) got a game-high 21 from Payton Hull, who scored 19 in the opening half.

ACU finished the game 31-for-60 (51.7%) from the field and also made 11 3-pointers. The Wildcats were 12-for-15 from the field in the second quarter, including a stretch of nine straight makes during a 20-1 run that took up six minutes of the quarter. ACU outscored UVU 27-12 in the second. Hull made her first five attempts from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers, and had 14 of her 19 in the half in the opening quarter. White led the Wolverines with 11 in the half.

After Zoe Jackson hit a three to begin the third and put the Wildcats up 48-24, Mabry sparked a quick 8-0 run with a three, and Criddle capped it with five straight points to make it 48-32 and force an ACU timeout. The Wildcats pushed it quickly back to 20 and continued to pull away in the fourth. Bella Earle added 16 points and 10 rebounds for ACU, and Zoe Jackson grabbed nine boards as the Wildcats out-rebounded the Wolverines, 42-23.

Utah Valley needed a win and a Southern Utah loss on Saturday in order to qualify for the WAC Tournament. SUU defeated UT Rio Grande Valley and Tarleton State won at Seattle U, giving the final two spots to the T-Birds and Texans.

UVU wrestling puts four on the podium at Big 12 championships

No. 14 Evan Bockman and No. 29 Haiden Drury took home seventh-place finishes on Sunday at the 2024 Big 12 Championships. Kase Mauger and Chase Trussell took home eighth place.

“I felt all four guys wrestled well this weekend,” UVU head coach Greg Williams said. “Chase and Kase had big upsets during the tournament which really wasn’t a surprise. Haiden and Evan had solid wins today to finish off their tournament. Now we have to wait and see if it was enough to get them into the NCAA Championships”

Kase Mauger went up 3-0 on the takedown as the clock wound down in the first period. No. 18 Farber cut into the lead with a second-period escapee, but Mauger answered with a takedown to go up 6-1. The UNI sophomore did not go down easily as he scored on an escape and late takedown to make it 6-5 after two. Mauger got the scoring started in the third and cut the deficit to 7-5, but Farber quickly responded with a takedown and a two-point nearfall that put the match out of reach with a 10-7 decision.

Drury went up 3-0 just a little over a minute into the match with a takedown on Wyoming’s Cole Brooks. He held control during the first period and built nearly two minutes of riding time heading to the second period. In the second period, Drury added to his lead with a reversal to go up 5-0 before giving up a point due to stalling to lead 5-1 at the end of the second period. The two battled to a scoreless third period, but Drury held on for the riding time point and the 19th victory of the season.

Bockman and Xavier Vasquez (UNC) wrestled to a scoreless tie in the first period before Bockman broke away with an escape to go up 1-0 in the second period. He increased his lead with a takedown with about 15 seconds left on the clock to take a 4-0 advantage. He held on in the third period for a 4-1 decision to claim seventh place at the Big 12 Championships.

Trussell went up 3-0 in the opening period with a takedown of South Dakota State’s Luke Rasmussen. The lead was cut to 3-1 after an escape before a reversal in the second period tied the bout at 3-3. The match remained tied, but Rasmussen earned the victory based on riding time for the 4-3 decision.

UVU finished the Big 12 Tournament in 12th place with 22 team points.

The Wolverines will now wait to hear about at-large selections to the 2024 NCAA Championships. The at-large berths will be announced on Tuesday, Mar. 12, with the NCAA selection show and bracket reveal on Wednesday, Mar. 13, at 6 p.m. MT on NCAA.com.

Wolverine baseball goes 1-2 against Sacramento State

After UVU and Sacramento State split the first two games of the series, the Hornets used a four-run second inning to seize control in the rubber match at John Smith Field in Sacramento on Sunday.

Matthew Schwarz finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs in the contest to lead UVU (4-10, 1-2). Sacramento State (7-8, 2-1) recorded 16 hits in the victory.

Camper, Broussard, and Schwarz all finished with two hits in the game. Nick Sims went 3.0 innings in relief with two hits and four strikeouts for the Wolverines.

Utah Valley will play a pair of non-conference games this week in Northern California. They meet UC Davis on Mar. 11 at 3:30 p.m. MT before playing at Pacific on Mar .12 at 1 p.m. MT.

UVU softball loses to Boise State

Utah Valley dropped its weekend finale, falling 8-2 to the Boise State Broncos on Saturday afternoon at Wolverine Softball Field.

The long ball plagued the Wolverine pitchers, as the Broncos hit three home runs that plated five of their eight runs. Taylor Caudill pitched a complete game striking out eight for her second win of the weekend against UVU.

Britney Moreno and Angelique Mann each went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Peyton Hall went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

After keeping Boise State scoreless through the first two frames, the Broncos tagged Halle Morris for a solo home run in the third. Utah Valley would tie it up in the fourth when Moreno came in to score on a double play.

Boise State rattled off seven runs over the next three innings to take control, including four in the fifth off a pair of home runs.

Mann led off the home half of the seventh with a double and came in to score on an infield single by Hall. Caudill retired the next two batters to secure the win for the Broncos.

Utah Valley has a pair of midweek games on the docket, starting on Monday at crosstown rival BYU. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. MT, and the game will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

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