The UVU women’s basketball team put together a brilliant start to Saturday’s big WAC showdown against league-leading Grand Canyon.

With a layup by Wolverine junior guard Kylie Mabry to start the second quarter, the Wolverines moved out to a 22-10 lead.

But against a really good opponent like the Lopes, you have to keep the foot on the gas and UVU just couldn’t get enough shots to fall to do that.

Grand Canyon erased the deficit by halftime, moved in front in the third quarter, then held off every Wolverine rally to get the 76-64 win in Lockhart Arena in Orem.

“I thought we had some good fight, but we have to shoot the ball better from three and have to knock down free throws,” UVU head coach Dan Nielson said. “We got into some foul trouble that affected us too but they’re a very good team and you’ve got to give them credit. They hit shots when they needed to and made the plays when they needed to.”

The Wolverines looked good in the first quarter, forcing the Lopes into some turnovers and making shots as the home team surged in front.

But things changed quickly in the second. After Mabry’s layup pushed UVU’s lead to 12, Grand Canyon scored 10 straight points narrow the gap.

While the Wolverines had lost the big advantage, UVU still maintained the lead until the third quarter. The first time the visitors were in front in the contest came shortly after halftime.

The Lopes took advantage of the fact that Wolverine senior guard Ally Criddle, who was UVU’s leading scorer in the first half, got into foul trouble and spent much of the third quarter on the bench.

The Wolverines were already without their best post presence as junior center Tessa Chaney was out with an injury, although Nielson said his team did well in filling that void.

“We did it different ways,” Nielson said. “We matched them in the paint, so I wasn’t worried about that. But obviously not having Tess was big. She’s a matchup problem for them.”

UVU did have junior center Gracie Sorenson, who has also been hurt, get a few minutes of action and make a couple of plays which Nielson said was a good sign.

But the Wolverines did have a tough time running their offense through the post, which is something they like to do.

It was Grand Canyon that used a couple of big 3-pointers to push its lead to nine points late in the third quarter.

UVU tried to rally and was only down 61-56 midway through the final frame but couldn’t get enough shots to fall to come back all the way and the Lopes put the game away down the stretch.

“You hate to make it so simplified but when we got open looks from three, you’ve got to knock them down,” Nielson said. “We created some really nice wide-open looks. The difference was they made theirs and we missed ours.”

The Wolverines finished the game going just 2-of-16 from 3-point range (the Lopes were 7-of-15) and making 16-of-23 free throws.

Scoring was a team effort for UVU, which had four players in double figures: junior guard Tahlia White (14 points), junior forward Halle Nelson (14 points), junior guard Amanda Barcello (12 points) and Criddle (10 points).

Grand Canyon was paced by 21 points from senior guard Trinity San Antonio, while graduate guard Tiara Brown added 16 points.

Although both regular-season matchups between the Lopes and Wolverines have ended up in 12-point wins for Grand Canyon, Nielson said he saw some things that make him optimistic about what his squad could do if they square off against the league-leaders in the postseason.

“With the resources they have, there is no excuse for them,” Nielson said. “They should be right there (as the team to beat) but we don’t back down from anyone. I think our girls are tough and if we get a couple of bounces another way and we clean up a couple things defensively, we can be right there.

It’s not disrespect saying I want to play them again. You want to play and beat the best. I think right now they’re clearly the best team in our conference and that’s who we’re going for.”

UVU (13-7, 5-3) will look to bounce back as the Wolverines hit the road to take on UT Arlington on Feb. 6.

“I think next week is the biggest week of the season for us, not only going on the road but playing against two quality teams,” Nielson said. “It’s not just about getting back on track but also for seeding in the WAC tournament. I just challenged them. We’ve got to be ready for next week, to get on the road and take care of business.”

The first game against the Mavericks in Arlington, Texas, is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.