That was the story for the No. 5-seeded UVU women’s basketball team in Thursday’s WAC quarterfinal against No. 4-seed Abilene Christian at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas as the Wolverines had two of its starters shine bright in the tournament spotlight.

UVU junior Amanda Barcello put together an impressive first half, scoring 17 of her career-high 24 point in the opening two quarters and helping the Wolverines build a big lead.

She hit some big shots in the second half as well (ending up 6-for-8 on 3-pointers), while UVU senior Tahlia White also got rolling. White finished with a game-high 26 points om 9-of-15 shooting including making 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

The talented duo combined for 50 points, which turned out to be 2/3rds of the Wolverine tally in the 75-65 win over the Wildcats that sent UVU throught to the WAC semifinals.

The win set a new program record for wins in a season in Utah Valley’s NCAA Division I era with 18, an impressive showing for a team that won just 16 games total in the past two years

UVU started strong, forcing ACU into some early turnovers and jumping out to a 11-0 lead. The Wildcats bounced back with five straight before the Wolverines closed out the opening quarter with a 16-7 advantage.

Barcello then helped UVU get some separation, making three straight bombs from downtown (including getting fouled on one for a four-point play) as the Wolverines doubled up Abilene Christian at the half, leading 36-18.

White then drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half, giving UVU a game-high 21-point lead.

But the Wildcats weren’t going to go down without a fight and chipped away at the Wolverine lead.

UVU’s lead was just 49-41 late in the third quarter after a big ACU push, but Barcello again came up with a key shot.

The Wolverines got the lead back to 11 and with the final seconds ticking off the clock, Barcello got the ball in transition. She let it fly just before the horn sounded, seeing her sixth trey of the game settle into the basket to give UVU a nice shot of adrenaline going into the final frame.

The Wildcats made one more charge, scoring six straight points to get the deficit back to single digits at 62-54 in the fourth quarter, but Wolverine graduate Donja Stafford Collins hit a 3-pointer that kept UVU comfortably in front the rest of the way.

The Wolverines got contributions from a lot of their starters as Danja Stafford Collins added 10 points and nine rebounds, Halle Nelson finished with seven points and four blocked shots, and Ally Criddle had six points and nine assists. UVU got 73 of its 75 points from the starting lineup.

Emma Troxell had 20 points to lead the Wildcats.

Utah Valley went 25-for-51 (49%) overall from the field, 11-for-24 (45.8%) from beyond the arc, and 14-of-18 from the line. ACU was 20-for-55 (36.4%) overall, 8-for-26 (30.8%) from three, and 17-for-22 from the line.

The Wolverines had a 35-30 edge in rebounding and didn’t allow an offensive rebound in the second half after surrendering 16 to the Wildcats in the first half.

UVU now heads to the WAC semifinals and prepares to take on top-seeded Grand Canyon, which has won 28 straight games and was perfect in conference play (16-0).

The Wolverines and Lopes are scheduled to square off at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas at 1 p.m. MT with a spot in the title game on the line. The game can be seen on ESPN+.