Jan. 9, 2007

Box Score

Irvine, California - Utah Valley State dropped its fourth straight game and fell to 10-7 on the season in an 89-75 loss at UC Irvine (4-12) on Tuesday night.

Robyn Fairbanks had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks to lead Utah Valley but was limited to just 21 minutes, in foul trouble nearly the entire game. Sandy Marvin had 18 for the Wolverines while Hollie Beaman had a solid line of nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Irvine guard Angie Ned led all scorers with 25 on 10-for-18 shooting from the field.

Utah Valley out-rebounded the Anteaters 49-34 but that stat was offset by 22 turnovers compared to just eight from UCI.

Neither team could take control of the game in the first half. Irvine held a slim lead for most of the first 20 minutes and had a 21-19 edge before a quick 6-0 Wolverine run put UV up by four.

That lead disappeared quickly as the Anteaters went on a 6-0 spurt of their own to regain the lead just three possessions later.

Marvin scored the final seven points of the half for Utah Valley but a Ned bucket late in the half gave UCI a 37-36 lead heading into the break.

Ned had 18 points at the half, six above her average, to lead Irvine while Marvin led the Wolverines with 12 at the break. Fairbanks was limited to just 11 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls.

Irvine scored the first seven points of the second half and used that spurt to go on a 23-8 run over the first 11 minutes of the second half taking its biggest lead of the game, 62-44.

Fairbanks committed her fourth foul with 16:52 left in the game and the Wolverines down just six. When she returned with 10:38 left, UV trailed 62-48.

The Wolverines trimmed the lead to nine at 67-58 with 7:21 to go on two Fairbanks free throws, but five straight UCI points pushed the lead back 14 with 5:40 left and the Wolverines would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way.

The loss drops Utah Valley to 0-4 all-time against schools from the Big West Conference.

It won't get any easier for the Wolverines as they travel to perennial Big West favorite UC Santa Barbara on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8pm MT and live audio and Gametracker can be found by going to www.ucsbgauchos.com