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Freshman point guard Asumi Nakayama and the Wolverines host BYU Saturday at 3:05pm
  
 
Wolverines Host BYU Saturday Afternoon

UC Riverside, Montana State are in Orem next week

Dec. 15, 2006

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Coming Up...
Utah Valley State (9-1) will have three games in five nights, beginning with 2005-06 NCAA Tournament teams BYU (Saturday) and UC Riverside (Monday). Both games will begin a 3:05pm MST. They will then wrap up the pre-Christmas schedule with Montana State with a 2:05pm start on Wednesday. All three games will feature live audio and Gametracker at www.WolverineGreen.com.

The game against in-state foe BYU will complete UV's in-state schedule. So far the Wolverines are 3-1 against the local D-I schools with wins over Utah State, Southern Utah and Weber State. The lone loss came in double overtime to Utah.

The Wolverines have won a school record seven straight games and are also off to the best start in school history. They are currently two wins away from tying the school record for wins in a season at the NCAA level.

Utah Valley is coming off of a road win at Weber State last Saturday. In the game, sophomores Robyn Fairbanks and Sandy Marvin combined to score 53 of UV's 68 points.

Dynamic Duo...
Entering Saturday's game against BYU, sophomores Sandy Marvin and Robyn Fairbanks are averaging a combined 41.2 points per game. Fairbanks averages 24.1 while Marvin is averaging 17.1 ppg. On four different occasions, the two have combined to score more that 50 points in a game.

Against Boise State on November 29, an 81-66 win, Fairbanks had 29 points while Marvin added a career-high 28 to total 57 points. Then, last week in a 68-60 win at Weber State, the two combined to score 53 of the Wolverines' 68 points.

Former BYU All-American Nixon Facing Former Team...
Long time UV head coach Cathy Nixon will face the school where she was a two-time All-American when BYU comes to the McKay Center. Nixon played four seasons for the Cougars (1985-1988) and is still in the BYU record books as the 5th All-Time leading scorer with 1,771 points.

She was an All-American in 1987 and 1988. During the 87-88 season she averaged 19.1 points per game for the Cougars.

Nixon earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from BYU and started her coaching career there under Courtney Leishman and Jeanie Wilson.

A Look at the Numbers...
As of Friday, Robyn Fairbanks'24.1 points per game is third nationally behind Western Michigan's Carrie Moore (27.9 ppg) and Coastal Carolina's Alisha Dill (24.4). She is 18th in the nation in rebounding with an 10.6 per game average.

In addition to leading all D-I Independent players in scoring and rebounding, Fairbanks is third in field goal percentage, hitting 57.2% of her shots.

As a team, Utah Valley is 18th in the nation in scoring offense, with an average of 78.7 points per game.

The Wolveries hold the top three spots among assist leaders on D-I Independent teams. Asumi Nakayama leads with a 4.4 average followed by Hollie Beaman (4.0) and Sandy Marvin (3.5).

As a team, the Wolverines lead all Independents in field goal percentage (46.2%), assists (19.1 apg) and turnover margin (+2.7) in addition to scoring offense and scoring margin.

UV Wins Top Independent Honor for Third Straight Week...
For the second time in three weeks, Utah Valley State sophomore Robyn Fairbanks has been named the Division-I Independent Player of the Week. She averaged 28.5 points and 8.5 rebounds as the Wolverines ran their win streak to seven with wins over Southern Utah and at Weber State.

"Robyn is just a special player. I'm glad she is on our team," head coach Cathy Nixon said. "She has such incredible hands and the great thing is she is working hard to get better. People are trying to do everything they can to stop her."

She scored 32 points at Weber State, hitting 14-for-20 from the field and had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the win over SUU.

It's the fourth time in her career she has won the award and the third consecutive week that someone from Utah Valley has won it. Sophomore guard Sandy Marvin earned the award on December 5th. Prior to that, Fairbanks was named player of the week in November 28th.

Fairbanks Utah Valley's Scholar-Athlete for November...
Women's basketball player Robyn Fairbanks has been named Utah Valley State's November Scholar-Athlete of the month for her performance on the court and in the classroom.

The sophomore from Raymond, Alberta has a 3.34 GPA while majoring in Exercise Science.

During the month of November, Fairbanks averaged 23.6 points and 11.4 rebounds, helping the Wolverines to a 6-1 record, the best start in school history.

Scouting the Cougars...
BYU is coming off of a dominating 79-42 win over Weber State in Provo on Thursday night. Former Mountain View High School (Orem) star Mallary Gillespie scored a career high 30 points in the win, hitting eight three pointers.

Thanks to her scoring output, Gillespie now leads BYU in scoring with a 12.9 ppg average. Dani Wright is second on the team with a 10.8 average.

The Cougars are 7-3 on the season with a win at #4 Stanford earlier in the year. They are holding opponents to an average of 34.4% shooting from the field so far.

BYU leads the all-time series with Utah Valley 1-0, winning 61-54 last December in Provo.

Scouting the Highlanders...
UC Riverside has won three in a row and will have a full week off before coming to Utah for a two-game road trip against the Wolverines and at BYU. Most recently, the upended Drake 52-39 in Riverside on December 10th.

Kemie Nkele leads UCR with averages of 15.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Last season, in the only meeting between the two schools, the Highlanders held off a late Wolverine rally to beat UV in Riverside, 69-62.

Scouting the Bobcats...
Montana State is 5-4 heading into a Saturday match up at the University of Utah on Saturday night.

The Bobcats have four players averaging double figures in points, led by Rebecca Mercer's 12.6 points per game. Former Mountain View High School (Orem) player Nubia Garcia is averaging 10.8 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game for MSU.

Montana State leads the all-time series 3-1 against Utah Valley. The Bobcats defeated the Wolverines 92-84 last season in Bozeman, Montana.

Looking Ahead...
Utah Valley will have a short break for Christmas before taking a two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest to face Portland and Portland State.