OREM, Utah – Junior Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) recorded 14 points, but third-seeded Chicago State fell to sixth-seeded Utah Valley, 76-61, Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Great West Conference Tournament at the UVU Events Center in Orem, Utah.
CSU posted an early 10-7 lead in the game's opening four minutes with sophomore Janay Dockery (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) and junior Caila Desroches (Long Island, NY/Monroe CC) (Long Island, N.Y.) that concluded with a layup from junior Tressa Beckel (Waseca, Minn./Wisconsin) (Waseca, Minn.) at the 16:03 mark. The Wolverines came back to score five of the next seven points in under four minutes to even the score at 12-12. The Green and White later took a 24-21 lead with 6:17 following a jumper from Dockery. UVU tallied 12 of the stanza's final 21 points in the final six minutes to head into halftime ahead by a close 37-34 margin.
The second half began with the Wolverines scoring five of the first seven points in the first 2:06 to increase their advantage to 42-36 after a three-pointer from sophomore Jenna Johnson at the 17:54 mark. CSU the went to the paint as part of a quick 7-3 scoring drive in nearly two minutes to slice its deficit to 45-43 following a layup from senior Laureen Pierson (Dayton, OH/Northmont) (Dayton, Ohio) at 16:03.
A 16-4 run behind six points from Johnson in a nine-plus minute stretch to increase its lead to 61-47 with 6:31 left in the game. After the Cougars scored nine of the next 15 points during a 4:04 span to close within 67-56 with 2:27 remaining, UVU recorded a 9-2 run in under two minutes to hike its lead to 76-58 before Waldon connected on a three at the 25-second mark for the final margin.
Pierson recorded 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and added four rebounds in her final collegiate game for Chicago State. Dockery finished the game with 10 points, five boards, four assists and three steals, while Desroches added eight points and eight rebounds.
Utah Valley was led by senior Asumi Nakayama as she recorded a career-high 26 points along with game highs of seven assists and five steals. Johnson contributed 21 points, junior Kayla Burningham posted nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, and freshman Kaycee Mansfield grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Erika Newbold added eight points and eight rebounds.
The Cougars finished the season with a record of 12-19.
~CSU~
