March 13, 2010

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Utah Valley 70, North Dakota 62

OREM, Utah - No. 6 seed Utah Valley defeated top-seeded North Dakota, 70-62, to claim the Great West Conference Tournament Championship at Orem, Utah.

Enroute to the championship, Utah Valley defeated third-seeded Chicago State, 76-61, in the first round and followed that up with a 72-56 win over Texas-Pan American in the semifinals.

Jenna Johnson led Utah Valley with 17 points on her way to All-Tournament honors. Kaycee Mansfield posted her second double-double of the tournament on her way to All-Tournament accolades. Also in double figures for the Wolverines were the GWC's leading scorer Julie Smith with 15 points and GWC Tournament Most Valuable Player Asumi Nakayama with 14 points and eight assists.

"Honestly it feels very, very surreal right now," said Utah Valley coach Cathy Nixon. "We have taken some beatings this year. It has been a rocky, rocky road, and the thing that kept me hopeful all year long was that they would come every day and work.

"I heard a saying from Kay Yow (North Carolina State) and she said `never underestimate the power of teamwork' and I truly believe that's what happened today - that these girls wanted to do it so badly for each other, and they were willing to do what it took. To fight back the way that we did I couldn't be happier for them. The joy I have in my heart is for Asumi (Nakayama) and the seniors. I am really, really happy for them.

"I didn't make this up, but rebounding does win championships. I do believe that. That's why we were here today because of last night's rebounding effort. It was a matter of the team coming together and believing it could happen. We knew if we kept them under 65 points we had a chance and rebounding is what gave that opportunity in spite of our poor shooting. North Dakota is a very good team and didn't go through this league with just one loss for no reason."

North Dakota got out to a 9-0 lead to start the game before UVU scored its first points at the 15:20 mark. The Fighting Sioux increased their lead to as many as 18 points (29-11) after going on a 20-9 run to the 8:21 mark.

Utah Valley came back and closed out the half with a 16-6 run to cut UND's lead to 35-27 at the intermission.

In the second half, UVU tied the score at 40-40 with 13:55 remaining. The Sioux were able to increase their lead to six on three occasions, but UVU kept coming back and took the lead for the fist time and for good with 1:46 on the clock on a three-pointer by Johnson, putting the Wolverines up 59-57.

The Fighting Sioux, the GWC regular-season champions, were led by All-Tournament selection Mallory Youngblut with 20 points and Jossy Bergan with 12 points and six assists. Corey Lof led UND on the boards with 11 rebounds.

"The one person that we can't lose is Whitney, and we did." said North Dakota coach Gene Roebuck on losing Whitney Ledger to foul trouble. "She is a difference-maker as far as controlling the inside, getting the boards, and helping our perimeter people get rebounds. If Whitney is not there, we are pretty slight inside.

"If you ask me, if you gave me a choice of whether you could win the conference or the conference tournament, and you couldn't have both, I'd take the conference any day. That's a grind. That's something you have to win a lot of games to accomplish.

"It just didn't happen tonight. It was on their (Utah Valley's) floor, they played well and I give them a lot of credit. They played a good game. They played a good second half. They went hard to the glass. We are a zone team. It goes back to what I said before. Having Whitney on the floor makes a big difference as far as rebounding goes. We can't play with a small lineup. Kayla Bagaason is a guard, not a forward. It was difficult having her down below."

For the game, UVU outrebounded the Sioux, 50-33.

Also on the All-Tournament team were Amber Hegge from South Dakota and Bianca Torre from Texas-Pan American.

UVU-UND Box Score