Women's Basketball 12/11/2011 5:21:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Southern Utah Notches One-Point Victory at Utah Valley

OREM, Utah Dec. 10 – Southern Utah defeated Utah Valley for the second time this season, and made it five wins in a row in the series, after taking a 60-59 decision over the Wolverines on their home floor Saturday. Angel Dorn helped the Thunderbirds come out on top by earning a trip to the free throw line with less than a second remaining where she knocked down her first attempt to break a 59-59 tie and clinch the one-point victory for SUU.

DJ Norman and Kimie Hawkins got the Southern Utah offense going in the game's opening minutes, accounting for 10 of team's first 13 points be to help the Thunderbirds jump out to a 13-8 advantage. The Wolverines rallied by scoring eight of the game's next 10 points to go up 16-15. A three pointer from Dorn would then spark a 8-0 run for SUU, helping them build a 23-16 lead at the seven minute mark. SUU would eventually take a 29-25 edge into the break as Norman chipped in another five points to close the half.

The T-Bird offense made an impressive showing in the opening period, going 11-26 from the field and 3-7 from behind the arc for an overall shooting percentage of 42.3%. SUU also won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Wolverines by a count of 21-15 in the first half.

Sammie Jensen and Jenna Johnson opened the second half with back-to-back baskets for Utah Valley to pull the score even at 29. The Wolverines followed those scores with a 16-7 run capped by a three pointer by Jensen that pulled their lead to seven at 41-34. The Thunderbirds answered by outscoring their opponents 11-5 over the next two minutes to trim the deficit back down to one, trailing by a score of 46-45.

Utah Valley would push its advantage back to up to five with four minutes remaining in the game on a pair of free throws by Whitney Jenkins. The T-Birds worked hard to chip away at the lead, but still found themselves down by four with just over a minute to play. With SUU in need of a basket Hailey Mandelko took the ball at top of the arc where she fired off a deep-three just before being hit a by a UVU defender. The ball found the bottom of the net and Mandelko went to the line where she completed the four-point play to knot the score at 59.

On the ensuing Wolverine possession the Thunderbirds forced a turnover and took control with an opportunity to set-up a game winning field goal. Following an SUU timeout the Thunderbird attack was unable to find a hole in the Utah Valley defense and settled for a three-point attempt from the corner as the clock wound down. The shot missed the rim and bounced out of bounds, giving the ball back to UVU with a little over a second left. The Wolverines were unable to connect on their inbounds pass however and turned the ball back over to the T-Birds. Mandelko found Dorn with a quick pass from the baseline as she was cutting to basket drawing a foul to earn a trip to the line for two chances at a potential game-winning free throw. Her first attempt shot through the net to put her team up one and her second bounced off the rim forcing time to expire on the rebound, clinching the victory and setting the final score at 60-59 in favor of SUU.

Kimie Hawkins recorded a double double in the win, leading all scorers with 14 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Mandelko finished with 12 points for SUU and Dorn chipped in a dozen more off the bench. The Wolverines were led by Whitney Jenkins who scored 14 points, including six from the free throw line.

With the win Southern Utah improves to 3-6 on the year while Utah Valley falls to 4-4 overall. The Thunderbirds will return home next week to face the Westminster Griffins. The game will tip-off in the Centrum Arena on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

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