Orem, Utah - The Thunderbird women's basketball team fell in Orem Tuesday night 70–58 at the hands of the Utah Valley University Wolverines.

The first quarter of play was extremely tight with neither team getting an advantage any larger than three. Both teams endured nearly a three minute scoring drought broken by a pair of UVU free throws, but SUU would tie up the score before the end of the first 10-minute period at 11–11.

The Thunderbirds came out in the second quarter and went on a 10–0 run, sparked by a three-point basket by Ashleigh Munns. As the quarter progressed UVU chipped away at SUU's lead, eventually taking a five point advantage into halftime, leading 37–32.

SUU hung around early in the third quarter but with about two and a half minutes left in the period the Wolverines had jumped out to an 18 point lead, their largest of the contest.

The Thunderbirds continued to fight, and a triple from Munns cut the Wolverine lead to seven with just over one minute to play, but UVU held on to take the contest 70–58.

“We started the game with a good mindset,” SUU head coach Chris Boettcher said about the contest. “The starting five did a good job getting in position defensively, we scouted them out and had a pretty good game plan so things started off pretty well. Towards the end of the second half we got in a little bit of foul trouble and our rotations weren't just quite as sharp as they needed to be.”

Munns had a big game for SUU, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting, four of which came from behind the three-point line. SUU forward Jessica Richardson finished the game with a double-double, dropping in 13 points and pulling in 16 rebounds.

Boettcher said he was happy to see some solid performances from some of his more veteran players.

“I think it was nice for the young players to see as well and to feel that they have some go-to guys,” he said. “Their energy, not only in scoring, but defensively was important because they were the ones in the right positions doing the right things to get the stops we needed early. Really excited about that and hope that gives them a boost of confidence to continue and consistently make the players we need to continue to grow.”

Rhaiah Spooner-Knight had a huge game for the Wolverines, finishing the game with 27 points.

Breanu Reid continued her hot start to the season, finishing the game with 11 points and five assists.  

SUU now has a 0–2 mark in regular season play, but will have a chance to change that as they open up their home schedule on Thursday night inside the Centrum Arena against UC Irvine.

Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m. A live stream will be available to watch on WatchBigSky.com and the game can also be heard over the airwaves on KSUU 91.1.