WAC basketball: Utah Tech women bounce back big while men’s road rally not enough

Written by E. George Goold
January 1, 2023

ST. GEORGE — The Utah Tech women’s basketball team got just what the doctor ordered Saturday afternoon in Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers bounced back from a tough road loss by handling Utah Valley University 68-58. Freshman guard Amber Kartchner led three Trailblazers in double-digit scoring with 19 points in the victory.

“Obviously you want to win as many games as you can, so coming off a loss you really want to get the next one,” Kartchner told St. George News after the win. “But I feel like we mostly take every game just game by game.”

Senior Maggie McCord posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Emily Isaacson just missed a double-double with 16 points and nine boards.

“Coach (JD Gustin) always talks to us about having little five-minute games within every quarter,” Kartchner said. “We just tried to take everything possession by possession.”

Utah Tech evened its record in the Western Athletic Conference at 1-1 after the win and improved to 9-4 overall.

Utah Tech freshman guard Amber Kartchner shows off the Blazer Belt after a WAC women’s basketball win, St. George, Utah, Dec. 31, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

The Trailblazers broke open an 8-8 game with a 10-run to end the first quarter ahead 18-8. They never lost the lead. Breaunna Gillen beat the buzzer with a layup and the home team took a 32-21 lead into halftime.

McCord sank two 3’s and freshman Alyson Deaver also scored from behind the arc as the home team took an 18-point lead in the third quarter.

“I feel like it’s just taking what the defense gives you. That’s when we’re at our best,” Kartchner said.

The Trailblazers next hit the road for two WAC games in Texas. They play at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 5 and are at Sam Houston on Jan. 7.

“We’ve been working hard for everything we have so far,” Kartchner said. “We definitely feel like we’re in a good spot and we can keep doing some big things.”

Men come back, then fall 71-60

Up the highway in Orem at UVU on Saturday, a furious Utah Tech rally in the second half stalled and the Wolverines clawed their way to win after scoring 11 of the game’s final 12 points.

The setback snapped Utah Tech’s six-game winning streak and evened its record in the WAC at 1-1. The Blazers are 9-6 overall.

According to a press release, Utah Valley (11-4, 2-0) took a 44-33 lead into halftime.

The Blazers put up a 10-2 run and cut the lead to 58-57 with 6:06 left to play.

Utah Tech’s defense then stepped up with a pair of big stops, while the offense had chances to take the lead on its next two ensuing possessions, but came up empty.

Frank Staine’s bucket with 3:55 remaining again cut the Utah Valley lead to one at 60-59.

That would end up being Utah Tech’s last field goal in the contest and the Wolverines won their eighth consecutive game.

Utah Tech missed senior leading scorer Cameron Gooden, who sat out the contest with an abdominal strain. He was injured in the first half of Utah Tech’s win over University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Thursday night.

Junior Isaiah Pope (14 points) and senior Jacob Nicolds (12 points) paced the Utah Tech attack.

Up next for the Trailblazers is a trip to Riverside, California. Utah Tech will play California Baptist in a WAC contest Thursday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. (MT)

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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