OREM, Utah ? The CSUB women's basketball team came out flat in its final tuneup for the NCAA Division I Independent Tournament, falling at Independent lead Utah Valley University 94?82 Saturday afternoon at the McKay Center in Orem.
The game was the final tuneup for both team entering the NCAA Division I Independent Championship next week. CSUB (11-5 overall), likely will enter the Independent Championships as the No. 4 seed and face Chicago State. Utah Valley (16-9) will be the No. 1 seed and most likely face host UT?Pan American in the opening round.
Senior forward Naomi Johnson had a big game for Bakersfield, scoring a career-high 26 points while pulling down eight boards. Tiffany Belt came off the bench to score 18 points, one off her career high.
Junior forward Robyn Fairbanks, the leading scorer and rebounder among Division I Independent players, recorded a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Wolverines.
Saturday's game played out as the opposite of their earlier meeting in Bakersfield. In the first meeting, the Roadrunners raced to a big first-half lead and led by more than 30 points in the second half before putting it in cruise control for a 94?78 win. This time, Utah closed the first half on a 16-6 run to lead 40-25 at the half.
Although never grew to more than 18 points, the 'Runners never got closer than 11 in the second half.
Utah Valley University 94, CSU Bakersfield 82
CSU BAKERSFIELD (11?15): Stribling 3-7 2-2 8; Johnson 10-12 6-10 26; Tarver 6-15 4-6 16; Kepenekian 1-5 0-0 2; Arase 1-6 2-2 5; Belt 5-10 6-8 16; West 0-1 1-2 1; Leon 3-6 0-0 6; Carter 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-62 21-30 82.
UTAH VALLEY (16?9): McMurray 7-13 0-0 17; Bowen 1-3 0-0 3; Fairbanks 9-13 5-6 23; Marvin 5-10 6-8 17; Beaman 3-4 0-0 7; Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Nakayama 3-5 1-2 8; Peterson 4-10 0-0 8; Cornejo 5-8 1-1 11; Reynolds 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 37-66 13-17 41.
HALFTIME: UVU 45-30. 3-PT. FG: CSUB 3-0 (Belt 2-3, Arase 1-4, Leon 0-1, Kepenekian 0-2); UVU 7-16 (McMurray 3-4, Bowen 1-1, Beaman 1-2, Nakayama 1-2, Marvin 1-3, Fairbanks 0-1). REBOUNDS: CSUB 29 (Johnson 8); UVU 41 (Fairbanks 10). ASSISTS: CSUB 12 (Tarver 5); UVU 22 (Beaman 6). TURNOVERS: CSUB 14, UVU 15. BLOCKS: CSUB 2 (Johnson, Belt); UVU 4 (Fairbanks 2). STEALS: CSUB 8 (Belt 3); UVU 8 (3 with 2). TECHNICALS: None. FOULED OUT: None. OFFICIALS: Jones, Sowby, Holman. ATTN: 434.
