UVU junior Kylee Mabry drives to the basket during the WAC semifinal game against Grand Canyon at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, March 14, 2025.
When facing a really good opponent, the margin of error is exponentially small.
The No. 5-seeded UVU women’s basketball team knew it would need to put together a really good game to have a shot against top-seeded Grand Canyon in Friday’s WAC semifinal at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
And for long stretches, the Wolverines did just that, going toe to toe with the Lopes.
Unfortunately for UVU, there were two stretches that really got away from them and that was enough for Grand Canyon to pull away and get the 84-55 win, ending the Wolverine playoff run.
UVU was tied with the Lopes in the early going at 7-7 before Grand Canyon went on a 17-3 to go up by double digits.
The Wolverines rallied in the second quarter, though, trimming the lead to just three at 26-23 before heading into halftime down by a manageable score of 34-28.
But the third quarter quickly turned into a disaster for UVU.
After the two teams exchanged buckets to start the frame, the Lopes outscored the Wolverines 28-7 for the rest of the frame.
UVU had a tough time stopping the quick, versatile Grand Canyon squad during that 10-minute period and frequently got called for fouls when the Lopes scored. The 3-point plays were devastating as the game got was from UVU.
Grand Canyon went 12-of-16 in the period and had three separate 8-0 runs.
UVU tried to get back into the game in the fourth quarter but weren’t able to close the gap.
The Wolverines got a team-high 16 points from the WAC’s Co-Sixth Player of the Year Kylee Mabry, who was 5-for-5 from the field and also dished out two assists.
UVU also got eight points apiece from junior Halle Nelson and graduate Donja Stafford Collins, while senior Tahlia White added seven points. Nelson led the Wolverines with seven rebounds.
Grand Canyon (31-2) ran the nation’s longest win streak to 29 games behind a 28-point afternoon from Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, who went 7-for-11 from three.
Utah Valley (18-12) set a program record with 18 wins in 2024-25, its most since beginning its transition to NCAA Division I in 2003-04. It’s also an 8-win improvement from last season, and 12 wins better than two seasons ago.
The Wolverines may have postseason opportunities but if this was the end of the road for this team, seniors Ally Criddle (a former Skyridge star) and Tahlia White (who played at Mountain View and BYU before transferring to UVU) as well as graduate transfer Danja Stafford Collins (White’s cousin and a former Mountain View Bruin) laid a great foundation for the future.
