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Show MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2008 • THE COLLEGE TIMES Sports 2007-08 RECORD 16-10* Home clear, rough road all the way to the end At Home 12-0 Away 3-9 Neutral 1 -1 weekend gave the Wolverines a chance to improve on Sporri editor their 3-8 road record. "If we play well, I feel If only the women's like we can win the tournabasketball team could have ment," Utah Valley coach captured an ounce of its play Cathy Nixon said. at home to take on the road They opened the tourthis season, things would nament with a road game have been much different. against the host school, A perfect 12-0 at the McKay Center with a 94-82 Texas-Pan American but win against Cal State Ba- their road woes continued in kersfield in their final game a 71 -64 loss. The two games the womin Orem, the women could en played against Bakersdo no wrong at home. field are perfect examples of Wins against Gonzaga the transformation that hapand Seton Hall came at pens when the team hits the home. But in unfriendly McKay Center hardwood. confines, the team lost to On the road, Utah Valley the New Jersey Institute of fell 94-78 to Bakersfield, Technology and Cal State trailed by as many as 33 Bakersfield. points, and turned the ball On the road, they've over 20 times. The Wolverdone little right. ines couldn't stop the RoadUtah Valley lost nine 1 runners outside shooting as straight road games - 10 Bakersfield hit 10 3-pointers straight away from the Mcand out-shot Utah Valley 58 Kay Center, with the loss to percent to 23 percent behind Chicago State in a game that the 3-point line. was moved to Timpanogos High School - tofinishout "We came out with a defensive mindset, and they its regular season. The Independent tour- missed some shots," Cornenament in Texas over the jo said. "Sometimes on the Ben Webster road our shots don't fall in, and we let it go on defense and offense." At home, against the Roadrunners, the Wolverines were never threatened. The outside shots fell as Utah Valley led by 15 points at halftime, made 7-of-l6 behind the 3-point line and four Wolverines scored in double figures, led by Robyn Fairbanks with 23 to go with 10 rebounds. "Offensively, we shared the ball well and made it difficult for them to pressure us," Nixon said. "We kind of got a little bit of rhythm and confidence back offensively." Confidence has been something the team hasn't had much of on the road. With games against Duke, New Mexico State and BYU on the road, it wasn't an easy schedule. With a loss in the first road of the Independent tournament, Utah Valley failed to win a road game the final three months of the season. TEAM LEADERS Asumi Nakayama 49 total Ken Hoglund / College Times Robin Fairbanks 24 per game Asumi Nakayama 3.7 per game M\ BnjumuMG BLOCKS Robin Fairbanks 9.8 per game Robin Fairbanks 55 total Junior Sandy Marvin drives against Cal State Bakersfield in the team's final home game of the season. *With two games remaining goodbye * • ™" ^ ™ ^ ^ I i ^ ^ ^ l^K^^^^^H^HUHC_^a^B_^H (Left) Senior Susie Cornejo (34) receives a plaque and smiles for a picture with her family and coach Cathy Nixon. (Right) Rebekah Peterson (23) with coach Nixon, her parents and husband on senior night. Ken Hoglund / College Times Cornejo and Peterson honored on senior night time playing as Wolverines at home. It turned out to be a good game for both, as Peterson finished with eight points and nine rebounds while Cornejo finished with 11 points. Both went through that miserable year when the team played its first Division I schedule, which included 20 road games. Since going 4-22, the program has come a long way. "It was tough my fresh- Ben Webster Sports editor It's that dreaded game for some and the welcome moment for others. Senior Night is a time to reflect and celebrate. Players try to shrug off its significance, but that's impossible, really. Rebekah Peterson and Susie Cornejo had extra family at the game and lingered a little longer afterwards, perhaps to enjoy their final M I— I"" ll"l j „ man year, but we've progressed every year," Cornejo said. "We had good recruits and have just gotten better over the years. We've kind of grown up as a team every year we've gone on." Peterson and Cornejo became the first players to play all four years at the NCAA level. Peterson, from Salinas, Calif., is fourth on Utah Valley's all-time scoring list with 701 points. This season she's averaged 6.4 points per game in 22.4 minutes a game. Cornejo, from Aberdeen, Idaho, averaged 3.8 points per game through 25 games this season coming off the bench. "It's amazing how fast time goes," coach Cathy Nixon said. "The thing that's special about those two is they kind of mark the aging of our program. They have the first-hand experience of those 20 road games and just getting thumped all over the place." It's different now. The team won 16 games before the Independent tournament, one more than last year's record of 15. The expectations are to win. "Obviously, there's been hard times," Peterson said. "The feeling of disrespect you get from other teams is disheartening. You get a lot more motivated to beat teams. I'm really glad I got to be a part of it." While both players have grown in their four years at the school, both players have helped Utah Valley's women's basketball program grow since that first D-I season. "If you don't have kids in your program who will sell you and sell your program," Nixon said, "you're not going to get players. I really do tribute Bekah and Susie for that." |