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Show SP O WN Trial by Fire UVU wrestling team learned many important lessons from tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada B1 There's no place like homecoming By Garrett Coleman Sports writer garrettjcoleman@gmail.com A fun little fact of life is that we can prepare ourselves, almost become masterful at something and feel like we could take on anything with this set of skills that we posses. But sometimes there are unforseen circumstances that come our way and can in fact derail us from our goals and aspirations. This was the case for the UVU wrestling team as they went to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational on Nov. 30- Dec 1. Some of those circumstances were underperformance of some athletes. For the most part, what hit the team the hardest was that the tournament officials had not seeded senior Josh Wilson (149 lbs.) and redshirt freshmen phenom, Jade Rauser (125 lbs). Both have been deserving of a seeding, and had to wrestle the top-seeded wrestlers in the first couple of rounds, when they most likely would have faced those wrestlers in the higher placing portions of the bracket. Despite having these circumstances derail what they had hoped for, the Wolverines still wrestled well to get the program some respect. "It was such a good feeling to be there and see our guys doing well," said head coach Greg Williams. "To see our guys compete well against some guys from the Big 10 these guys are not intimidated, they can go out there and compete with anyone." The team never backed down and fought hard, despite having some fall short of their goal, while others stood out and got closer to a breakout performance. Rauser placed eighth overall, and would have placed higher had he not gotten sick and being pulled from the tournament. Wilson and Abner Cook (165 lbs.) both missed placing by one match and both had top-10 See TRIAL BY FIRE, B3 CARLOS SANCHEZ/UVU REVIEW Junior guard Antoine Hosley defending Pepperdine University during their homecoming win last Saturday. UVU defeated Pepperdine 67-63 in overtime. UVU forced 17 turnovers on Pepperdine. Hunsaker and company keep the wave at bay By Alex Rivera Assistant Sports Editor twitter @a_river_uh The drums were blasting. The Mawl was yelling. The seats were somewhat full. And the Wolverines were down to Pepperdine with only five minutes left in the game, 51-45. It wasn't until Holton Hunsaker, who was struggling through the first half of the game, knocked down two deficit-cutting triples before passing it to Jason Johnson to tie the game at 53. The crowd continued to cheer for their Wolverines in hopes that this homecoming night would not be spoiled. But with Ben Aird up at the line, who had only been shooting 50 percent from the charity stripe, the Wolverines chances were hanging int the balance as tensions ran high. But they were able to hang on when he made two free clutch free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime. In overtime, it was mostly all Utah Valley as the Wolverines took control of the ball early on and made a layup on their first possession. They went on to win it in overtime, 67-63, behind yet another three-pointer from Hunsaker and some solid free-throw shooting down the stretch. "A solid team win tonight in what was a battle of wills," said UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker after the victory. It wasn't without its flaws, though. Athough UVU got the victory in points, the Wolverines were outrebounded and shot less accu- rately from field goal range. They excelled over Pepperdine in assists (18) and forced 17 turnovers with solid defense up front. "We worked hard defensively and we did a fabulous job taking care of the basketball," Coach Hunsaker continued. "We found a way to win and at this stage in the season that's going to help us build See HOMECOMING, B2 One Step at a Time Versatility is Jensen's middle name CARLOS SANCHEZ/UVU REVIEW Head coach Cathy Nixon during the home loss against SUU. The UVU women's basketball team showed an improvement on defense this week defeating Weber State and falling a short loss 71-66 to SUU. By Kyle Spencer Sports Writer A recurring theme of in state rivalry games is always a grueling, physical battle. The story was no different this week when the Wolverines squared off against the Weber State Wildcats on Tuesday Dec. 4 and dueled with the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds on Thursday Dec. 6. The opportu- t pity to play both games at home was welcomed by the Wolverines who had played five of their previous six games on the road, resulting in a tough six-game losing streak. UVU was victorious on Tuesday, snapping the streak and beating Weber State 68-56. The game featured a dominant performance by Sammie Jensen, who recorded 30 points and 15 rebounds, but the key to the win was a strong team effort on defense. The Wolverines' defensive pressure resulted in the Wildcats shooting only 30.4 percent from the field. "We came out with an aggressive mentality and it was evident in our play," UVU head coach Cathy Nixon said. "Our defense was really a catalyst for our offense. This See ONE STEP, B2 Vkittil lir 4k Ik --,..... LINDSEY WATSON/UVU REVIEW Sammie Jensen proves to be an asset to the UVU women's basketball team with her nation-leading seven double doubles. UVU went 1-1 last week at home. Sammie Jensen grew up a two-sport athlete before choosing basketball. Now she leads UVU in every major statistical category By Matthew Baiamonte Sports Writer mattbaiamonte@gmail.com Positions on the basketball court have specific duties. Point guards handle the ball. Shooting guards score. Centers rebound. Senior forward Sammie Jensen does them all. She described herself as "very active" in her childhood, playing two sports religiously. "People always asked me 'what is my favorite sport'? Soccer? Basketball? And it just depended on what season I was in," Jensen said. Through elementary school and junior high, Jensen split time between playing shooting guard on her basketball team and playing soccer. It wasn't until some poor planning by a high school coach opened up the possibility of playing basketball full time. "We had 10 people graduate on my soccer team my sophomore year," Jensen said. "I was like, 'oh well, I will just play basketball.' Then I started playing AAU ball and it became year round, not just during the season." Ever since then, she has become one of the most versatile players in the country. Jensen currently leads the nation in double doubles with seven on the season. She is in the top 10 in the country for rebounds and ranks in the top 100 for scoring as well. Not to mention she won GWC player of the year last year and is on pace to repeat. How did she get so versatile? "My junior year I got moved to the four and figured out I could rebound," Jensen said. "I was like, 'oh my gosh I can rebound now.' I didn't even start playing that position until my junior year of high school." A couple weeks ago, during an interview with Jensen before embarking on a road trip to the Midwest, a UVU reporter was struggling to clear space on his phone to record the interview. Jensen gave the reporter a hard time, recom See VERSATILE, 82 |