OREM, Utah – The Omaha women's basketball team surrendered a late lead and Utah Valley came back for a 59-57 win over UNO at the UCCU Center on Monday afternoon.
The Mavericks fell to 5-7 on the season, while Utah Valley improved to 6-8.
Omaha had two players post double digit points. Brianna Bogard led all scorers with 25 points on 8-for-18 shooting from the floor, including four 3-pointers. Mikaela Shaw added 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Taijhe Kelly chipped in six points and five boards. Lanese Bough added four points, six rebounds, and three assists. Freshman Vanessa Barajas blocked five shots.
Utah Valley was led by sophomore Rhaiah Spooner-Knight's 18 points. Karlee Norris had a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds. Mariah Seals chipped in 13 points and five assists.
Omaha trailed by as many as six points in the first half, but rallied late in the half to take the lead. UNO trailed by one point with nine seconds left in the half, before Bogard sank a pair of free throws to give the Mavericks a 25-24 lead. Mikaela Shaw blocked a Utah Valley 3-point shot at the end of the period to keep Omaha's one point lead as the two teams went into the locker room.
Bogard stretched the lead to three points, 27-24, on a lay-up to start the second half. Utah Valley went on a 10-2 run over the next 5:20 to take a 34-29 lead with 13:59 remaining in the game. Bogard scored 13 straight Omaha points to tie the game at 42-42 with 7:51 left in regulation.
Taijhe Kelly put Omaha up, 46-45, with a lay-up at the 4:45 mark of the second half. Following a turnover by the Wolverines, Shaw nailed a 3-pointer to put the Mavs up four points with 4:06 left to play. Taylor Gordon and Mariah Seals each sank a pair of free throws as Utah Valley retook the lead, 50-48, with 2:08 remaining in regulation.
Madi Robson drained four free throws in a 23 second span to give Omaha a 53-51 lead with 1:45 left in the game. Utah Valley tied the game on the next possession with a jumper by Spooner-Knight.
The Wolverines' Taylor Gordon was fouled on a lay-up and converted the free throw to put Utah Valley up 57-55 with 30 seconds left in regulation. Omaha's Remy Davenport was fouled on a fast break attempt and hit a pair of free throws to tie the game for the 12th time.
Following a Utah Valley timeout, the Wolverines attacked the lane and made a lay-up with 1.9 seconds left on the clock taking a 59-57 lead. Omaha called a timeout to set up the final play of the game, but Shaw's 3-pointer fell short.
Omaha opens conference play on Friday, Jan. 2 against South Dakota. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Sapp Fieldhouse. Jon Green will have the call of the game on The Mighty 1290 AM. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
