ST. GEORGE — The women’s basketball team at Utah Tech University suffered the bitter taste of defeat for the first time this season.
Utah Tech’s Breaunna Gillen, here in a game against LaVerne, was named WAC Player of the Week, St. George, Utah, Nov. 13, 2023 | Photo by Stan Plewe, Utah Tech Athletics Media Relations, St. George News
Traveling down Interstate 15 to Las Vegas, Nevada, Tuesday night, Utah Tech fell to UNLV 100-67 at the Cox Pavilion.
The setback brought Utah Tech’s overall record to 2-1.
The Trailblazers matched the Rebels (3-0) point-for-point at the beginning of the game, tying the score 17-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Then the home team got hot, opening up a 34-22 advantage six minutes into the second session.
Maddie Warren sank a shot for Utah Tech, part of her season-high 20-point performance, but UNLV built its biggest lead of the night at 41-27.
Breaunna Gillen completed a 9-0 Utah Tech run at the beginning of the third quarter, but the Rebels countered with a 17-6 streak that padded their lead to 58-45 and put the Trailblazers on their heels.
Warren finished with 20 points off of 6-for-14 shooting and three 3-pointers. She also snagged four rebounds, dispensed two assists and stole two balls.
Gillen contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. She moved into second place on Utah Tech’s career points list, moving within 41 points of passing former Trailblazers standout Johnna Brown.
Desi-Rae Young led four Rebels in double figures with 20 points and finished with a game-high 10 boards. UNLV sank 16 3-pointers in the win.
Utah Tech continues its five-game road swing by playing three road matinees over a six-day stretch during the Thanksgiving Holiday week, starting with a date at Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. (CST).
Gillen named Player of the Week
The Western Athletic Conference named Breaunna Gillen Player of the Week on Monday after Utah Tech won its first two games of the year.
Gillen averaged 22.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.0 steals in those two Trailblazers wins.
Also named the preseason WAC player of the year, Gillen just missed her second career triple-double in a 116-59 rout of La Verne on Nov. 6.
Gillen poured in a game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and tallied 11 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.
The senior from West Jordan (Copper Hills High School) followed that performance with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds in the Trailblazers’ 73-58 triumph over Jacksonville State last Thursday night.
Gillen went 11-of-20 from the floor and collected four assists, one steal and one block.
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