Whitworth held off a strong comeback by visiting Utah Valley State and defeated the NCAA Division I Wolverines 64-62 in a women's game Dec. 3 in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

UVSC, in its first year as a Division I institution after moving up from the junior college ranks, had a chance to tie or win when Whitworth's Sarah Shogren missed a pair of free throws with five seconds left. But the Wolverines were unable to get a shot off.

Whitworth earned its first ever win over an NCAA Division I program and improved to 3-1 this season. UVSC, which has played primarily NAIA and Division II teams so far, fell to 4-3.

Shogren scored 15 of her game-high 25 points in the first half to help the Pirates take a 39-28 lead at halftime. The Wolverines led 17-11 before Whitworth went on a 13-0 run to take a 24-17 advantage. Haley Bradley keyed the run with two 3-pointers, one of which turned into a four point play when she was fouled.

The Pirates opened their largest lead when Tiffany Speer made a jumper to extend the lead to 49-35 with 13:15 to play in the game. But then the taller Wolverines switched to a zone defense and Whitworth went cold. Katie Wilson's lay up with 7:31 to play cut the deficit to 50-48, capping a 13-1 run by UVSC.

But the visitors were never able to get over the hump and grab the lead. A three pointer by Shogren extended the Whitworth lead back to 62-54 with just under three minutes to play in the game. UVSC made another run to end the game, pulling to within 62-60 on another layup by Wilson.

But again Utah Valley could not convert opportunities. Sarah Shogren made one of two free throws with 1:02 left to give the Pirates a three-point lead. But the Wolverines could not take advantage when Dani Bielec stole a pass into the middle. Wenchi Liu then made only one of two free throws with 24 seconds to play to make the lead 64-60. Katie Allred hit a jumper in the key with 12 seconds to play to cut the lead to two. Whitworth was able to get the ball inbounds and run off seven seconds before Shogren was fouled. Though she missed both shots, UCSC was unable to get off a shot to tie or win.

In addition to Shogren's 25 points, Speer added 16, Bradley had 12 and Liu finished with 11 points for Whitworth. Liu, who stands 5-4, also led the Pirates with nine rebounds.

Allred was joined by Molly Hillyard with 14 points to lead the Wolverines. Wilson finished with 12 points. Allred also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.