Behind a career-high 26 points from Emily Isaacson, Utah Tech closed out the 2022-23 regular season with a 71-59 road victory at Utah Valley on Thursday night inside the UCCU Center.
 
The Trailblazers swept the women's basketball portion of the "Old Hammer Rivalry" with their in-state rivals as the wrap up the season with an 18-11 overall record, along with a 10-8 mark and a fifth-place finish in WAC play. 
 
How it happened 
After giving up the first two points of the game to the Wolverines, Utah Tech scored 11 of the next 14 to open up an 11-5 lead.
 
Averi Papa knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, while Amber Kartchner hit a jumper ahead of an Isaacson trey.
 
The two teams traded perimeter jumpers until Kartcher broke up the 3-point barrage with a mid-range jumper to stretch the Blazer lead to eight at 19-11.
 
Utah Tech led 21-16 heading into the second quarter and quickly upped its lead back to eight with a Brooke Vance trifecta on the Blazers' first possession. 
 
The hot shooting Trailblazers then went cold, going more than seven minutes without a field, while UVU (6-21/3-13 WAC) managed to outscore Utah Tech 11-4 to pull to within one at 28-27.
 
Maggie McCord ended the Blazers' drought with a 3-pointer, while Vance bookended UT's offensive output in the stanza with another trey to push the lead back to five at 34-29.
 
However UVU would score the final four points of the quarter as Utah Tech retreated to the locker room clinging to a 34-33 advantage.
 
Isaacson, who poured in 23 of her 26 points in the second half, scored Utah Tech's first seven points of the third quarter to extend the lead to 41-37.
 
UVU answered with five-unanswered points to briefly jump back on top at 42-41. That would the final time the Wolverines would enjoy any advantage as the Trailblazers score six-straight points and outscored UVU 10-6 to close the period and take a 51-48 into the fourth.
 
Isaacson began the final stanza with a 3-pointer, but Utah Valley countered with a 6-0 spurt to knot the game at 54-54 with 8:41 to go.
 
From there it was Trailblazers, and Isaacson, who drained three more 3-pointers to kick-start a decisive 12-1 run, and Utah Tech coasted the rest of the way from there to spoil the Wolverines' Senior Night festivities.
 
Numbers to know
Isaacson tied a career high with six 3-pointers (6-of-10 3FG) and finished with a career-best 10 made field goals (10-of-16). The junior also pulled down five rebounds, and collected four assists and one steal in 26 minutes.

Isaacson's 26 points eclipsed her previous career high of 25 set twice last season at Tarleton (12/30/21) and vs. New Mexico State (2/17/22), both of which resulted in Trailblazer victories. 
 
Meanwhile Papa just missed her second double-double in her last three games as she tallied 12 points and a game-high nine boards. Papa hit three 3-pointers of her own and filled the stat sheet with three steals, two blocks and two assists.
 
Senior guard Breaunna Gillen also came close to her team-leading seventh double-double with 12 points and a game-high nine dimes. Gillen finished the regular season scoring in double figures all 29 games, and extended her double-digit point streak to 41-straight games dating back to last season. 
 
Utah Tech shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) on the night, which included a 14-of-35 (.400) clip from the perimeter, but was just 5-of-10 (.500) at the foul line. The Trailblazers also outrebounded UVU 37-35 and tallied 22 assists on their 26 made field goals, while committing only nine turnovers. 

Utah Tech's 18 wins this season are the most during the program's current NCAA Division-I transition, and matched the highest win total during Head Coach JD Gustin's tenure (18-12 in 2019-20) on the Trailblazer bench. 
 
Shay Fano led four Wolverines in double figures with 14 points. UVU was held to 34.5 percent shooting (20-of-58), 7-of-25 (.280) from beyond the arc. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech will make its "WAC Vegas" debut at the 2023 Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, which will be held March 6-11 in Las Vegas. The official WAC seedings will be announced by the conference office on Friday morning at 11 a.m. (MT).