Five Trailblazers scored in double figures as Utah Tech's women's basketball team opened the 2023-24 campaign with a resounding 116-59 victory over La Verne on Monday afternoon inside the Burns Arena.
 
The 116 points scored on Monday broke the program's previous single-game points record of 112, which coincidentally was set last season in a home win against La Verne (UTU 112, LVU 61; 11/26/22).  
 
How it happened 
Utah Tech trailed briefly in the opening moments of the game before using a 20-0 run to turn a 5-2 deficit into a commanding 22-5 lead after an Emily Isaacson 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. 
 
The Trailblazers knocked down five trifectas in the run – all of which were hit by all five Blazer starters. Breaunna Gillen, Maddie Warren and Maggie McCord all hit consecutive 3-pointers to kick-start the rally, while Macie Warren drilled her first trey of the game before Isaacson's long-range jumper.
 
Utah Tech led 27-13 after the first quarter, then began the second frame with a 10-0 spurt en route to a 52-27 advantage at the intermission. The Blazers would lead by as many as 59 points late in the second half before settling for the 57-point season-opening victory. 
 
Numbers to know
Gillen, the WAC's preseason player of the year, flirted with her second-career triple double as she led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, along with a career-high tying 11 rebounds and eight assists. 
 
Gillen's seventh dime of the game, which came on a Maddie Warren corner 3-pointer early in the second half, pushed her school record career total to the 400-assist plateau.
 
Macie Warren followed suit as she just missed her first collegiate triple double with 19 points, a career-high 10 assists and seven rebounds. Warren went 7-of-10 from the floor with three 3-pointers. 
 
Meanwhile her twin sister Maddie Warren, who was back in the starting lineup after missing the final 18 games of the 2021-22 season and all of the 2022-23 campaign due to injury, tallied 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Warren nailed a pair of 3-pointers and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds in a team-high 30 minutes on the court.
 
Freshman Calyn Dallas made the most of her Trailblazer debut as she poured in 15 points in 24 minutes off the bench on 5-for-5 shooting with three 3-pointers. 
 
McCord finished with 13 points on 5-of-11 from the floor with three treys along with six boards. 
 
Utah Tech shot 58.4 percent from the floor (45-of-77), which was the fifth-highest single game field goal percentage in program history. The Trailblazers' 45 made field goals tied a school record set during the 2015-16 season (at Chaminade; 1/5/16). 
 
The Blazers hit 17 3-pointers on the afternoon (17-of-38; .447), which tied for the third-highest single game total in program history. Utah Tech also hit 17 treys in last season's win over La Verne. 
 
Utah Tech outrebounded the Panthers 57-32, and finished with 27 assists on its 45 made field goals. The 27 dimes are the sixth-most in a single game in program history. 
 
Naomi Jackson led two Panthers in double figures with 12 points. La Verne was held to 25.0 percent shooting (19-of-76), though the Panthers did go 11-of-36 (.306) from beyond the arc. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech will play host to Jacksonville State inside the Burns Arena this Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game is part of the newly formed WAC/Conference USA Alliance.