Behind career highs of 28 points and 12 assists from Chardonnay Hartley, and 20 points from Emily Isaacson, Utah Tech women's basketball came away with a hard-fought 81-78 victory over in-state rival Weber State on Saturday night inside the Burns Arena.

With the win, the Trailblazers halted their brief two-game skid to improve to 2-2 on the young season. In addition, JD Gustin collected his 100^th victory as Trailblazer head coach. 
 
How it happened 
Utah Tech got off to a fast start thanks to seven early points from Hartley. The junior point guard, along with Ellie Taylor and Lauren Crocker all hit 3-pointers as the Blazers hit three of their first five attempts from beyond the arc en route to a 15-6 lead midway through the first quarter.
 
Weber State (1-3) chipped away at the deficit, thanks in part to forward Mata Peaua, who came off the bench and scored seven of the her team's next 18 points, as the Wildcats drew even at 24-24 after 10 minutes complete.
 
Hartley and Isaacson got the second period off on the right foot for the Blazers, with both players taking turns hitting from the perimeter with four made threes between them to stake Utah Tech to a 36-28 advantage with 5:31 to go until halftime.
 
But again the Wildcats clawed their way back thanks to a pair of Peaua jumpers that bookended back-to-back-to-back threes from Kendra Parra and Lanae Billy.
 
In all, Weber State outscored the Trailblazers 13-2 over a four-minute stretch to erase the deficit and take its first lead of the night at 41-38 with 1:30 remaining in the stanza.
 
Isaacson finally stopped the run with third 3-pointer of the half on Utah Tech's ensuing possession. 
 
Brie Crittendon then picked up one of her three steals on the Wildcats' next possession and fired an outlet to Hartley. Hartley then drove the lane and kicked out to Taylor for a three-ball from the left wing that gave Utah Tech a 44-41 at the half.
 
The Trailblazers kept the momentum going to start the second half, striking for six-unanswered points to push their lead to nine at 50-41.

However Utah Tech could not deliver the knockout blow as the Wildcats rattled off a 15-5 spurt to wrestle the lead back at 56-55 following a Margarita Satini bucket at the 4:32 mark of the third quarter. 

Both teams struggled offensively over the remainder of the frame, though the Trailblazers did just enough to take a slim 60-58 cushion into the final quarter. 

As they did in each of the first three periods, the Blazers started out fast to open the fourth, outscoring Weber State 14-5 to open up an 11-point lead at 74-63 after a Crittendon 3-pointer with 4:29 to play. 
 
Weber State closed the gap to 76-73 after a Satini jumper, but Hartley answered with a pull-up jumper of her own on the Trailblazers' next trip down the court to make it a two-possession game with 1:04 left.
 
After the Wildcats made it an 81-78 game on a Taylor Smith bucket with 5.1 seconds on the clock, they forced a Blazer five-second call on the ensuing inbounds play.
 
Smith took the Wildcats' inbounds pass and drove the baseline looking to kick the ball out to the perimeter. However her pass was deflected away by Isaacson and Hartley recovered the loose ball and ran out the clock to clinch the hard-earned win. 
 
Numbers to know
Though she went 6-of-19 from the floor with three 3-pointers, Hartley knocked down 13-of-16 from the foul line, marking the second time in her first four games as a Trailblazer that she reached double figures in made free throws (11-of-17 at NM State; 11/7). 
 
Hartley, who has now scored 20-plus points in three of her first four games as a Trailblazer, also grabbed four rebounds to go with her 12 dimes. 

Meanwhile Isaacson enjoyed arguably her best overall shooting performance of her collegiate career. The fifth-year senior went 7-of-9 from the floor, including 6-of-7 from the perimeter, all while collecting six rebounds, three assists and four steals. 
 
Not to be outdone, Taylor was a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc and hit on 6-of-9 from the field on the night en route to a career-high 17 points. The true freshman also tallied four rebounds, and career highs of three steals and two blocks in 35 minutes of action. 
 
Utah Tech wound up connecting on 23-of-55 from the floor, though the Blazers shot a season best 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from 3-point country. The Trailblazers also posted a season high 73.1 percent clip (19-of-26) at the foul line. 

Parra led three Wildcat players in double figures with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six 3-pointers. Weber State shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) on the night, including a 12-of-34 effort (.353) from the perimeter, and outrebounded Utah Tech by a 46-32 count.  
 
Up next
Utah Tech will make the first of its five regular season trips to Texas next week when the Trailblazers open two-game road swing at Houston Christian next Thursday, Nov. 21. Tip-off inside HCU's Sharp Gym is slated for 5 p.m. (MT).