Utah Tech withstood a strong second half Maverick charge to come away with a hard-fought 62-56 victory over Omaha on Wednesday night inside the Burns Arena. 
 
How it happened 
Utah Tech (2-0/0-0 WAC) shook off a shaky start with an 11-2 run over the final four minutes of the first quarter en route to a 19-8 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
Calyn Dallas got the rally going with the game's first 3-pointer. Kaylee Borden then knocked down a perimeter jumper of her own after a Maverick bucket, followed by a conventional three-point play from Paige Cofer and two Dallas technical free throws.
 
The Trailblazers kept that momentum going to begin the second quarter, using another Cofer lay-in and a Brie Crittendon three-point play to extend to their biggest lead of the night at 24-8.
 
Meanwhile Utah Tech's defense held the Mavericks without a made field goal for nearly 12 full minutes as Omaha misfired on 23 of its first 27 shot attempts (0-of-10 3FG) and had nine turnovers through the first 18 minutes of the game.
 
Despite its offensive struggles, Omaha (1-2) managed to stay within striking distance by going 6-of-8 at the foul line in the second quarter before Maverick forward Cora Olsen's lay-in and free throw with 2:04 to play until halftime. 
 
The Mavericks closed the period with a 10-4 spurt to trim the Blazer lead to 34-22 at the intermission. 
 
Maddie Warren opened the second half with her first points of the night to extend Utah Tech's lead to 14.

Then Omaha flipped the script with 10-straight points as part of a 16-2 run to pull even at 38-38 with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter.
 
However the Mavericks were not able to take their first lead of the game as Keke Borden drained a pull-up jumper in the lane on Utah Tech's ensuing possession. 
 
Borden later added another bucket, while Dallas hit her second trey of the night to make it a two-possession game at 45-41 heading to the fourth quarter.
 
Utah Tech would not surrender the lead in the final 10 minutes, but the Blazers were not able could not shake the Mavericks as Omaha managed to keep a two-score game. 
 
The Trailblazers finally delivered the knockout blow with a 15-foot Warren left-handed baseline floater that beat the beat the shot clock with 1:12 remaining. Warren went on to go 3-for-4 at the foul line in the closing moments to salt away the home victory. 
 
Numbers to know
Borden led three Trailblazers in double figures with 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting. The fifth-year guard also pulled down six rebounds to go with two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
 
Warren scored all 11 of her points in the second half, with nine of those coming in the final quarter.
 
Dallas finished with a season-high 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting with a pair of threes off the bench as Utah Tech's reserves outscored Omaha's bench by a 20-8 count.
 
Crittendon just missed her first collegiate double-double as she tallied nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds. 
 
Utah Tech shot 33.8 percent (22-of-65) from the floor on the night, though the Blazers were just 5-of-27 (.185) from beyond the arc. 
 
Utah Tech also struggled at the foul line, hitting on 13-of-23 (.565) at stripe. That said, the Trailblazers did manage 16 assists to just nine turnovers, which included only four total miscues over the final three quarters. 

Utah Tech's defense tied an NCAA D-I era high with 10 blocked shots, with Lauren Crocker accounting for a career-high four of those rejections. The 10 total blocks also tied for the second-most in the program's four-year era overall. 
 
Olsen led all scorers with 23 points, while Maverick guard Sarai Estupiñan poured in 21 points of her own as the duo accounted for 44 of Omaha's 56 points.

Omaha went 16-of-62 (.258) for the game, which included a 4-of-23 (.174) clip from the perimeter. The Mavericks did own a decisive 57-44 rebounding edge, including a 17-10 count on the offensive glass. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech will don the road jerseys for the first time this Saturday afternoon when the Trailblazers make the short trip up to Ogden to face in-state rival Weber State. Tip-off inside the Dee Events Center is set for 2 p.m. (MT).