Kaylee Borden tied a career-high with 25 points to lead four Trailblazers in double figures as Utah Tech women's basketball opened its five-game holiday homestand with an 81-70 victory over visiting Westminster University on Saturday afternoon inside the Burns Arena.

How it happened 
In the first match-up between the former RMAC in-state rivals since Utah Tech's final Division II season in 2019-20, the sides seemed to pick up right where they left off in a first quarter that featured five ties and three lead changes.
 
The Trailblazers (4-2/0-0 WAC) owned a 22-17 advantage after the opening 10 minutes following a Maddie Warren 3-pointer and a Borden lay-up in the final moments of the frame.
 
Westminster (2-2) would open the second quarter with an 8-0 spurt to race out to its largest lead of the day at 25-22 with 7:33 to play until halftime.
 
Warren halted the Griffin rally with a bucket on the Blazers' next possession. The redshirt senior guard then drained the second of her two 3-pointers and added a transition lay-in as part of a personal 7-0 run to spot Utah Tech a 29-25 lead just over one minute later.
 
Utah Tech would push its lead to as many as seven at 37-30 late in the frame, but a 10-foot jumper from former Blazer guard Makeili Ika just before the halftime horn made it a 37-32 game at the intermission. 
 
Clinging to a two-possession lead at 46-40 midway through the third quarter, the Trailblazers finally began to pull away, using a 17-3 run to turn that six-point lead into a 20-point cushion at 63-43 after a Borden basket with 1:19 left in the period.
 
The Trailblazers scored all 17 points without benefit of one of their patented 3-pointers, though they did manage to convert on three conventional three-point play opportunities.

Borden kick-started the rally with an "and one," then after a defensive stop, Rose Boisnel followed suit with a bucket and free throw to give the Blazers their first double-digit lead of the game.
 
Paige Cofer got into the act with one of her own before Borden capped the rally with four-straight points.
 
Westminster would chip away at the deficit, eventually trimming the Utah Tech lead to nine at 71-62 thanks to a Teuila Nawahine jumper with 5:16 remaining in the game.
 
However that would be as close as the Griffins would get as Boisnel drained back-to-back 3-pointers, and the Blazers held on from there to earn the hard-fought home win. 
 
Numbers to know
Borden scored 19 of her 25 points after halftime, and wound up going 8-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-11 at the foul line. The redshirt senior guard also grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists in 33 minutes.
 
Warren added 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with five rebounds, two assists and a season-high tying four steals.
 
Meanwhile Boisnel poured in 13 points off the bench in her Trailblazer debut. The freshman forward collected four boards and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench. 
 
Chardonnay Hartley also tallied double figures with 11 points along with a game-high six assist, two steals and one blocked shot. 
 
Utah Tech shot a season-high 45.2 percent from the floor (28-of-62), which included a 9-of-22 effort (.409 – season-high) from the perimeter. However the Trailblazers struggled at the foul line, going 16-of-28 (.571) at the charity stripe.
 
The Trailblazers outrebounded Westminster 49-36, thanks in part of a career-high 13 boards from Brie Crittendon. 
 
Ellie Mitchell paced the Griffins with 18 points, while Ika finished with 14 points. 
 
Westminster hit on 36.5 percent of its field goal attempts (23-of-63), including an 8-of-22 clip (.364) from beyond the arc. 
 
Up Next
Utah Tech continues its homestand this Tuesday night when the Trailblazers welcome McNeese State to the Burns Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (MT).