Emily Isaacson led three Trailblazer starters with 22 points, but Utah Tech could not recover from a tough second quarter in dropping a 71-60 home WAC decision to Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon in the Burns Arena.

How it happened 
Utah Tech (5-20/1-11 WAC) led 18-13 after a strong first quarter which saw Isaacson and point guard Chardonnay Hartley lead the way with five points apiece.
 
Four different Trailblazers knocked down 3-pointers as Utah Tech shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the opening 10 minutes. 
 
However just like the first meeting between the two sides earlier this month in Abilene (2/6/25), the second quarter proved to problematic for Utah Tech again on Saturday.
 
ACU (17-10/6-6 WAC) opened the second frame with a quick 7-2 spurt to tie the game at 20-20 nearly two minutes in.
 
Isaacson put the Blazers back on top with a 3-pointer, but the Wildcats countered with an 18-5 run over a near six-minute span en route to a 10-point advantage at 38-28 following a Meredith Mayes bucket with 1:52 to play until halftime.
 
Ellie Taylor came back with an offensive rebound and put back on Utah Tech's next possession, but a Bella Earle steal and breakaway lay-in would stake ACU with a 40-30 cushion at the intermission. 
 
After ACU extended to a 14-point lead at 49-35 in the early going of the second half, Utah Tech got up off the deck with eight-straight points to make it a two-possession game at 49-43 midway through the third quarter.
 
Isaacson buried her fourth 3-pointer of the game to kick start the rally, which was followed by a Paige Cofer perimeter jumper and a Hartley floater after an Isaacson steal.
 
Trailing 61-52 entering the fourth quarter, the Utah Tech defense held ACU scoreless over the first five-plus minutes of the final frame.
 
The Wildcats misfired on their first eight shot attempts of the period, with two of those misses coming on Isaacson blocks. 
 
Unfortunately the Trailblazer offense did not fare much better, though the Utah Tech did score six-unanswered points over that stretch to pull to within four at 61-57 following a Hartley driving lay-up. 
 
ACU finally ended the drought with two Emma Troxell free throws, and the Wildcats managed to maintain at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way to send Utah Tech to its ninth-straight conference loss. 
 
Numbers to know
Isaacson went 8-of-20 from the floor with six 3-pointers on a career-high 16 attempts. The senior also collected four rebounds, two assists and one steal to go with her two blocked shots.
 
Cofer enjoyed another solid outing as she poured in 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers and a team-high eight boards.
 
Meanwhile Hartley played all 40 minutes and wound up with 11 points and a co-game high eight assists. Hartley's eight dimes also vaulted her into second place on Utah Tech's single season assists list (163). 
 
Utah Tech connected on 40.7 percent of its shot attempts (22-of-54), which included an 11-of-24 effort (.458) from the perimeter. The Trailblazers also went to the foul line only six times on Saturday (5-of-6, .833), this after going 18-of-19 (.947) at the line three days earlier at Utah Valley.
 
Mayes led all scorers with 24 points along with six rebounds, while Troxell added 16 points and grabbed six caroms. 
 
ACU shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) overall and went 8-of-24 (.333) from beyond the arc. 
 
Up Next
Utah Tech closes out its five-game Beehive State stretch by making the short drive north on Interstate 15 to Cedar City to square off against in-state rival Southern Utah next Thursday night. Tip-off inside the America First Event Center is set for 6:30 p.m. (MT).