Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | ACU
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TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE
Utah Tech closes out the first month of 2026 with a two-game Alumni Weekend WAC homestand, which starts on Thursday night against preseason conference favorite Abilene Christian.
 
The Trailblazers are 3-5 all-time vs. ACU and enter Thursday's match-up looking to halt a four-game losing streak against the Wildcats, this after Utah Tech had won three of the first four meetings in the series overall.
 
Due to this season's conference scheduling, Thursday's game is the second of two match-ups between the Blazers and Wildcats in St. George. Utah Tech dropped the first meeting by a lopsided 81-51 count back on New Year's Day.
 
Utah Tech will also travel to Abilene for the final time in WAC play on Feb. 26.
 
A Trailblazer win on Thursday would be Utah Tech's second WAC win of the season, and the team's seventh home win overall. A win would also stop the team's current four-game losing streak, and its four-game slide vs. ACU. 

OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (6-12/1-7 WAC) closes out the first month of 2026 with a two-game WAC homestand, which starts on Thursday night with a return visit by preseason conference favorite Abilene Christian (14-5/5-1 WAC). 
      Tip-off inside the Burns Arena (4,779) on Thursday is set for 7 p.m. (MT).
      Thursday night's game will be streamed live on ESPN+, and will be streamed live on the radio on Utah Tech's campus radio station KUTU 91.3 FM.
 
WAC FOR ONE MORE SEASON: The 2025-26 campaign will mark an end of an (brief) era as Utah Tech will compete as a member of the Western Athletic Conference for the sixth, and final, season. The Trailblazers joined the WAC in 2020-21 during the first year of the program's NCAA Division I transition. 
 
GOING "BIG" IN 2026: This past June 25, Utah Tech announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the Big Sky Conference beginning on July 1, 2026. 
      Starting in the 2026-27 season, 14 of the Trailblazers' 17 sports, including women's basketball, will compete under the Big Sky Conference banner.
      Also of note, Southern Utah will make its return to the Big Sky after it left that conference to join the WAC ahead of the 2022-23 season.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech could not overcome a pair of third quarter scoring droughts as the Trailblazers were handed a 62-49 road loss at Southern Utah last Saturday afternoon in Cedar City.
 
AGAINST IN-STATE FOES: Utah Tech fell to 14-26 all-time against its fellow Beehive State opponents in the program's NCAA era following last Saturday's loss at SUU. That record includes an 11-17 mark in in-state rivalry games as a Division-I program (2-3 in 2025-26). 
 
HEAD COACH JD GUSTIN: JD Gustin is in his 10th season as Utah Tech head women's basketball coach. 
      In 2023-24, Coach Gustin guided the Trailblazers to an 18-14 overall record, including a 12-8 mark in Western Athletic Conference play, which was good for fourth place in the conference standings and a first round bye into the 2024 WAC Tournament.
      Along with the 18 wins last season, his 2023-24 Trailblazers broke school records in made 3-pointers (327; #1 WAC/#6 NCAA), points (2,343), single game points (116), field goals made/attempted (853/1942), 3-pointers attempted (945), free throw percentage (.736) and fewest turnovers (420).
      Gustin has seen marked improvements in each season on the Trailblazer sideline, culminating with an 19-12 overall record in 2022-23, a nine-win turnaround from the previous season. The 2022-23 campaign also featured a 10-8 mark and a fifth-place finish in Western Athletic Conference play. 
      Utah Tech's 19 wins that season were the most in the program's newly minted NCAA Division-I era, and is the highest win total during Coach Gustin's tenure on the Trailblazer bench.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Utah Tech has played to a 152-92 (.623) overall record in 244 games inside the Burns Arena, including a 6-6 start this season.
      The Trailblazers are slated to host an NCAA-era program record 17 home games, while 22 of the Trailblazers' 28 contests this season overall will be played in "The Beehive State."
      Under Coach Gustin, the Trailblazers are 72-59 (.549) on their home floor, and his charges have won eight or more home games in six of their last eight seasons overall. In fact, Utah Tech has won 11 home wins twice during Gustin's tenure on the Trailblazer bench (11-5 in 2023-24; 11-4 in 2018-19).
 
AWAY FROM THE BURNS: Utah Tech owns a 90-146 (.381) record in 236 road games since the 2006-07 season, which includes an 0-6 start this season. 
      Under Coach Gustin, the Blazers are 33-77 (.300) away from home, which included a 1-13 mark last year, and a 7-8 road record during the 2023-24 campaign. In addition, Utah Tech is 22-20 (.524) all-time on neutral courts, 5-7 under Coach Gustin.  
 
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Utah Tech has hit at least one 3-pointer in 311-straight games and extended that streak thanks to eight treys (8-of-27; .296) at SUU last Saturday.
      The Trailblazers have reached double digits in made threes five times this season with three of those instances coming in WAC play, including 10 treys vs. CBU last Thursday night (10-of-31; .323).
      The Trailblazers also knocked down 10 treys (10-of-28; .357) at Tarleton State (1/17), and drained a season-high 11 trifectas (11-of-25; .440) in the home win over Utah Valley back on Jan. 10.
      The Trailblazers have reached double figures in made 3-pointers 34 times in their last 81 games dating back to the 2023-24 campaign. That number includes 11 instances in 31 games last season, highlighted by a season-high 17 perimeter jumpers (17-of-47) in last year's season-opening victory vs. Northern New Mexico (11/4/24).
      Meanwhile, Utah Tech has knocked down at least 10 treys in 119 games during its NCAA era overall. 
      In 2023-24, Utah Tech led the WAC and finished the year ranked sixth-nationally with a school record 327 made 3-pointers, and broke a school records in both 3-point field goal attempts (945) and 3FG percentage (.346). 
      In the 2021-22 season, the Trailblazers nailed a school-record 22 3-pointers in its 107-57 blowout win over LIFE Pacific (11/9/21). That record was one of two 3FG school records to fall that night as the Blazers also broke a team record for 3FG attempted (51). 
      In all, Utah Tech has hit at least one 3-pointer in 519 of its 522 games during its NCAA era, which began in the 2006-07 season.
      Two of the three instances when the Blazers did not hit a 3-pointer happened during the 2013-14 season (vs. Hawai'i-Hilo, 2/13/14; at California Baptist, 1/18/14), and the other came in the program's first NCAA season in 2006-07 (vs. UHH, 1/7/07). 
      Meanwhile, Utah Tech has surrendered at least one made opponent 3-pointer in 521 of 522 games during its NCAA era.
 
BORDEN BEARING DOWN: Redshirt senior guard Kaylee Borden has put together quite the start to her debut season as a Trailblazer.
      The senior sharpshooter has led, or co-led, the team in scoring 10 times, and has scored in double figures in 15 of her first 18 starts at Utah Tech with seven 20-point outings, including a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting with a career-high five 3-pointers vs. CBU last Thursday night. 
      That effort came on the heels of another 23-point night a week earlier at UT Arlington (1/15), against which she went 10-of-16 from the floor.  
      Borden, who averaged just 3.5 points and 1.5 rebounds over her first four collegiate seasons at Nevada (2021-25), heads into the ACU game on Thursday night as the WAC's second-leading scorer (15.5 ppg) and 17th-leading rebounder (4.8 rpg). In addition, she is ranked fifth in the conference in FG% (.433), sixth in FT% (.738), eighth in 3FG/game (1.44), and ninth assists (2.56 apg).  
      Borden's current run, which includes a team-highs of 14 points and nine boards in the win over Utah Valley (1/10), also features a pair of 25-point outings, the last of which came in the Westminster win on Nov. 29. 
      Borden, who scored 19 of her career-high tying 25 points after halftime, went 8-of-12 from the floor with five rebounds and two assists in nearly 33 minutes of action in that victory. 
      "Keke" announced her presence with authority with a then-collegiate career high 21 points in the season opener vs. Northern Arizona (11/8). 
      In fact, Borden became just the seventh different Trailblazer to score 20 or more points in a season opener in the program's four-year era. Meanwhile, the NAU win marked the fourth-straight opener that a Trailblazer had tallied at least 20 points.
Borden, who drained four 3-pointers as part of a 14-point day in the Chicago State win (12/17), followed that up with a team-high 13 points in the Omaha victory (11/12). She chased that effort with her first collegiate double-double with 21 points and a career-best 11 rebounds at Weber State (11/15).
      She then went off for 25 points in the Portland State win (11/22), which helped earn her WAC Newcomer of the Week honors (11/24). 
 
BORDEN JOINED ELITE COMPANY: Thanks to her 22-point day vs. NM State, Borden joined some pretty elite company as she became just the third Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to score at least 20 points in five of the first eight games to begin a season. 
      Former post player Haley Holmstead was the first player to achieve that feat, scoring at least 20 points in five of her first eight games to open the 2013-14 season, highlighted by a school record 42-point night at Fresno Pacific (12/7/13), on her way to setting the school's single season scoring record (646 points). 
      Meanwhile, current Utah Tech assistant coach Breaunna Gillen also scored 20 or more points in five of her first eight games to begin the 2022-23 season, starting with a 21-point effort in the opener at Washington (11/7/22). Gillen followed that with 26 points vs. Utah State (11/15/22), 25 points at Kansas City (11/18/22), and 23 points at Kansas State (11/20/22). 
 
PICKED UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF IN 2024-25: Senior point guard Chardonnay Hartley wasted little time returning to form as she filled the stat sheet with 19 points, three rebounds, four assists and five steals in the NAU victory (11/8).
      Hartley knocked down seven of her 13 shot attempts with a pair of 3-pointers, and collected her third-career blocked shot in that win.    Additionally, her five steals were two off of her career high of seven set last season at Abilene Christian (2/6/25). In fact, Hartley has 73 total steals in just 49 career games as a Trailblazer.
      Hartley, who heads into the ACU game on Thursday night second in the conference in assists (4.67 apg), co-led Utah Tech with 12 points and dished out a game-high five assists at Tarleton State (1/17). 
      That effort helped vault her into second place on Utah Tech's all-time assists list (282). Hartley also stands seventh in career free throws attempted (275) and ninth in free throws made (159).  
 
MADD COMEBACK: Redshirt senior guard Maddie Warren will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign after suffering a season-ending injury late in the fourth quarter of the Blazers' home win vs. California Baptist on Jan. 8.
      Warren was in the midst of a brilliant comeback season as she was ranked in the WAC's top-10 in scoring (14th, 10.6) and 3FG made per game (4th, 1.77; 23-of-69).
      Warren got the starting nod in her first game back in the season opener vs. NAU (11/8), this after she missed the entire 2024-25 campaign due to injury.
      Warren marked her return with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals in 17-plus minutes. She also made a little history as she became the eighth player in program history with 100 career 3-pointers when she knocked down a perimeter jumper to open the second half scoring.
      Warren had scored in double figures in seven of her first 13 starts this season, including a season-high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with two 3-pointers at Weber State (11/15).
      The senior guard matched her season high with 17 points, all in the first half, in the ACU home loss on New Year's Day. That effort helped vault her into ninth place on Utah Tech's career scoring list (743 points). 
 
START OF A NEW STREAK: Warren saw her career long 3-point streak halted at 16 games after she was held without a made perimeter jumper in the Chicago State victory back on December 17. 
      The redshirt senior guard wasted little time starting a new streak as she hit Utah Tech's first perimeter jumper just seven seconds into play at SUU (12/29), and drained a season high-tying three treys vs. CBU (1/8).
      Warren, who has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 48 of her 55 career games, has 121 trifectas to her credit overall, which ties her for sixth place on Utah Tech's career 3FGM list with former Blazer guard Ali Franks (121; 2016-20). Warren is also now tied with Franks for sixth place all-time in both 3FGA (361) and 3FG% (.335).  
 
TURNING TO PAIGE: Sophomore forward Paige Cofer had herself quite the WAC season debut at SUU (12/29), against which she paced three Blazers in double figures with a season-high 18 points, highlighted by a season-best three 3-pointers. 
      Cofer, who was 0-of-23 from beyond the arc heading into that SUU game, scored 11 of those 18 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown. She also ripped down five rebounds in a career-high 37 minutes of game action. 
      Cofer has scored in double figures in six of her last 10 starts, and seven times overall this season, which includes an 11-point effort with six rebounds vs. California Baptist on Thursday night. She also poured in 10 points with six boards and two assists at Tarleton State (1/17).  
      Earlier this season, the sophomore posted her second career double-double with 10 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds in the Portland State win (11/22). Nine of Cofer's 11 boards came on the defensive end, while she hit on 5-of-7 of her shot attempts, and tied a career high with two blocked shots.
      In all, Cofer has scored in double figures 13 times in 36 career games, six of which came in her debut season in 2024-25, highlighted by a career-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting with four 3-pointers and a career-best 11 rebounds at CBU (3/1/25).
 
THROWING A BLOCK PARTY: Utah Tech tied a Division I era high with 10 blocked shots in its home win over Omaha back on Nov. 12.
      Junior forward Lauren Crocker led the defensive effort with a career-high four blocks, while Cofer collected two blocks of her own, which was also her career high. In all, six of the nine Trailblazers who played saw time in the victory had at least one block. 
      Utah Tech went on to block six more shots vs. Westminster (11/29), with four of those rejections coming from Crocker.
      Prior to the Omaha win, the last time the Trailblazers swatted away 10 shots came in a home win vs. Bethesda (12/16/23) during the 2023-24 season. The 10 blocked shots also tied for the second-most in a single game in the program's NCAA era, and marked the sixth time the Trailblazers reached double figures in blocks overall. 
      Utah Tech posted a school record 12 blocks in a neutral site win vs. Alaska Fairbanks (12/10/10) during the 2010-11 season.
 
TRAILBLAZER PLAYER NOTES
* - Hartley has scored in double figures in 22 of her 49 career starts at Utah Tech with three 20-plus point outings, highlighted by her collegiate career high of 28 points along with 12 assists last season in a home win over Weber State (11/16/24) ... that double-double in the WSU victory was one of four she recorded in her first year as a Trailblazer.
* - Senior guard Brie Crittendon is averaging 9.1 ppg over her last 11 starts, and has reached double figures in points five times this season, including a 10-point effort at Tarleton State (1/17). 
* - Crittendon posted game highs of 16 points and eight rebounds in the Chicago State win back on Dec. 17 ... that effort chased a Utah Tech career-high 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting and a game-high nine boards vs. UC Santa Barbara (12/13). 
* - Crittendon notched her second career double-double with game highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds in the McNeese loss (12/2) ... the senior knocked down a career-best four 3-pointers (4-of-8 3FG) in the loss, and scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half.
* - Crittendon, who is currently t-eighth in the WAC in rebounding (6.8 rpg), has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in four of her 17 starts this season, highlighted by a career-high 13 boards to go with six points and three assists in Utah Tech's home win over Westminster (11/29).
* - Crittendon just missed recording her first double-double of the year in the Omaha win (11/12), going for nine points and 10 rebounds.
* - Crittendon flirted with another double-double at Arizona State (11/25), finishing with seven points and 10 more caroms ... Crittendon's 10 boards were one off of her then-career high of 11 set last year vs. Seattle U (1/16/25), in a game in which she posted her first career double-double with 13 points. 
* - Crocker was inserted into the starting line-up for the first time as a Trailblazer at Southern Utah (12/29) and responded with six points on 2-of-6 from 3-point country along with a team and season-high tying nine rebounds, and two blocked shots in a career-high 34 minutes of game action. 
* - Crocker made her second start in win over Utah Valley (1/10), against which she went off for a career-high 13 points on 4-of-5 (career-best) from beyond the arc ... the junior also just missed her first collegiate double-double with 13 points and a season-high tying nine rebounds at SUU last Saturday night. 
* - Crocker is averaging 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in her six starts this season ... Crocker is shooting at a 44.4 percent clip (12-of-27) from the perimeter, and she is 19-of-43 (.442) from the floor overall in those six outings.
* - Crocker logged a career-high 27 minutes off the bench at Weber State (11/15), where she finished with eight points (2-of-7 3FG) and three caroms to go with her career high-tying four blocks. 
* - In fact, Crocker has posted four blocks four times this season, doing so again nearly two weeks ago at Tarleton State (1/17), against which she scored six points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
* - Crocker has 29 blocks in 18 games to this point of the season, which is good for 10th on Utah Tech's single season list ... she also has 43 career blocks at Utah Tech overall, which is good for seventh place on the program's career blocks list and leaves her two blocks shy of moving up to sixth place on that list. 
* - Junior guard Calyn Dallas has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in eight of her first 18 games to start the season, including a pair of clutch perimeter jumpers that started a third-quarter rally at SUU last Saturday ... Dallas poured in a WAC season-high eight points at Tarleton State (1/17), which were two off of her season-high of 10 points off the bench in the Omaha win (11/12).
* - Redshirt freshman guard Andjela Colic enjoyed the best outing of her brief Blazer career, hitting for a career-high nine points on 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in 11 minutes off the bench vs. CBU (1/8) ... Colic, who drained another trey in the Utah Valley (1/10), dished out a career-best three assists and recorded her first two collegiate points in the second quarter vs. Omaha (11/12). 
* - Freshman forward Rose Boisnel made her long-awaited season debut in the Westminster win (11/29), against which she tallied 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers ... Boisnel also collected four rebounds, two steals and one assist in 21 reserve minutes.
* - Boisnel was solid off the bench vs. UCSB (12/13), going for 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting with one 3-pointer, along with five rebounds and one block in 19 minutes. 
* - Freshman guard Merceius Mili played 12 minutes in her collegiate debut game vs. NAU (11/8) and scored four points on 2-of-4 shooting with three rebounds, one assist and one steal ... Mili, who tallied six points vs. CBU last Thursday, played in a career-long 28 minutes at SUU last Saturday, and responded with a career-high eight points and three rebounds. 
* - Freshman forward Annalyse Shimada scored her first collegiate point and corralled her first two collegiate rebounds in the Portland State win (11/22) ... Shimada also knocked down her first collegiate bucket and pulled down one rebound in six minutes at UT Arlington (1/15).
 
ABOUT THE ABILENE CHRISTIAN "WILDCATS": Abilene Christian returns to St. George with a WAC-best 14-5 overall record and a four-game win streak in tow. 
      However ACU has not played a game since January 17, due a winter storm in Texas that hindered travel and led to two postponements of the Wildcats' home game vs. Tarleton State last Saturday, and again this past Monday.
      The Wildcats enters Thursday's game as the WAC leader in both scoring offense (75.0 ppg) and defense (57.7 ppg), scoring margin (+17.32) and field goal percentage (.443), and are second in rebound margin (+5.4 rpg).
      ACU features four of the WAC's top-20 scorers, led by WAC Preseason Player of the Year in junior guard Payton Hull (5-10) with a conference-leading 17.0 ppg average on 40.5 percent shooting.
      Meanwhile, junior center Meredith Mayes (6-3), who herself was a preseason all-conference pick, leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.682) and is fifth in the conference in both scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg). 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech wraps up the homestand this Saturday afternoon when the Trailblazers welcome Tarleton State to the Burns Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. (MT).