Utah Tech gave WAC preseason favorite Abilene Christian all it could handle, but a late ACU run thwarted the Trailblazers' upset bid in a hard-fought 54-46 home loss on Thursday night in the Burns Arena.

How it happened 
Utah Tech (6-13/1-8 WAC) recovered from an early Wildcat 3-point barrage and found itself in a flat-footed 22-22 deadlock after the halftime break.
 
ACU (15-5/6-1 WAC) drained three of its first four 3-pointers to open up a 9-0 lead nearly three minutes into the play.
 
Meanwhile the Trailblazers, whose calling card is their perimeter game, scored 10 of their 12 first quarter points in the paint as the two sides ended the period knotted at 12-12.
 
Like they did open the game, the Wildcats got off to a hot start to begin the second half, scoring seven unanswered points to extend to a 29-22 advantage with three minutes gone by in the third quarter. 
 
Utah Tech managed to stay within striking distance and would eventually pull to within two points at 44-42 after Chardonnay Hartley split a pair of free throws with 3:31 left in regulation. 
 
Unfortunately that would be as close as the Blazers would get as ACU rattled off a 6-0 run, then hit enough free throws in the waning moments to escape with the road victory. 
 
Numbers to know
Paige Cofer led all scorers with a season-high tying 18 points on a career-best 9-of-10 shooting. Cofer, who also pulled down six rebounds, scored 12 of her 18 points after halftime to help keep Utah Tech in the game. 
 
Hartley finished with 10 points along with a game-high five assists and two steals.
 
Meanwhile Lauren Crocker came up a bucket short of her first collegiate double-double as she wound up with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. 
 
Utah Tech shot 39.1 percent from the floor (18-of-46) and was held to a season-low one 3-point field goal (1-of-12; .083), which came off the hands of Kaylee Borden with 8:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. 
 
Borden's trifecta did manage to extend Utah Tech's program streak of at least one made 3-pointer to 312-straight games.
 
The Trailblazers also went 9-of-13 (.692) and outrebounded ACU by a 36-31 count.
 
ACU hit six more 3-pointers than Utah Tech (7-of-33; .212) and connected on 19 of its 58 (.328) field goal attempts overall. The Wildcats also went 9-of-11 (.818) at the charity stripe. 
 
Natalia Chavez led three Wildcat players in double figures with 12 points. 
 
Up Next
Utah Tech wraps up its Alumni Weekend homestand this Saturday afternoon when the Trailblazers welcome Tarleton State to the Burns Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. (MT).