Utah Tech saw its 2025-26 season come to an end after a hard-fought 77-73 loss to UT Arlington in the opening round of the 2026 Air Force Reserve Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon inside the Orleans Arena.
 
The Trailblazers close their final in the WAC with a record of 9-20. Meanwhile UT Arlington (11-20) will advance on to play No. 3 seed Southern Utah in Thursday's quarterfinal round.

How it happened 
The two sides see-sawed back and forth through the opening five minutes of the first quarter before the sixth-seeded Lady Mavs closed the period with a 19-4 run to bolt out to a commanding 28-13 at the quarter's end.
 
UTA limited the Trailblazers, who entered the game as the seventh seed, to just two made field goals over that stretch, while the Lady Mavs scored eight of their points off of six Utah Tech turnovers in that rally, 
 
UT Arlington would see its lead swell to as many as 16 points at 34-18 with 5:21 to play until halftime.
 
Utah Tech then flipped the script as the Trailblazers held the Lady Mavs scoreless the rest of the period.
 
Meanwhile the Blazers got hot from the perimeter as Kaylee Borden, Lauren Crocker and Chardonnay Hartley all hit 3-pointers as part of an 11-0 spurt. Utah Tech wound up outscoring UTA 16-6 in the second quarter as the Trailblazers went into the halftime break down by only five at 34-29.
 
The Trailblazers continued to chip away at the deficit to begin the second half and eventually pulled even at 39-39 following a Paige Cofer 3-pointer at the 6:28 mark of the third quarter.
 
UT Arlington jumped back on top and extended to a 45-41 advantage after a Mira Reynolds 3-pointer with four-plus minutes left in the frame.
 
However Utah Tech kept battling, closing the period with a 10-4 spurt to take a 51-49 lead into the fourth quarter after a Lauren Crocker trey with under a minute remaining.
 
The Trailblazers quickly pushed that lead to seven points to begin the fourth quarter after Brie Crittendon poured in the first five points, including a big three-point play conversion.
 
Utah Tech led 60-53 and had momentum with under six minutes to play, but UTA would rally, outscoring the Blazers 11-5 to trim that lead to a single point at 65-64 after a Kendal Robinson bucket and free throw with 3:18 remaining.
 
Crittendon clapped back with a deep 3-pointer on Utah Tech's next possession to up the Blazer lead to four.
 
Unfortunately that shot did not slow UT Arlington down as the Lady Mavs went on to score nine of the game's next 11 points, including 5-of-6 at the foul line, en route to a 75-70 lead with 11.9 seconds to play.
 
Calyn Dallas knocked down a 3-pointer out of a Trailblazer timeout to pull Utah Tech to within two, but two Kira Reynolds free throws with 4.0 seconds left iced the win for the Lady Mavs. 
 
Numbers to know
Crocker led four Trailblazer starters in double figures with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. 
 
Crocker also pulled down a co-team high eight rebounds to go along with one assist and one block, which pushed her season total to 50. Crocker's 50 blocks this season are the second-most in a season in Utah Tech's NCAA era.
 
Borden finished with 14 points with three rebounds and two assists. Borden, who was voted first team all-WAC in her final collegiate season and first as a Trailblazer, finished with 460 points on the year, which ranks her seventh on Utah Tech's single-season list. Meanwhile the redshirt senior guard wound up fourth on the program's single-season list with 405 made field goals.
 
Crittendon also poured in 14 points, 12 of which came after halftime. She knocked down six of her 14 shots and pulled down eight boards, including seven defensive caroms for the senior who was voted to the WAC all-Defensive Team. 
 
Hartley flirted with a double-double in her final game as a Trailblazer as she tallied 14 points along with a game-high seven assists. Hartley finished the year with 149 dimes, which are fifth-most on the single-season list, while her 347 career assists over two seasons are ranked second all-time in program history. 
 
Utah Tech shot 41.5 percent from the floor (27-of-65) for the game with 11 made 3-pointer (11-of-28; .393). The Blazers' 11 3-pointers marked the 11^th time this season that the team had reach double digits in 3-pointers made in a game.
 
The Trailblazers also went 8-of-9 (.750) at the foul line and was credited with an assist on 12 of their 27 made field goals overall. 
 
Kira Reynolds led all scorers with 21 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. as she led three UTA players in double figures. UTA went 26-of-55 (.473) from the floor and outrebounded Utah Tech 36-33.