College Article Feature: Winning Result in Stars Season Closer

Written by Emilee Gittins | Utah Valley University

(March 24, 2026) - The Stars faced the Santa Cruz Warriors in their season closer. General Manager Katie Benzan recapped the season by saying, “We’ve battled day in and day out…even to tonight's last buzzer we fought.”

Within two minutes of the first quarter, second year guard Max Abmas started the Stars lead with his sharp 3-pointer. Confidence was clear on the court and carried throughout the game.

Newly acquired forward, Daniel Batcho brought the Stars into the second quarter with a swift drive into the paint for a slam-dunk. Another recent addition to the team, Trey Townsend, made a similar drive with seconds left, allowing the Stars to go into half up 78-61.

Santa Cruz narrowed the point gap within the third by unleashing a 15-0 scoring surge. Salt Lake City responded by getting rid of the Warriors’ space to shoot and instead leading themselves into triple digits to enter the fourth.

Defense was crucial to keeping the point streak during the final moments of the game. With just over six minutes left in the fourth, Stars center Steven Crowl got a clean block of an attempted field goal. The ball was then shifted to Abmas for a 3-pointer. The explosive second-year player ended the game with a career high of 40pts.

That dominant performance by Abmas and the team’s 56% FG both played key success factors in the game. The Stars were able to secure a victory 131-119.

Coach Rick Higgins said, “To be able to continue to show up everyday and be competitive and fight through the difficult, I think that is the part I was most proud of.”

The Stars showed their resilience in this game and this past season. They ended the season with a record of 14-20. Despite hardship during the season, the team showed up and created chemistry on the court for the last game of the regular 2025-26 season.