Utah Valley at Brigham Young
Nov. 13    |    3 p.m. MT
Marriott Center    |    Provo, Utah

GAME INFORMATION:
TV: BYUTV (Spencer Linton/Kristen Kozlowski)
Radio Webcast:  James Warnick and Josh Monsen
BYUtv Live Stream
Live Stats Link: BYUCougars.com
Tickets Link: BYUCougars.com

Utah Valley vs. Bethesda UniversityRadio Webcast:  Kyle Bruderer and Josh Monsen
Live Stats Link: UVUStats.com
Live Video Stream

OREM, Utah—Head Coach Cathy Nixon will debut her 2015-16 women's basketball team on Friday in her season opener against Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah at the Marriot Center at 3 p.m. MT, and hosts Bethesda University on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT at the UCCU Center for the Wolverines' home opener. 
 
"Anytime you play an in-state team there is an added measure of excitement, and obviously the close proximity between the two campuses leads to a fun, healthy rivalry." Nixon said. "BYU is a program that is at the level that we aspire to grow to, they have been a successful program for a long time, I personally have a lot of fond memories there as a player and a coach. We are going to represent the Wolverines in a great way and be competitive on Friday."  
 
WHAT'S BACK FOR THE WOLVERINES
The Wolverines return all five starters and nine letterwinners from the 14-15 roster, and welcome five true freshmen to the squad, including WAC Freshman of the Year and the lone Wolverine to start all 30 contests last season, sophomore Mariah Seals.
 
Junior Rhaiah Spooner-Knight returns as Utah Valley's most proven scorer, averaging 13.4 points per game last season and was named All-WAC first team by the media and second team by the coaches in the preseason polls. Utah Valley finished the 2014-15 season 11-19, and finished in sixth place in the WAC overall. In the WAC Preseason polls, both the coaches and the media picked the Wolverines to finish sixth overall. New Mexico State was picked to win the crown in both polls.

Utah Valley heads into the game after falling 67-53 in their lone exhibition to CSU Pueblo last weekend.

ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG 
Brigham Young head coach Jeff Judkins returns three starters and nine letterwinners from the team that went 23-10 last season and won the West Coast Conference tournament was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars return leading scorer Lexi Eaton Ryldach who averaged 20.5 points per game in the 14-15 season, who also led in rebounds with 6.1 per contest. BYU was picked to finish second in the WCC preseason poll. Judkins enters his 15th year at the helm of Cougar women's basketball.

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be the sixth meeting between the Cougars and the Wolverines, where BYU leads the series 5-0. The last meeting between the Utah County rivals was a 74-47 BYU win back on Dec. 9, 2010. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv, while live radio will be available on WolverineGreen.com, and live stats can be found on BYUCougars.com.
 
HOME OPENER VS. BETHESDA 
The Wolverines will also play host to Bethesda on Saturday for their home opener in the UCCU Center.  It will be the first meeting between the two schools. A live stream, radio, and stats will be available for the contest. 
 
"Bethesda will be a handful for us," Nixon said. "They are a good team, they score a lot of points, and they are in no way a team that we can overlook, we will need to come focused and play well in order to be successful that night."
 
THE 15-16 SEASON
The BYU game will start a string of six games in ten days for the Wolverines, including hosting Southern Utah, Div. II foe Dixie State and San Francisco, as well as a road trip to Boise State. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Utah Valley will travel to Reno, Nev. where they will see Nevada and SEC foe Alabama in the Nugget Classic.
 
"The offseason has gone quickly and we are excited to play.  Our team this year has more overall experience than we have had in a few years, and we hope that translates into wins--that's the bottom line," Nixon said. "We need to be more consistent, we have had moments of greatness, and hopefully we will be able to string longer stretches together and be consistent on both ends of the floor."
 
December will kick off with a road trip to PAC-12 country for a match-up with Oregon, and Big Sky opponent Eastern Washington. UVU will then host Utah State, Idaho State, and UC Davis, while traveling to Weber State and Omaha.
 
Utah Valley will kick off the new-year with a complete WAC slate, capped by the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas on March 9-12.