Utah Valley at NM State
Jan. 7, 7 p.m. MT 
Las Cruces N.M., Pan American Center
WATCH: ESPN3
WAC Digital Network

Utah Valley at UTRGV
Jan. 9, 6 p.m. MT
Edinburg, Texas, UTRGV Fieldhouse
WAC Digital Network

OREM, Utah—The Utah Valley University women's basketball team will travel to New Mexico State on Jan. 7 and UTRGV on Jan. 9 to begin the first Western Athletic Conference contests of the season.
 
The Wolverines (7-8) dropped their last two contests against Idaho State (56-47) and UC Davis (59-55) at home last week. Utah Valley will head to Las Cruces, N.M. for the first stop on the road trip to take on the Aggies in the Pan American Center on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. MT. The Wolverines will then travel to Edinburg, Texas to take on the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. MT in the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
"We are excited to start WAC play, it is a whole new phase in our season. I don't think anyone wants to hit their peak in the first week of conference play, but we know we will continue to progress," head coach Cathy Nixon said. "To open up with these two teams is a challenge for us, UTRGV and New Mexico State are at the top of the league and will continue to be. This is a good test for us, you have to be competitive on the road to be in the running for a conference championship, and that's how we need to start this weekend."
 
AGGIE ACTION
The Aggies (11-3) are looking to defend their Western Athletic Conference title, after clinching the regular season and tournament titles last season and earning the coveted automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. NM State is off to its best start since the 1993-94 season. The Aggies were picked to finish in first place by the coaches and the media in the preseason polls, and their athletes have picked up three WAC Athlete of the Week awards.
 
NM State leads the series 4-2 all time, winning both match-ups in the 2014-15 season. On the road, the Wolverines are 1-2 at New Mexico State.  The Aggies have won their last two contests over Western New Mexico, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the Fordham Holiday Classic.
 
ENTER THE VAQUEROS
The Vaqueros enter the weekend after dropping their last non-conference contest at Syracuse 91-32. Prior to the loss, UTRGV picked up three straight wins over Incarnate Word, Houston and Evangel University. UTRGV was picked to finish fourth by the coaches and third by the media in the preseason WAC polls, and will open WAC competition against Grand Canyon on Thursday.
 
UVU leads the overall series 12-10, however, the Wolverines have not been able to best the Vaqueros for the last four matchups.
 
 
FOLLOW THE COMPETITION
The contest against NM State can be found on ESPN3 or the WatchESPN mobile app, and live stats will be available. The contest will also be broadcast on FOX Sports Arizona PLUS, FOX Sports Southwest PLUS, FOX College Sports Pacific, and Altitude 2.  
The game against UTRGV will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network and live stats will be available.