Utah Valley at CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 6)
2 p.m. MT (1 p.m. PT) | Icardo Center | Bakersfield, Calif.
Utah Valley Game Notes | CSUB Game Notes

Game Information
Live Video Stream: WAC Digital Network
Live Stats Link: UVU at CSUB Live Stats
 

---

OPENING TIP

Utah Valley will begin a three-game road trip to open the 2017-18 WAC schedule with a contest at CSU Bakersfield on Saturday inside the Icardo Center. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. MT.

The Wolverines (6-9) were voted to finish fourth in the WAC in the league's preseason coaches poll released in October, ahead of Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley, UMKC. In addition, senior guards Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals earned Preseason All-WAC first team honors in that same poll.

UVU's senior leaders, Christensen and Seals form the second highest scoring backcourt duo in the WAC with a combined 29.3 points per game. The seniors have combined for 30-points or more in four of their past five outings together, including the squad's wins over Utah State, Cal Poly an Antelope Valley.

The fourth-year Utah Valley floor general, Seals begins the week ranking third in the WAC in assists with 3.9 dimes per game. Last season's WAC assists leader, Seals has recorded at least three dimes in 10 straight contests.

On defense, Christensen sits at 11th on the NCAA steals per game chart with a WAC-leading 3.5 steals per game and 13th in the nation with 49 takeaways.  With 15 steals over the past four contests, Christensen has recorded three takeaways in seven of her last eight outings.

Behind Christensen's defensive abilities, Utah Valley ranks 39th in the nation with a WAC-best 151 steals. UVU also sits atop the the WAC leaderboard in turnover margin (+3.67)  and steals per game (10.1 spg).

About the Roadrunners
CSU Bakersfield (6-8) enters WAC play on a two-game skid following a 72-59 loss to UC Irvine in its last non-conference game. Junior guard Jazmine Johnson scored a career-high 25 points for the 'Runners in their defeat. After 14 non-league contests, the 'Runners boast the WAC's top scoring and field goal defense as a team. CSUB has held opponents to 56.1 points per game on 37 percent shooting throughout their start to 2017-18. Behind their stellar team defense, senior center Jazmyne Bartee holds down the fort for CSUB's stifling defense with1.8 blocks per game to rank second in the WAC. The 'Runners also limit their opponents' scoring opportunities, forcing a WAC-best 18.9 turnovers per game by their opponents. In addition, they lead the league in offensive rebounds with 15.3 offensive boards per contest. The 'Runners were picked to finish second in the WAC by the league's this season by the league's eight head coaches.

Series History vs. CSU Bakersfield
Saturday's WAC opener will mark the 18th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Roadrunners on the hardwood. CSUB owns a 12-5 advantage over UVU in their previous 17 matchups. In their last meeting, Utah Valley picked up a 59-53 overtime victory over CSU Bakersfield at the Orleans Arena in the WAC Tournament Quarterfinals on March 8, 2017.  Then-junior guard Mariah Seals scored a game-high 22 points and helped spearhead a fourth-quarter comeback. CSUB completed the regular season sweep last season when they hosted UVU with a 55-39 victory inside the Icardo Center on Feb. 16, 2017.

UVU ousted by Pioneers in non-conference finale
The Utah Valley women's basketball team fell to Denver, 72-53, in its final non-conference game of the 2017-18 season. In the absence of their leading scorer in senior guard Taylor Christensen, senior guard Mariah Seals carried the brunt of the Wolverines' scoring with a team-high 14 points to finish as the squad's lone double-digit scorer. UVU's assist leader on the year, Seals also had a team-high tying three assists to match UVU freshman guard Sophia Jacobsson's three dimes on the day. Junior guard Britta Hall racked up a career-high six steals in the contest for UVU, which forced the Pioneers into 20 turnovers on the defensive end.

Backcourt in Front
Utah Valley's senior leaders in guards Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals formed the second highest-scoring backcourt duo in the WAC during non-conference play with a combined 29.3 points per game. Christensen ranks fifth on the WAC scoring leaderboard with a team-high 16.4 points per game, while Seals averages 12.9 points per contest to round out the league's top-10 scoring list in 10th. In addition, UVU junior guard Britta Spencer comes into the week averaging 7.1 points per game to give the squad the fourth highest scoring guard trio in the WAC. The Wolverines' starting backcourt has teamed up for a combined 36.4 points per contest heading into the squad's first conference contest. UVU's lone seniors, Christensen and Seals begin this weekend with at least 30 points as a duo in three of their past four outings together, including a 51 points combined in a win over Cal Poly this season. Meanwhile, Christensen has finished as the top Wolverine scorer or tied for the team lead in scoring nine times this season and 26 in her career.

Making History in the Valley
Senior Taylor Christensen sits at second in program history in all-time career steals (174).  UVU's single-season record holder for steals, Christensen remains 49 steals behind the program's all-time steals leader Asumi Nakayma (223). In eighth place on Utah Valley's all-time scoring leaderboard, Christensen sits 10 points shy of passing her former Wolveirne teammate Rhaiah Spooner-Knight  for seventh all-time. The 5-8 senior guard needs 101 points to become the seventh Wolverine in UVU's Division I era to score 1,000 career points. After increasing her minutes total every season since becoming a Wolverine, Seals currently holds the top spot on the school's all-time minutes played with 3,678 minutes of action during her career. She also currently stands above the UVU all-time minutes per game chart with 34.7 MPG. In her fourth year as UVU's floor general, Seals has amassed 106 starts to rank third all-time in program history nearly halway through her senior campaign. Seals comes into her final WAC season two starts shy of the second most starts in school history (108).

Stealing the Show
Last year's WAC steals leader, Christensen finds herself in 11th on the NCAA steals per game chart with a WAC-best 3.5 steals per contest. After recording three steals versus Antelope Valley, Christensen extends her streak of consecutive contests with at least three takeaways to seven. She also sits at 13th in the nation with a WAC-leading 49 steals. The Wolverines won the steals and turnover battle in more than half of their non-league contests versus Weber State, Portland, BYU, Southern Utah, Pepperdine, Utah State, ISU, Cal State Fullerton and Denver. UVU has forced 17 or more turnovers in nine of its last 10 games and has recorded double-digit steals in eight of those outings. Behind their success at limiting opponents' offensive possessions, Utah Valley leads the WAC in both steals with 10.1 takeaways per contest and turnover margin (+3.67) 

Mariah's Helping Hands
Fresh off a string of 10 straight games with at least three dimes, senior guard Mariah Seals ranks  third in the WAC with 3.9 assists per contest.  Seals led the WAC with 4.8 assist per game last year. She has racked up five or more assists in five of the past seven games.UVU's floor general, senior Mariah Seals has pushed her streak of consecutive games with an assist to 20 games dating back to last season. In addition, she has racked up multiple assists in 19 of those contests, including a season-high seven dimes versus Idaho State this year.The 5-3  Wolverine point guard, Seals recorded or tied for the team high in assists in 13 of her 15 non-conference outings. Seals led or tied for the team lead in assists 23 times last season. Among the program's all-time assists leaders, Seals is third on UVU's all-time career assist chart (368) in her senior campaign.

Ringing in a New Year
After beginning the season with 3,336.4 miles of traveling in November, UVU will resume its road schedule with a WAC-opening contest Saturday at CSU Bakersfield. The Wolverines will begin their conference slate with three straight road games, including games at CSUB, UMKC and Chicago State. Those games will cap a four-game road swing for UVU that included its non-conference finale at Denver. UVU's first road trip of the year included a string of five consecutive  contests at Weber State, Portland, No. 17 Oregon State, crosstown rival BYU and Eastern Washington.
 
Wolverine Gladiators
UVU guards Mariah Seals, Taylor Christensen and Gabrielle Leos each average 30-plus  minutes per game this season. Seals headlines the group of Wolverine gladiators with 34.8 minutes per game to rank fifth in the WAC. Meanwhile, Christensen's 33.1  average minutes of action puts her at 10th in the WAC in minutes averaged. Leos ranks third among all UVU players with 30.1 minutes per contest. Seals and Christensen each spent 1,000-plus minutes on the court during their junior year in 2016-17, finishing top-10 in the WAC in minutes per game. Seals led the WAC in minutes per game with 36.7 and total minutes played with 1,001 in her junior campaign. Christensen joined her Wolverine gladiator counterpart in the 1,000-minute club last season with 1,036 total on-court minutes, while ranking eighth in the league in minutes per game with 33.4.

Get That Dirt off Your Shoulder
Among the top three-point shooters in the WAC, guard Mariah Seals ranked fourth  the WAC in three-point field-goal percentage during the non-confereance season with a 38.7-percent mark from beyond the arc. After making at least one three-pointer in nine of  the squad's past 10 games,  Seals begins conference play at 12th in the WAC in three-point field goals made on the year. Outside of Seals' three-point accuracy, senior guard Taylor Christensen is among the top-10 overall shooters in the WAC. Christensen has knocked down 44 percent (85-of-193 FG) of her field goal attempts this season, ranking her 10th in the league in field goal percentage.

Charity at the Line
UVU senior guard Taylor Christensen leads the Wolverines at the charity stripe with a WAC-best 50 made free throws. She has converted 82 percent of her shots at the free-throw line to rank fifth in the WAC in free throw percentage.Christensen's 50 free makes puts her at 116th  in the NCAA in made free throws. Meanwhile, Utah Valley's sophomore guard Gabrielle Leos is fourth in the WAC in free throw percentage with an 82.4-percent clip. Mariah Seals follows in eigth with a 77.8-percent mark at the free-throw line.

Taylor-Made Glass
Senior guard Taylor Christensen begins the week at fifth among all guards in the WAC on the glass, pulling down a team-leading 4.8 boards per contest. In addition, Christensen has finished as the Wolverine rebounding leader in eight contests, including UVU's victories at home over Air Force and Dixie State.

UVU senior duo tabbed Preseason All-WAC in WAC preseason polls
Utah Valley women's basketball seniors Mariah Seals and Taylor Christensen received Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Preseason All-Conference selections, as announced in the WAC preseason polls released at WAC Preview and Media Day. Seals and Christensen were selected to the Preseason All-WAC first team by the league's eight coaches. In the media poll, the senior duo of Christensen and Seals was selected to the Preseason All-WAC second team. Joining Seals and Christensen on the first team in the coaches poll were GCU's Brie Mobley, NMSU's Brook Salas and Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery.

Wolverines picked to finish fourth, fifth in WAC preseason polls
The Wolverines were voted to finish fourth in the WAC in the coaches poll, ahead of Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley, UMKC and Chicago State. In the media poll, Utah Valley was picked fifth, edging UTRGV, UMKC and Chicago State. Utah Valley was picked fifth in the media team poll, edging UTRGV, UMKC and Chicago State.
In the media and coaches polls, reigning back-to-back WAC champion New Mexico State received seven first-place votes from media and six top votes from the coaches. Seattle U and CSU Bakersfield finished behind the Aggies in the voting, as the Redhawks and Roadrunners traded spots for second and third, respectively, in the media and coaches polls.

Older and Wiser
After returning only one starter a year ago, UVU welcomes back four starters from last season's squad that gave the program a WAC Tournament semifinal appearance for the second straight year. Seven players on the Wolverines' 2017-18 roster saw playing time last year, accounting for more than half of the full roster of 13 players. In 2016-17, Utah Valley returned only four active players who earned minutes the season prior.The Wolverines welcome a pair of sophomore transfers, including guard Alexis Cortez (East Carolina) and forward Va'e Malufau  (Northern Arizona).