Utah Valley vs. CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 22)
11 a.m. MT | Lockhart Arena | Orem, Utah
Utah Valley Game Notes | CSU Bakersfield Game Notes

Game Information
Live Video Stream: WAC Digital Network
Live Stats Link: UVU vs. CSU Bakersfield Live Stats
 

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OPENING TIP

Utah Valley will begin its final homestand of the regular season Thursday with an 11 a.m. Education Day matchup versus current WAC frontrunner CSU Bakersfield inside Lockhart Arena. The contest precedes UVU's home finale Saturday versus Grand Canyon.

The Wolverines (10-16, 4-7 WAC) seek redemption after falling 63-58 at CSUB on a go-ahead three-pointer by CSUB  guard Jazmine Johnson in the WAC opener for both teams. Senior Taylor Christensen led UVU with 19 points in the setback.    

Utah Valley's senior leaders, Christensen and Mariah Seals form the third highest-scoring backcourt duo in the WAC with a combined 28.7 points per game. The senior backcourt has averaged 30.5 points in seven of its last eight outings.

The fourth-year Utah Valley floor general, Seals sits atop the WAC assists leaderboard during league play with 5.6 dimes per game. Seals has tallied six or more assists in four of her last five on-court appearances.

On defense, Christensen leads the WAC in steals with 67 takeaways and a league-best 2.7 steals per contest. Christensen has recorded a steal in 24 games this year, including three or more in 11 of those contests.

Behind Christensen's defensive abilities, Utah Valley has recorded a WAC-best 251 steals. UVU also sits atop the the WAC leaderboard in turnover margin (+3.80)  and steals per game (9.7 spg).

Coming into the week, the Wolverines boast the league's second-ranked scoring offense (66.0 ppg) and passing team  (13.8 apg) in conference play. UVU's bench has sparked the squad's resurging offense, averaging 15.8 points per game as a unit over the last 10 contests.

About the 'Runners
WAC frontrunner CSU Bakersfield (15-10,9-2 WAC) comes into Thursday's matchup on a seven-game winning streak after a 69-40 win over Grand Canyon. CSUB received 37 points from its bench versus GCU, led by a team-high tying 12 points from senior center Jazmyne Bartee. The Roadrunners boast the top scoring defense in the league, holding opponents to 54.4 points per contest on the season. CSUB has also kept WAC opponents to just 52.3 points per game to rank first during conference play. Bartee, a 6-1 center, keeps opposing players in check inside the painted area with a WAC-best 2.0 blocks per game. Behind Bartee's low-post presence, the 'Runners rack up 4.7 swats per contest to sit atop the league's blocks leaderboard as a team. Behind their defense, CSUB holds the highest scoring margin in the WAC. The 'Runners are outscoring league foes by an average of 12.7 points per game

Series History vs. CSU Bakersfield
Saturday morning's Education Day contest between the Wolverines and Roadrunners marks the 19th all-time meeting on the hardwood between the two squads. UVU trails, 5-13, in the series matchup against CSU Bakersfield. In UVU's WAC opener at CSUB, the 'Runners topped the Wolverines 63-58 with a go-ahed three-pointer by junior guard Jazmine Johnson in the Icardo Center on Jan. 6, 2018. Senior guard Taylor Christensen led the UVU offense in her last meeting against CSUB with 19 points and a season-high 11 made free throws. The last time Utah Valley hosted CSU Bakersfield, UVU suffered a 63-59 overtime defeat inside Lockhart Arena on Jan. 21, 2017. Christensen recorded a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double in last season's home matchup versus the' Runners. UVU and CSUB remain even at 4-4 in games played in Orem, Utah, during the all-time series.

UVU suffers overtime loss at UT Rio Grande Valley
Utah Valley women's basketball battled back from a nine-point, second-half deficit in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime at UT Rio Grande Valley, before suffering a 71-64 loss over the weekend in the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The Wolverines (10-16, 4-7 WAC) withstood travel issues with flight delays to end the night with three double-digit scorers, including junior guard Britta Spencer's season-high 19 points. Sophomore forward Jordan Holland and senior guard Mariah Seals, who combined for the last eight UVU points in regulation, each contributed 11 points in the squad's defeat at UTRGV (13-13, 3-8 WAC). Holland came up big in the final 2:34 of the fourth quarter, nailing a pair of free throws and finishing a layup to give the Wolverines to help send the game to extra time.

Backcourt in Front
Utah Valley's senior leaders in guards Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals form the third highest-scoring backcourt duo in the WAC on the year with a combined 28.7 points per game. Christensen ranks sixth on the WAC scoring leaderboard with a team-best 14.7 points per game, while Seals averages 14.0 points per contest to rank eighth on the league scoring leaderboard. With three 20-point efforts in her last seven outings, Seals sits at fifth among all WAC scorers with 15.5 points per contest during league play. UVU's newest member of the 1,000-point club, Christensen is 12th with 12.5 points per game versus league foes. In addition, junior Britta Spencer and sophmore Gabrielle Leos give UVU the second highet scoring starting backcourt in the WAC with a combined 42.5 points per contest. Spencer (7.1) ranks 28th on the league's scoring leaderboard and Leos (6.8) is fourth on UVU in scoring. UVU's lone seniors, Christensen and Seals begin their week with at least 25 points as a duo in 10 of their 11 on-court appearances together versus WAC opponents. Seals and Christensen have averaged a combined 30.5 points in seven of their last eight outings.

Making History in the Valley
Senior Taylor Christensen sits at second in program history in all-time career steals (192).  UVU's single-season record holder for steals, Christensen remains 31 steals behind the program's all-time steals leader Asumi Nakayma (223). The 5-8 senior guard, Christensen became the seventh Wolverine in UVU's Division I era to score 1,000 career points versus Chicago State. In the WAC opener at CSU Bakersfield, Christensen surpassed her former Wolverine teammate Rhaiah Spooner-Knight  for seventh on the program's all-time career scoring list. 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 4,107 minutes of action during her career. She also currently stands above the UVU all-time minutes per game chart with 35.1 MPG. In her 111th career start versus NMSU at home, Seals became UVU's all-time leader in career starts. The Wolverines' fourth-year floor general, Seals surppased former UVU player and All-American Robyn Fairbanks for most career starts in school history.

Stealing the Show
Last year's WAC steals leader, Christensen finds herself at 36th in the country with a league-leading 2.7 steals. She also is 43rd in the nation with a WAC-best 67 steals. Christensen has tallied at least one steal in 24 of 25 outings during her senior campaign, including three or more takeaways in 11 of those appearances. The Wolverines have won both the steals and turnover battle in 14 contests this season, including season-highs of 18 steals and 29 forced turnovers in their road win at Chicago State. UVU has forced 15 or more turnovers in 13 of the last 15 games, while recording double-digit steals in seven of those outings. Behind their success at limiting foes' scoring chances, Utah Valley leads the WAC in steals with 9.7 takeaways per contest and turnover margin (+3.80).

Mariah's Helping Hands
After racking up three or more assists in 17 of the last 19 games, senior guard Mariah Seals ranks second in the WAC with 121 assists and 4.7 assists per contest. Seals has racked up six or more assists in four of her last five outings, including a season-high matching nine dimes versus UMKC, to sit at first in league play with 6.0 dimes per contest. UVU's floor general, senior Mariah Seals pushed her streak of consecutive games with an assist versus UTRGV to 31 games dating back to last season. In addition, she has racked up multiple assists in 27 of those contests. The 5-3 Wolverine point guard, Seals has recorded or tied for the team high in assists 22 times on the year. Behind Seals' play-making ability, UVU is second in the league with 13.8 assists per game as a team against WAC foes. Among the program's all-time assists leaders, Seals is third on UVU's all-time career assist chart (433) in her senior campaign.

Final Homecoming
UVU will play its final pair of home games of the 2017-18 regular season when it hosts WAC frontrunner CSU Bakerfield and Grand Canyon. The Wolverines' contest versus GCU marks the final career home games for seniors Mariah Seals, Taylor Christensen and Brighton Taylor. Following the close to their home slate, Utah Valley ends the regular season at Seattle U on March 3.

Wolverine Gladiators
UVU guards Mariah Seals, Taylor Christensen, Gabrielle Leos, and Britta Spencer each average 29-plus  minutes per game this season. Seals headlines the group of Wolverine gladiators with 36.6 minutes per game to rank third in the WAC. The senior point guard has played every minute during six of UVU's last eight contests. Meanwhile, Christensen's 32.6  average minutes of action puts her at 13th in the WAC in minutes averaged. Spencer (30.3 MPG) and Leos (29.4 MPG) join their senior teammates on the WAC top-25 list for minutes played in 20th and 22nd, respectively. 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. In her junior campaign, Seals led the WAC in minutes per game with 36.7 and total minutes played with 1,001. 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 ranks fourth in the conference in three-point field-goal percentage on the year with a 37.1-percent mark from beyond the arc on the year. Entering the final two weeks of league play,  Seals is also fourth in the WAC with 2.3 three-point makes per game against conference foes. Outside of Seals' three-point accuracy, senior guard Taylor Christensen ranks among the top-15 overall shooters in the WAC. Christensen has knocked down 42.5 percent (135-of-318 FG) of her field goal attempts this season, sitting in 12th on the league's field goal percentage list. In WAC contests, sophomore guard Alexis Cortez joins her sharp-shooting teammates at seventh in the conference with a 38.7-percent shooting clip from beyond the arc.

Charity at the Line
UVU senior guard Taylor Christensen leads the Wolverines at the charity stripe and ranks second in the WAC with 78 made free throws. She has converted 74.3 percent of her shots at the free-throw line to rank seventh in the WAC in free throw percentage. Meanwhile, Christensen's 105 trips to the foul line puts her atop the WAC leaderbord in free throw attempts this year. Mariah Seals is second on the team in efficiency at the free-throw line, sinking 73.6 percent of her extra attempts to rank 10th in the WAC. Sophomore forward Jordan Holland has nailed 76.6 percent of her free throws during league contests to land at 12th in the conference. UVU's 318 made free throws and 72.7-percent free-throw percentage leads all teams in the WAC. In addition, the Wolverines' 473 trips to the foul line are the most by any WAC team on the season.

Taylor-Made Glass
Senior guard Taylor Christensen begins the week at sixth among all guards in the WAC on the glass, pulling down 4.7 boards per contest. In addition, Christensen has finished or tied as the Wolverines' leader in rebounds in nine contests, including UVU's victories at home over Air Force and Dixie State. With 7.2 boards per contest in her last six outings, UVU sophomore forward Jordan Holland begins the week at sixth in the WAC with 7.0 boards per game during WAC play. In addition, Holland ranks 16th in the conference with a team-best 5.1 rebounds per game this year. Holland's 3.5 offensive rebounds per contest versus league foes lands her at first in the WAC. The 6-0 foot forward, Holland has posted a career-high seven offensive boards twice, including games versus CSUB and Chicago State. UVU's leading rebounder, Holland pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds at Grand Canyon.

Fuel to the Fire
After averaging 10.8 bench points in 16 games prior, Utah Valley's bench has ramped up its bench scoring to 15.8 points per game over the squad's last 10 contests. During the Wolverines' lone pair of road wins at Kansas City and Chicago State, sophomore center Leya Harvey and sophomore guard Alexis Cortez fueled UVU's resurging bench scoring. The sophomore duo combined for all of the squad's season-high 33 bench points at UMKC and guided UVU's 29 bench points at CSU. In the Wolverines' first outing of the year versus New Mexico State, freshman guard Nehaa Sohail enjoyed her best game off the sidelines in a UVU uniform with six points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Paired with nine points from Cortez and another two from Harvey, Utah Valley's bench finished with 17 points against the Aggies. Behind their bench's resurgence, the Wolverines boast the WAC's second-highest scoring offense against league opponents with 66.0 points per game. Sophomore guard Alexis Cortez leads UVU's bench with 6.2 points per contest.