Utah Valley vs. Chicago State (Feb. 8)
11 a.m. MT | Rebecca D. Lockhart Arena | Orem, Utah
Utah Valley Game Notes | Chicago State Game Notes

Game Information
Live Video Stream: WAC Digital Network
Live Stats Link: UVU vs. Chicago State Live Stats

Utah Valley vs. UMKC (Feb. 10)
3 p.m. MT | Rebecca D. Lockhart Arena | Orem, Utah
Utah Valley Game Notes | UMKC Game Notes

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

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OPENING TIP

Utah Valley wraps up a three-game homestand with an 11 a.m. MT Education Day contest versus Chicago State Thursday and Saturday at 3 p.m. MT against UMKC.

The Wolverines (9-13, 3-4 WAC) seek to rebound from its current three-game skid following a defeat to Seattle U on a last second shot. In the setback, sophomore forward Jordan Holland led the Wolverines with a career-high 20 points.

Senior guard Taylor Christsenen begins the week needing just six points to become the seventh Wolverine in the program's Division I era to reach 1,000 career points. In addition, Christensen will join Seals as the squad's active 1,000-point scorers.

UVU's senior leaders, Christensen and Seals form the second highest scoring backcourt duo in the WAC with a combined 29.1 points per game. The senior backcourt has averaged 30.8 points in their last four outings together.

The fourth-year Utah Valley floor general, Seals enters this week at second in the WAC in assists during league play with 5.4 assists per game in seven contests. With her eight assists against SU, Seals has tallied five or more dimes in five of her last six outings.

On defense, Christensen sits atop the WAC steals leaderboard with 57 steals and a league-leading 2.7 steals per contest. Christensen has recorded at least one steal in 20 of 21 outings this season, including every UVU home game.

Behind Christensen's defensive abilities, Utah Valley has recorded a WAC-best 213 steals. UVU also sits atop the the WAC leaderboard in turnover margin ( 3.36)  and steals per game (9.7 spg).

Sophomore guard Alexis Cortez has helped fuel a resurging UVU second unit, leading the Wolverines in scoring off the bench with 8.6 points per game versus league opponents.  After averaging 10.8 bench points per game as a team in the 16 games prior, Utah Valley's bench has averaged 20 points in five of its last six contests.

About the Cougars
Chicago State (0-23, 0-8 WAC) comes into the week off a pair of losses to CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon last week. Freshman guard Tyesah Bowers guided the Cougars' offense, averaging 15 points per contest in the squad's two home defeats. A 5-7 guard, Bowers sits among the WAC's scoring leaders in the league at 12th with 12.3 points per game on the year. Bowers' scoring success has also helped her set up her teammates on offense, as she ranks ninth in the league in assists with 2.4 dimes per contest. CSU brings into the contest the third best shot-blocking squad in the conference with 2.8 swats per game throughout the season. Sophomore forward Ines Mata-Boix leads all Cougar players with1.8 blocks per contest, which ranks second in the WAC.

Series History vs. Chicago State
Thursday morning's game between the Wolverines and Cougars will make their 25th all-time meeting on the hardwood. UVU holds a 15-9 advantage over CSU in the all-time series matchup, including six straight victories in the series. In their last matchup, Utah Valley capped its Midwest trip sweep with a 68-30 victory over Chicago State in the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center on Jan. 13, 2018. Senior guard Mariah Seals finished with team highs of 13 points and five assists for the Wolverines in her birthday outing. UVU won its last home contest against the Cougars in a 73-54 victory on Feb. 11, 2017 inside Lockhart Arena. In that contest, Taylor Christensen scored 12 points and became the Wolverines' single season leader in steals.

About the Kangaroos
UMKC (8-15, 4-4 WAC) enters this week's pair of games off its recent 76-62 loss to CSU Bakersfield last weekend. Senior guard Samantha Waldron spearheaded the Kangaroos' offense in the setback with 17 points and five three-pointers. The 'Roos boast the WAC's third highest scoring offense on the year, averaging 66.6 points per contest. Senior guard Aries Washington ranks third in the conference in scoring with a team-best 16.7 points per game. Joining Washington among the league's top scorers, senior guard Samantha Waldron is ninth with 14.1 points per contest in WAC games. Along with their scoring, Washington and Waldron help guide the 'Roos shooting from beyond the arc. Waldron leads the WAC with 2.7 made three-pointer per game, while Washington sits at fourth with 2.1 threes per contest.

Series History vs. UMKC
Saturday afternoon's contest between the Wolverines and Kangaroos marks the 11th all-time meeeting between the two squads.Utah Valley owns a 7-3 lead over UMKC in the all-time series matchup, including a 4-0 record at home. UVU won the last matchup versus the 'Roos, picking up its first road win of the season, 66-59, at UMKC inside the Swinney Recreation Center on Jan. 11, 2018. Sophomores Leya Harvey (17 points) and Alexis Cortez (16 points) each reached career highs in scoring in the win. Last season's home contest saw the Wolverines top UMKC, 58-39, inside Lockhart Arena on Feb. 9, 2017. The 39 points marked the lowest allowed all year by UVU's defense. UVU's 23rd-year head coach Cathy Nixon holds a 1-0 record against UMKC on opposing sidelines versus the Roos' first-year head coach Jacie Hoyt.

SU, Montgomery game-winner sink UVU on Holland's career day
Sophomore forward Jordan Holland scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in UVU's 77-75 setback versus Seattle U on a last second shot. The Wolverines (9-13, 3-4 WAC) overcame a 15-point deficit in the second half to even the score at 75-75, before SU's (11-11, 5-2 WAC) Alexis Montgomery nailed a shot from the right elbow against tough defense by UVU junior guard Britta Spencer. Led by Holland's scoring, Utah Valley received double-digit efforts from four players on the day. Following Holland, Mariah Seals and Taylor Christensen each poured in 14 points and sophomore guard Gabrielle Leos tallied 12 points.
 
Backcourt in Front
Utah Valley's senior leaders in guards Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals form the second highest-scoring backcourt duo in the WAC on the year with a combined 29.1 points per game. Christensen ranks sixth on the WAC scoring leaderboard with a team-best 15.5 points per game, while Seals averages 13.6 points per contest to rank eighth on the league scoring leaderboard. During league play, Seals sits at sixth among all WAC scorers with 15.1 points per contest and Christensen is 11th with 13.6 points per game. In addition, junior Britta Spencer and sophmore Gabrielle Leos give UVU the second highest scoring starting backcourt in the WAC with a combined 42.6 points per contest. Spencer (6.8 ppg) and Leos (6.7 ppg) rank 28 and 29th in the WAC, respectively, in scoring. UVU's lone seniors, Christensen and Seals begin their week with at least 25 points as a duo in each of their on-court appearances together versus WAC opponents. Seals and Christensen have averaged a combined 30.8 points in UVU's last four contests.

Making History in the Valley
Senior Taylor Christensen sits at second in program history in all-time career steals (182).  UVU's single-season record holder for steals, Christensen remains 41 steals behind the program's all-time steals leader Asumi Nakayma (223). 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. The 5-8 senior guard needs six 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 3,944 minutes of action during her career. She also currently stands above the UVU all-time minutes per game chart with 34.9 MPG. In her 111th career start against New Mexico State, 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 atop the league leaderboard with a WAC-best 2.7 steals per contest. She also sits at first in the WAC with 57 steals. Christensen has tallied at least one steal in 20 of her 21 outings during her senior campaign, including three takeaways in 10 of those appearances on the year. The Wolverines have won both the steals and turnover battle in 13 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 nine of the last 11 games, while recording double-digit steals in five of those outings. Behind their success at limiting foes' scoring chances, Utah Valley leads the WAC in both steals with 9.7 takeaways per contest and turnover margin ( 3.36).

Mariah's Helping Hands
After racking up three or more assists in 15 of the last 16 games, senior guard Mariah Seals ranks second in the WAC with 97 assists and 4.4 assists per contest. Seals has racked up five or more assists in five of her last six outings, ranking her second in league play with 5.4 dimes per contest. UVU's floor general, senior Mariah Seals pushed her streak of consecutive games with an assist versus SU to 27 games dating back to last season. In addition, she has racked up multiple assists in 25 of those contests, including a season-high nine dimes in UVU's win at UMKC. The 5-3 Wolverine point guard, Seals has recorded or tied for the team high in assists in 18 of her 22 outings on the year. 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 (409) in her senior campaign.

Ringing in a New Year
UVU rang in the new year of WAC competition with a three-game road swing at CSU Bakersfield, UMKC and Chicago State.The Wolverines finished their league-opening road trip 2-1, as they swept their visit to the Midwest with wins against the 'Roos and Cougars.
Utah Valley's first road wins of the 2017-18 campgain came at UMKC and Chicago State to cap a four-game road trip.

Wolverine Gladiators
UVU guards Mariah Seals, Taylor Christensen, Gabrielle Leos, and Britta Spencer each average 28-plus  minutes per game this season. Seals headlines the group of Wolverine gladiators with 35.8 minutes per game to rank fifth in the WAC. The senior point guard has played every minute during each of UVU's last four contests. Meanwhile, Christensen's 33.1  average minutes of action puts her at 14th in the WAC in minutes averaged. Spencer joins senior teammates on the WAC top-25 list for minutes played in 20th, averaging 30.1 minutes per game. 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 39.2-percent mark from beyond the arc on the year. Entering the fifth week of league play,  Seals is fifth in the WAC with 2.3 three-point makes per game against conference foes. Outside of Seals' three-point accuracy, senior guard Taylor Christensen is among the top15 overall shooters in the WAC. Christensen has knocked down 42.8 percent (118-of-276 FG) of her field goal attempts this season, ranking her 11th in the league in field goal percentage. Seals also ranks among the league's top-15 leaders in shooting percentage, as she rounds at that list with a 40.7-percent shooting clip this season (107-of-263 FG).

Charity at the Line
UVU senior guard Taylor Christensen leads the Wolverines at the charity stripe with a WAC-best 74 made free throws. She has converted 75.5 percent of her shots at the free-throw line to rank ninth in the WAC in free throw percentage. Meanwhile, Christensen's 98 free-throw attempts puts her atop the WAC leaderbord in free throw attempts this year. Mariah Seals leads the team in effiency at the free-throw line, sinking 76.3 percent of her extra attempts to rank seventh in the WAC. After sinking a career-high 10 free throws on her career-best 11 foul shot attempts, sophomore forward Jordan Holland has nailed 73.9 percent of her free throws during conference matchups to land to rank 11th in the conference. UVU's 294 made free throws as a team leads the WAC, while its 73.9-percent free-throw percentage is second among all teams in the league. In addition, the Wolverines' 398 trips to the foul line also is the most by any WAC team on the season.

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-high tying 5.0 boards per contest. In addition, Christensen has finished as the Wolverines' rebounding leader in eight contests, including UVU's victories at home over Air Force and Dixie State. Fresh off a combined 21 boards in her last two outings, UVU sophomore forward Jordan Holland begins the week at fifth in the WAC with 7.7 boards per game during WAC play. Holland's 4.3 offensive rebounds per contest against league opponents lands her at first in the WAC. In her last two appearances at GCU and against Seattle U, Holland is averaging 5.0 offensive boards per contest. In addition, Holland pulled down a season-high seven offensive rebounds in UVU's first matchup versus Chicago State.

Fuel to the Fire
After averaging 10.8 bench points in 16 games prior, Utah Valley's bench has combined to score 20.0 points per game in five of the squad's last six contests. During the Wolverines' pair of road wins at Kansas City and Chicago State on its first leauge road trip, 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. In UVU's outing versus New Mexico State, freshman guard Nehaa Sohail enjoyed her best game off the sidelines for the Wolverines with six points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Paired with nine points from Cortez and another two from Harvey, Utah Valley finished with 17 points. Behind their bench's resurgence, the Wolverines boast the third highest scoring offense in league competition with 67 points per game. UVU also ranks among the top-five teams during conference play in scoring margin.