*WAC Tournament Quarterfinals*
No. 6 Utah Valley at No. 3 Grand Canyon (March 7)
12 p.m. PT/1 p.m. MT | Orleans Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.
Utah Valley Game Notes | Grand Canyon Game Notes

Game Information
Live Video Stream: WatchESPN.com
TV: ESPN3 (Mychal Clanton & Joan Bonvicini)
Live Stats Link: UVU at Grand Canyon Live Stats
Radio: Stretch Internet (Clint Burgi & Josh Kallunki)

WAC Tournament Information:
WAC Tournament Central

 

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OPENING TIP

The No. 6 seed Utah Valley women's basketball team will take on third-seeded Grand Canyon in the 2018 WAC Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday at noon PT/1 p.m. MT inside Orleans Arena.

The Wolverines (11-18, 5-9 WAC) enter this year's league guantlet looking to advance past the first round of the conference tournament for the third straight season. UVU previously beat CSU Bakersfield and Kansas City in the quarterfinals.

Utah Valley's on-court leaders, Christensen and Mariah Seals form the third highest-scoring backcourt duo in the WAC with a combined 28.8 points per game. The senior backcourt had its hand in 72 points versus GCU with 13 combined assists.

An All-WAC second team pick, Seals finished the regular season atop the WAC assists leaderboard during league play with 5.6 dimes per game. Seals tallied six or more assists in six of her last eight outings coming into the week.

2018 WAC All-Defensive selection, Christensen led the WAC in steals with 69 takeaways and a league-best 2.5 steals per contest. Christensen also ranked third among the league's guards in defensive rebounds per game (3.9).

Behind Christensen's defensive abilities, Utah Valley has recorded a WAC-best 264 steals. UVU holds the WAC's top spot  in turnover margin ( 3.4)  and steals per game (9.2 spg).

During conference play, the Wolverines boasted the league's top-ranked passing team  (14.4 apg) and second-ranked scoring offense (66.9 ppg). UVU's third-leading scorer, sophomore Jordan Holland (7.4 ppg) has fueled the offense, averaging 11.8 points per game in the squad's last 10 contests.

All-Newcomer selection in sophomore Alexis Cortez also provided a spark to UVU's offense during the regular season as the squad's leading bench scorer with 6.0 points per game.

 Series History vs. Grand Canyon

• Wednesday's noon WAC Tournament quarterfinal game will be the 12th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and 'Lopes. Utah Valley holds a 3-8 record versus GCU after they split the regular season series.
• UVU topped Grand Canyon, 84-64, inside Lockhart Arena on Senior Day held Feb. 24, 2018. Seniors Mariah Seals (20 points, 10 assists) and Taylor Christensen (19 points, 11 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in their final career home appearances.
• The 'Lopes claimed an 81-61 home win over the Wolverines in their first matchup this season inside GCU Arena on Jan. 27, 2018. Seals scored a team-high 21 points in that contest.
• After WAC quarterfinal wins in each of the past two seasons, UVU enters this year's edition with a 2-2 record in the first round of the conference tournament. Last year, Utah Valley knocked off No. 3 seed CSU Bakersfield in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals.

About the 'Lopes

• Grand Canyon (15-13, 9-5 WAC) is the No. 3 seed in the WAC tournament after a 77-76 double OT win at CSU Bakersfield in the regular season finale. Senior guard Brie Mobley led the Antelopes with 18 points versus the Roadrunners.
• An All-WAC first team pick, Mobley ranked third in the WAC in scoring on the year, leads all GCU scorers with a team-best 17.7 points per game. She also finished third in the league with nine 20-point performances on the year and tallied eight double-doubles.
• GCU's offense boasts the league's highest scoring guard trio. Along with Mobley's scoring, senior Jessica Gajewski (15.1 ppg) ranks sixth in the WAC in scoring and senior August Touchard (10.6) sits at 16th on the WAC scoring chart.
• The 'Lopes finished as the regular season leader in three-pointers made (216) and three-point percentage (.316). All-WAC second team selection, Gajewski led the league with a 41.5-percent mark from beyond the arc.

Seals, Christensen shine in UVU's Senior Day win over GCU

• On Senior Day, Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals shared one final moment together on UVU's home court with double-doubles to lift the Wolverines' (11-17, 5-8 WAC) to an 84-64 victory over Grand Canyon (14-13, 8-5 WAC) inside Lockhart Arena on Feb. 24.
• Seals finished with a team-high 20 points and career-high tying 10 assists in her second career double-double, while Christensen added 19 points (7-of-9 FG) and 11 rebounds their last time out versus GCU.
• The Wolverines mirrored their conference-play high with nine three-pointers (9-of-17) and a 52.9-percent mark in their victory over the 'Lopes. They also dominated the boards in their last meeting against Grand Canyon with a 40-17 advantage in rebounds.

Backcourt in Front

• Utah Valley's senior leaders Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals formed the third highest-scoring backcourt duo in the WAC in the regular season with a combined 28.5 points per game. Christensen ranks seventh on the WAC scoring leaderboard with a team-best 14.4 points per game, while Seals averages 14.2 points per contest to rank eighth on the league scoring leaderboard. With four of her eight 20-point outings coming in conference play, Seals sat at sixth among all WAC scorers with 15.6 points per contest during league play. UVU's newest member of the 1,000-point club, Christensen is 12th with 12.2 points per game versus league foes.
• In addition, junior Britta Spencer gave UVU the third highest-scoring backcourt trio in the WAC this year with a combined 35.8 points per contest. Spencer (7.3 ppg) ranks 30th on the league's scoring leaderboard entering the WAC Tournament.
• UVU's lone seniors, Christensen and Seals enter their final regular season game with at least 25 points as a duo in 11 of their last 14 on-court appearances.

Making History in the Valley

• Senior Taylor Christensen sits at second in program history in all-time career steals.  UVU's single-season recordholder for steals, Christensen has recorded 192 career steals to sit 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. At UT Rio Grande Valley, Christensen (1,057 points) surpassed former Wolverine guard Jenna Johnson  for sixth 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 list with 4,186 minutes of action during her career. She also stands atop the UVU all-time minutes per game chart with 35.2 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 found herself atop the WAC steals leaderboard for the second year in a row with 2.5 steals per game. She has also racked up a WAC-best 69 steals. Christensen tallied at least one takeaway in 25 of 28 regular season outings in her senior campaign, including three or more takeaways in 11 of those appearances.
• The Wolverines have won both the steals and turnover battle in 15 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 14 of the last 17 games, while recording double-digit steals in seven of those outings.
• Behind their success at limiting foes' scoring chances, Utah Valley led the WAC in steals with 9.2 takeaways per contest and turnover margin ( 3.40).

Mariah's Helping Hands

• After racking up three or more assists in 19 of the last 22 games, senior guard Mariah Seals ranked second in the WAC with 138 assists and 4.8 assists per contest coming into the tournament. Seals has racked up six or more assists in six of her last seven outings, including a career-high tying 10 dimes versus Grand Canyon, to finish as the league's assists leader during WAC play with 5.6 dimes per contest.
• UVU's floor general, Seals has pushed her streak of consecutive games with an assist to 34 games dating back to last season. In addition, she has racked up multiple assists in 29 of those contests.
• The 5-3 Wolverine point guard, Seals has recorded or tied for the team high in assists 24 times on the year. Behind Seals' playmaking ability, UVU recorded14.4 dimes per game versus WAC teams.
• Among the program's all-time assists leaders, Seals moved into second on UVU's all-time career assist chart (450) this year.

Senior Send-off

• The Wolverines' contest versus GCU marked the final career home games for seniors Mariah Seals, Taylor Christensen and Brighton Taylor.
• UVU's seniors have led the Wolverines to 47 wins during their tenure, including the program's first pair of WAC tournament victories and trips to the WAC semifinals each of the past two seasons.
• In addition, these Utah Valley seniors helped guide the squad to its best record as a member of the WAC with a 16-15 overall clip and 8-6 conference record in 2015-16

Wolverine Gladiators
 

• UVU guards Mariah Seals, Taylor Christensen and Britta Spencer each averaged 30-plus  minutes per game this season.
• Seals headlines the group of Wolverine gladiators with 36.8 minutes per game to rank third in the WAC. The senior point guard has played 40 minutes in four of UVU's last six contests and has recorded a WAC-best 39 minutes per game in league play.
• Meanwhile, Christensen's 32.3  average minutes of action puts her at 16th in the WAC in minutes averaged. Spencer (30.2 MPG) joins her Wolverine gladiator teammates on the WAC top-25 list for minutes played in 21st place.
• Seals and Christensen also  spent 1,000-plus minutes each 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 (1,036).

Get That Dirt off Your Shoulder

• Among the top three-point shooters in the WAC, guard Mariah Seals begins the tournament fourth in the conference in three-point field-goal percentage with a 37.3-percent mark from beyond the arc. Entering her final league tournament,  Seals is also fourth in the WAC with 2.2 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 43.1 percent (147-of-341 FG) of her field goal attempts this season, sitting in 13th on the league's field goal percentage list.
• In WAC contests, sophomore forward Jordan Holland joins her sharp-shooting teammates at 15th with a 43.4-percent shooting clip this year (43-of-99) in league play.

Charity at the Line

• UVU senior guard Taylor Christensen leads the Wolverines at the charity stripe and ranks second in the WAC with 90 made free throws. She has converted 75.0 percent of her shots at the free-throw line to rank ninth in the WAC in free throw percentage. Meanwhile, Christensen's 120 trips to the foul line puts her at second on the WAC leaderbord in free throw attempts.
• Sophomore forward Jordan Holland has nailed a team-best 77.1 percent of her free throws to land at 7th in the conference. Mariah Seals is third on the team in efficiency at the free-throw line, sinking 71.8 percent of her extra attempts to rank 11th in the WAC.
• UVU's 380 made free throws and 73.8 percent free-throw percentage leads all teams in the WAC. In addition, the Wolverines' 515 trips to the foul line are the most by any WAC team on the season.

Taylor-Made Glass

• Senior guard Taylor Christensen begins WAC Tournament play ranked fifth among all guards in the WAC on the glass, pulling down a team-high 4.9 boards per contest. In addition, Christensen has finished or tied as the Wolverines' leader in rebounds in 11 contests. Ranking sixth all-time at UVU in rebounds, Christensen's season-high 11 boards against GCU fell one shy of her career-high 12 versus BYU last year.
• Christensen is also third among guards and eighth overall in the WAC in defensive boards per game. In addition, Christensen's 109 defensive rebounds ranks third among backcourt players.
• UVU sophomore forward Jordan Holland begins the tournament at tenth in the WAC with 5.9 boards per game against WAC foes. In addition, Holland ranks 20th in the conference with 4.7 rebounds per game.
• Holland's 2.9 offensive rebounds per contest versus league foes lands her at second in the WAC. The 6-0 foot forward, Holland tallied a career-high seven offensive State this year.

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 14.8 points per game over the squad's last 12 contests.
• Behind their bench's resurgence, the Wolverines boast the WAC's third highest-scoring offense against league opponents with 65.9 points per game. Sophomore guard Alexis Cortez leads UVU's bench with 6.0 points per contest.
• Junior guard Britta Spencer has caught fire from beyond the arc in the Wolverines' last four contests with a 53.3-percent mark from downtown (8-of-15 3-pt FG). Spencer has shot 75 percent from distance in two of her last four outings, while averaging two three-pointers per game during that span.
• Along with Hall's and Cortez's resurgent offensive abilities, Holland has averaged 11.8 points per contest over the last 10 games to enter the weekend as UVU's third-leading scorer. During her explosive offensive stretch, Holland has posted seven double-digit outings, with a career-high 20 points versus Seattle U.