• Utah Valley University women's basketball begins a new era under first-year head coach Dan Nielson on Tuesday at UC Santa Barbara. Tip time is an early noon PT/1 p.m. MT start. 
• The Wolverines return eight letterwinners from last season and are coming off of an 8-8 record in the WAC and were 14-16 overall. 
• Senior Jordan Holland is a returning second-team All-WAC selection and was picked by both the media and coaches to the preseason first-team this season.
• Over 87 percent of the Wolverines' points scored return including the top six point scorers from last year.
• UVU and UCSB are opening their seasons against each other for the second straight season. Utah Valley won the opener last year in Orem, 64-54. UCSB's Bri Anugwom, scored 21 points to lead all scorers in that game while Eve Braslis led the Wolverines with 17 points in her college debut.
   

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
UCSB is coming off of an 8-22 season that included a 5-11 record in Big West Conference play. Like Utah Valley, the Gauchos return much of last year's roster, including leading scorer Coco Miller, who averaged 12.2 points per game last year. UVU and CSUB have split two games all-time between the programs, with each team winning on its home court. The Gauchos are one of two Big West teams on this year's schedule. 

COMING UP
Utah Valley will host Southern Utah on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. MT in the home opener to begin a two-game homestand. The game will be played Lockhart Arena.