OREM, Utah — Another key WAC series awaits Utah Valley University as New Mexico State comes to town fo the final home games of the season. The Wolverines are currently 7-4 overall and tied for third at 5-3 in the WAC. The Aggies, 4-9 overall, are 2-4 in WAC play and just one game behind both UVU and Seattle U in the loss column.

Following Saturday's game, the Wolverines will honor their lone senior, Va'e Malufau. She's spent four seasons at UVU — including a redshirt year after transferring from Northern Arizona — and has appeared in 43 games during her three-year playing career as a Wolverine.

Utah Valley split two games with second-place Grand Canyon last week. The Wolverines got a career-high 23 points from Maria Carvalho and 14 points and 12 rebounds from Josie Williams in earning a 63-51 win over the Lopes last Friday. It was the lowest point total of the season for GCU, and for the moment tied the two for second in the standings.

The Lopes picked up a 72-62 win on Saturday to split the season series. A big third quarter, where GCU hit 12-of-16 attempts from the field, along with some key 3-pointers in the fourth helped the Lopes pull away in the closing minutes. Carvalho led four Wolverines in double figures with 15 and also dished out nine assists while Madison Grange finished with career-highs of 13 points and five assists.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE
New Mexico State has been one of, if not the most displaced basketball program in the country due to the pandemic and local state regulations regarding COVID-19. The Aggies have played just four "home" games, two of which were against Grand Canyon in Phoenix in GCU's arena, and the other two last week against Seattle U in El Paso, Texas. NM State split the games with Seattle U, winning 64-49 on Friday before falling 76-69 on Saturday. Like the Wolverines, the Aggies also split with Grand Canyon. Aaliyah Prince leads New Mexico State with 12.1 points per game while Soufia Inoussa is averaging 11.4 points per contest.

UP NEXT
The Wolverines will begin a four game trip to Texas that will wrap up the WAC regular season next week, with two games at UT Rio Grande Valley on Feb. 26-27, following by two games at Tarleton on March 2-3.