SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Utah Valley University will make its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance when the No. 16-seed Wolverines face top overall seed, No. 1 Stanford in the opening round. Tip is set for Sunday at 9 p.m. CT/8 p.m. MT from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game will air on ESPN with Pam Ward and LaChina Robinson on the call.
The Wolverines (13-6) are led by first-team All-WAC selections Maria Carvalho and Josie Williams. Williams leads the team with 14.0 points and 8.2 rebounds and is a three-time WAC Player of the Week winner this year. Shay Fano and Nehaa Sohail were honorable mention All-WAC picks while Carvalho was named to the All-Defensive Team and Fano to the All-Newcomer Team.
While UVU head coach Dan Nielson is making his first tournament appearance in his second season as a head coach, he was an assistant to BYU coach Jeff Judkins during four tournament appearances, including in the Sweet 16 in 2014. Nielson was the associate head coach for the Cougars when they faced Stanford in the second round of the 2019 tournament.
BY THE NUMBERS
(4) In addition to making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Sunday's game against Stanford marks just the fourth time in the UVU's NCAA Division I history that the Wolverines will play a nationally-ranked team. The most recent ranked for Utah Valley has faced was in 2017 against No. 18 Oregon State.
(48) Head coach Dan Nielson will coach the 48th game of his career on Sunday, while Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer has 87 career NCAA Tournament wins and will be coaching her 120th game in the tournament on Sunday.
(5.6) Utah Valley's rebounding margin, which led all WAC schools this year and ranks 40th in the country. Stanford's, however, is 12th in the nation and +11.1 rebounds per game. The Cardinal are also fifth in the nation in total rebounds.
(16.9) UVU ranks second in the WAC and 18th in the country in assists per game and is also in the top 100 in assist to turnover ratio.
(33) The Wolverines are 33rd nationally in scoring defense, allowing 57.3 points per game while Stanford ranks 15th in scoring offense at 78.4 points per game. The Cardinal also do it on the defensive end as well, limiting teams to just 32.6% shooting, second in the country to Baylor.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Utah Valley became the WAC's automatic bid after California Baptist won both the WAC regular season and tournament titles. CBU is in the third of a four-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I and not yet eligible for the NCAA Tournament. WAC Council (AD's, SWA's, FAR's) voted that should CBU win both titles, the regular season's second place team would represent the conference.
California Baptist is competing in the WNIT after going 24-0 so far this season. The Lancers have won 26 overall dating back to last year, and is the first school to be undefeated and not participate in the NCAA Tournament since Oral Roberts in 1983.
Utah Valley went 10-4 during the 14-game WAC schedule, notching its most league wins since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season.
UTAH VALLEY/STANFORD CONNECTION
Utah Valley men's basketball is coached by former Stanford All-American and Hall-of-Famer Mark Madsen. This season, Madsen's second, he led the Wolverines to their second WAC regular season title and first since 2014.
