OPENING TIP

• Utah Valley University will open its 2022 WAC Tournament on Thursday at 12 p.m. PT/1 p.m. MT from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The game will air live on ESPN+. 
• The Wolverines (15-14) are the No. 4 seed while the Vaqueros (14-18) are the No. 8 seed and have won their first two games to start the tournament over No. 9 Seattle U and an upset win on Tuesday over No. 5 Abilene Christian. 
• This year marks Utah Valley's ninth appearance in the WAC Tournament, with the Wolverines 3-8 all-time. UVU is also 2-2 as a higher seed. Utah Valley is seeking its fourth appearance in the WAC Tournament semifinals. 
• The winner of Thursday's game will face top seed Stephen F. Austin on Friday at noon PT in the first of two semifinal matches. 
• Josie Williams leads UVU with 17.3 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. She's second in the WAC in scoring and fourth nationally in both rebounds per game and double-doubles, with 22. 
• Williams was named to the All-WAC first team on Monday while Maria Carvalho earned her third All-WAC selection and was voted to the second team. Carvalho is averaging a career-high 13.5 points per game this season. 
   

LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley clinched the 4th seed with a 60-51 win over New Mexico State last Saturday. The Wolverines were without starting pointg guard Maria Carvalho, but got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Josie Williams, 14 from Madison Grange, and a career-high 12 from Eleyana Tafisi. Abby Conlee recorded her first career double-double after notching career bests with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

ABOUT THE VAQUEROS
UTRGV has won three straight games, including handing regular season champion Stephen F. Austin its only loss in WAC play. The Vaqueros opened the WAC Tournament on Monday with a 71-61 win over Seattle U and followed that up Tuesday with a 73-70 win over Abilene Christian.

Utah Valley is 20-15 all-time against UTRGV in the series and has won seven straight. In the prior meeting this season, Madison Grange scored a career-high 24 points and was 6-for-7 from beyond the arc, Williams finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Carvalho dished out 10 assists.