OREM, Utah -- Having assured themselves of a spot in next week's WAC Tournament, the Utah Valley University women's basketball team will wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games inside the UCCU Center.
UVU (6-21, 3-13) begins the week by hosting UT Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MT in the annual Pink Game. Anyone wearing pink will get into the game for free. Thursday night at 6 p.m. MT, UVU will play its final home game of the season against Utah Tech on Senior Night in the Old Hammer Rivalry. UVU's lone senior Kayla Anderson, who has been sidelined for most of the year due to injury, will be honored following the game.
The Wolverines dropped two games last week on the road, at Grand Canyon and Seattle U, and have continued to be without starting point guard Eleyana Tafisi, who has missed the last six games. UVU also lost leading scorer and rebounder Jaeden Brown and Anderson to season-ending injuries. Brown has been sidelined since Jan. 4 while Anderson was hurt in just the third game of the season, at UNLV.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
UTRGV is 11-16 overall and 5-11 in WAC play. The Vaqueros are currently the No. 10 seed in the WAC's resume seeding and will close out the regular season on Thursday at California Baptist. Utah Valley is 15-11 all-time against UTRGV and has won eight straight in the series that dates back to their days as Division I Independents and members of the Great West Conference. Tarleton transfer Iyana Dorsey leads the Vaqueros at 16.4 points per game, which ranks fourth in the WAC.
Utah Tech is 17-10 overall and 9-7 in the WAC and hosts Grand Canyon on Tuesday. The Trailblazers are currently the No. 5 seed in next week's tournament. Utah Tech defeated Utah Valley by 10, 68-58, on New Year's Eve in St. George for the program's first win over UVU since both schools moved from junior college rivals to the NCAA. Utah Tech is led by Breaunna Gillen's 18.2 points per game and is also tied for fourth in the country with 266 3-pointers made.
UP NEXT
The opening round of the WAC Tournament will be held on Monday, March 5 at Michelob Ultra Arena. UVU is currently the No. 12 seed, which would put the team at a 2 p.m. PT start if that seeds holds. If the Wolverines can move up to the No. 11 spot, they'd play the final game of the day, slated for approximately 8 p.m. PT.
