OPENING TIP
Utah Valley University begins the second half of the WAC season with a three-game road swing that starts on Saturday at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. Tip is set for 2 p.m. from GCU Arena and the game will air on ESPN+. 

The Wolverines (8-11, 3-7) enter Saturday's game in a four-way tie for seventh in the conference standings and are currently sixth in the WAC resume seeding. The top eight teams in the standings qualify for the conference tournament in Las Vegas in March with the seeding of those eight teams determined using the resume seeding formula. 

LAST TIME OUT
Jenna Dick scored 14 of her season-high 17 points in the fourth but Utah Valley's fourth-quarter comeback attempt ran out of time in a 72-63 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday night in Lockhart Arena. Dick hit five 3-pointers, four of which came in the fourth, while Ally Criddle finished with 12 points, six assists and three steals, and Tessa Chaney added 10 points and six rebounds for the Wolverines.  

Utah Valley trailed by 17 after three and then by 20, 57-37, early in the fourth before Dick keyed a 10-0 run with eight points to cut the lead in half with six minutes remaining. Out of an SFA timeout, the Ladyjacks scored five straight to extend it back to 15 to put the game out of reach. Dick did hit two more from distance down the stretch but UVU would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Wolverines lead the WAC and rank seventh in the country in bench points per game, with 29.7 points per game coming off the bench. UVU also leads the league and ranks 15th in the nation with 11.5 steals per game as a team while also leading the conference in turnover margin (-4.47) and turnovers forced per game (20.6).

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Grand Canyon (18-4, 10-1) leads the WAC at 10-1 in conference play and also sits atop the WAC resume seeding standings as well. The Lopes have won 10 of 11 overall after a 53-40 win at Seattle U on Thursday night. Trinity San Antonio leads a balanced scoring attack with 11.2 points per game while Naudia Evans is at 10.9 per contest. GCU is among the national leaders in scoring defense, allowing just 54.5 points per game to rank 16th in the country. The Lopes lead the all-time series 16-8 and have won two in a row, including a 78-68 win in Orem on Jan. 18.

UP NEXT
Next week, Utah Valley will take the first of its three road trips to Texas where they'll face Tarleton State (Feb. 8) and Abilene Christian (Feb. 10). UVU is tied with Tarleton and sits one game back of ACU in the WAC standings.