OPENING TIP
Utah Valley University wraps up its two-game road trip to the Lone Star State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MT at Stephen F. Austin. The game will air live on ESPN+ with live stats available via GoUVU.com. 

The Wolverines (9-16, 4-12) are coming off of consecutive gut-wrenching, 1-point defeats in the last two contests, the latest coming on Thursday at UT Rio Grande Valley. UVU currently sits in 10th in the conference standings with the top eight qualifying for the WAC Tournament in March. The Wolverines are one game back in the loss column behind Southern Utah and Tarleton State.

LAST TIME OUT
Amanda Barcello scored a career-high 17 points and Utah Valley had a late lead, but UT Rio Grande Valley closed the contest on an 8-1 run over the final 37 seconds to steal a crucial win, 63-62, on Thursday night at UTRGV Fieldhouse. 

Barcello hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the Wolverines an 8-point lead, 57-49, with 4:20 left. She then snagged an offensive rebound and put it back for two with 2:23 left, giving UVU a 59-50 advantage. But the Vaqueros finished the game on a 13-3 run and moved to two games in front of the Wolverines in the loss column as both teams fight for a spot in the WAC Tournament in March. With the Wolverines in front 61-60 with under 20 seconds left, the Vaqueros secured two offensive rebounds before Arianna Sturdivant hit a jumper that went as the game-winner with six seconds remaining. Both teams had 1-for-2 trips from the line in the closing seconds for the final tally.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Wolverines lead the WAC and rank sixth in the country in bench points per game, with 29.4 points per game coming off the bench. UVU also leads the league and ranks 11th in the nation with 11.7 steals per game as a team while also leading the conference in turnover margin (-4.16) and turnovers forced per game (20.5, 24th nationally).

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Stephen F. Austin (17-9, 11-3) secured a spot in the WAC Tournament following a 25-point win over Seattle U on Thursday night. The Ladyjacks are led by Kurstyn Harden, who averages 15.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while also leading the WAC in field goal percentage (55%), free-throw attempts and free-throws made. SFA has won each of the four prior meetings between the school, including a 72-63 win in Orem on Feb. 1. Avery ValSickle led the Ladyjacks with 15 points while Harden had 14 and Zoe Nelson grabbed 12 rebounds. The Wolverines were led by Jenna Dick's 17 points. UVU is 0-1 all-time in Nacogdoches. 

UP NEXT
UVU travels to UT Arlington next Saturday, March 2 for the final conference road game of the season.