OPENING TIP
Utah Valley University will play its final road game of the 2023-24 season on Saturday when the Wolverines travel to UT Arlington for a 2 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MT tip on ESPN+. UVU will then close out the WAC regular season next week with a pair of home games. 

The Wolverines (9-17, 4-13) need to make up some ground in the standings in order to qualify for the WAC Tournament, which begins March 13 in Las Vegas. The Wolverines are tied in the loss column with Seattle U and one game back of Southern Utah, Tarleton State, and UT Rio Grande Valley as the five teams bid for the final two spots in the tournament. 

LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley dropped a Saturday WAC women's basketball contest at Stephen F. Austin, 84-35. The Wolverines were led by eight points from Kylee Mabry, who returned after missing Thursday's game due to injury. The Ladyjacks got a game-high 24 points from Avery VanSickle and 21 points and 10 rebounds from Kurstyn Harden. SFA shot 47.5% from the field for the game, including 11-for-26 (42.3%) from beyond the arc

NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Wolverines lead the WAC and ranks seventh in the country in bench points per game (28.8ppg). UVU also leads the league and ranks ninth in the nation with 11.5 steals per game as a team while also leading the conference in turnover margin (-3.69) and turnovers forced per game (20.23, 26th nationally).

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
UT Arlington (14-14, 10-8) is currently in fifth in the WAC standings and fourth in the resume seeding. The Mavericks, who fell 81-77 to Seattle U on Thursday, have clinched a spot in the WAC Tournament in two weeks. Gia Adams, who has been named the WAC Newcomer of the Week four consecutive times, leads the team with an average of 14.4 points per game while Taliyah Clark is scoring 12.4 and Avery Brittingham is right behind her at 12.3 per contest. 

UVU and UTA have played just twice before, both in Orem, and have split the to games. The Mavericks won 72-64 earlier this season in Orem behind 20 points from Adela Valkova. Jenna Dick led UVU with 15 and Tahlia White chipped in 14. 

UP NEXT
The Wolverines close out the regular season at home next week. UVU hosts Tarleton State on Thursday, March 7 at 6 p.m. at Abilene Christian on Saturday, March 9 at 2 p.m. on Senior Day in the UCCU Center.