OPENING TIP
Utah Valley University continues its three-game road swing to open WAC play this week with a trip that will take them to Grand Canyon and California Baptist. The Wolverines (9-4, 1-0) will face the Lopes in Phoenix on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT before heading to Riverside, California to take on the Lancers on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT. Both games will air on ESPN+. 

UVU has won three straight games, all nailbiters, including a double-overtime thriller to open the WAC schedule on Saturday. Danja Stafford Collins scored the game-winner with 1.2 seconds left to cap a career-high 18-point night in a 64-63 win at Abilene Christian. 

Prior to the open of the conference schedule, and prior to the holiday break, the Wolverines also defeated Jacksonville State at home by four and secured a two-point road win at in-state rival Weber State in a game that Stafford Collins snagged a career-high 18 rebounds. 

The graduate transfer from Santa Clara leads the WAC with an average of 9.4 rebounds per contest. She's also averaging 4.7 rebounds on the offensive glass, which ranks sixth in the country among all Division I players. As a team, Utah Valley continues to lead the league and also ranks sixth nationally in steals per game at 14.5 per contest. The Wolverines also lead the WAC in turnovers forced (24.8), which is 11th in the country, and bench points per game (27.6).

UP NEXT
After Saturday's game at California Baptist, the Wolverines will split home and away games next week. UVU hosts UT Arlington on Thursday, Jan. 16 in the UCCU Center before traveling to St. George to face Utah Tech on Saturday, Jan. 18. 

LAST TIME OUT
Tahlia White matched her season-high with 19 points and had a career-high seven steals while Stafford Collins not only hit the game-winner in the second overtime, but she sent the game to the first OT with a offensive rebound and putback with less than one second left in regulation. Her floater just inside the free-throw line won it in the second extra frame. Kylee Mabry also reached double figures with 10 points while the Wolverines finished with 14 steals and forced 31 ACU turnovers. 

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Grand Canyon is one of the hottest teams in the country, having won 12 straight entering Thursday's contest, the sixth-longest streak in the country. The Lopes, who are a perfect 11-0 at home, are 14-2 overall and 1-0 in WAC play after defeating Southern Utah on the road to open conference last Saturday. GCU boasts the WAC's top scoring offense, averaging 78.8 points per game and has 30th-best scoring margin in the country and +20.8. They're also ninth in the nation from the field as a team, hitting 49.2% overall. GCU leads the all-time series 17-8 and has won eight of the 10 contests played in Phoenix. 

California Baptist is 4-11 and 1-0 in the WAC after its 70-64 road win at Seattle U on Saturday. The Lancers are 4-2 in their last six games after losing nine straight against a difficult schedule to begin the season, which included the season opener Oregon and an early December contest at No. 4 USC. The Lancers are 10-2 all-time and 7-0 at home against Utah Valley.