OPENING TIP
Utah Valley University travels to Cedar City for the final WAC road game of the season on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT at Southern Utah. The game will air live on ESPN+.

Grand Canyon has secured the WAC regular season title and top seed at the tournament in two weeks, but spots two through six remain separated by just one game in the loss column. The Wolverines (15-10, 7-6) are currently tied for fifth with Abilene Christian, one game back in the loss column of Tarleton State, UT Arlington, and California Baptist.

The Wolverines secured their berth in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals with their win last Saturday at Seattle U to cap a 2-0 week that also included a decisive home win over Utah Tech. 

Saturday's game is pivotal in terms of potential conference tournament seeding. UVU is two games in front of Southern Utah in the loss column but an SUU win on Saturday would also give the T-Birds the tiebreaker and move them within one game with two to go. 

Amanda Barcello had an impressive week for the Wolverines, going 8-for-8 combined from the 3-point line over the two wins, including six makes and a career-high 22 points in the win over Utah Tech. Barcello averaged 17.0 points per game and was 11-for-14 overall from the field.  

Utah Valley leads the WAC and ranks third in the country with 14.2 steals per game and is fifth nationally with 24.2 turnovers forced per contest. The Wolverines are also first in the conference an 29th in the country with 14.3 offensive rebounds per game, and 31st in bench points per game, at 24.6.

LAST TIME OUT
Behind a strong second half, Utah Valley University pulled away from Seattle U to earn a road win in WAC play, 68-51, on Saturday in the Redhawk Center. The Wolverines outscored the Redhawks  42-23 in the second half to pick up their second straight win. Halle Nelson had a career-high 17 points to lead all scorers while also hauling in 11 rebounds for a double-double. She was 7-for-10 from the field and finished with a pair of steals and a blocked shot. Amanda Barcello and Tahlia White also reached double figures, scoring 14 points each. White also had three steals and a block to go along with five rebounds.

Barcello keyed a third-quarter run for Utah Valley that saw the Wolverines outscore the Redhawks 21-7 to take a 47-35 lead after three. She scored 11 points in the quarter while Nelson had six points and five rebounds.

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Southern Utah is one of the WAC's hottest teams as winners of four straight, which includes a 72-63 road win in Orem on Feb. 15. The T-Birds (8-19, 6-8) hit 12 3-pointers on 19 attempts in a lopsided win over Utah Tech on Thursday night in Cedar City.

UP NEXT
The Wolverines will wrap up the WAC regular season next week with home games against Abilene Christian (March 6) and Tarleton State (March 8).