OPENING TIP
Utah Valley University women's basketball will make its first Postseason WNIT appearance when the Wolverines open the 48-team tournament on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. MT at Air Force. The game will air on the Mountain West Network with audio also available through the Air Force broadcast on the Varsity Network app. 

The winner of Friday's game will advance to play at Washington State on Monday, March 24 at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT. Friday will also mark just the program's second appearance in a postseason tournament in UVU's NCAA DI era. The team was the WAC's representative in the 2021 NCAA Tournament where they faced eventual national champion Stanford. 

The Wolverines (18-12) have won five of their last seven games and went 1-1 at the WAC Tournament last week, defeating No. 4 seed Abilene Christian in the quarterfinals before falling to top seed and champion Grand Canyon in the semifinals. Tahlia White and Amanda Barcello combined to score 50 points in a 75-65 win over ACU. White had 26 and Barcello finished with a career-high 24 after going 6-for-8 from the 3-point line. Danja Stafford Collins had 10 points and nine boards for UVU and is the WAC leader in rebounds per game at 8.9. 

Against GCU, Kylee Mabry scored 16 points, making each of her five attempts from the field, but a big third quarter helped the Lopes turn a 6-point lead into 27-point advantage entering the fourth. Grand Canyon went on to defeat UT Arlington in Saturday's championship to earn the WAC's autobid to the NCAA Tournament. 

FANS WANTING TO ATTEND MUST OBTAIN BASE PASS
Fans with tickets who are attending the game at the Air Force Academy who do not already have a DoD ID card, must obtain a pass to enter the base. Fans should register through this LINK and once registered, will receive a message with a QR code to present to the gate when entering the Academy. All ticketed/credentialed attendees will need to enter through the North Gate only to get to the Cadet Field House.

THE WAC IN THE POSTSEASON WNIT
The Western Athletic Conference is well represented in the 2025 Postseason WNIT, with three other programs joining Utah Valley in the tournament. Tarleton State earned the WAC's autobid to the WNIT and received a first-round bye. The Texans will face the winner of Lindenwood and Tulsa. Abilene Christian is hosting Northwestern State on Thursday, and UT Arlington will Incarnate Word on Thursday.

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Air Force is 18-14 overall and fell to Wyoming in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals in its last contest. The Falcons are led by the duo of Milahnie Perry and Madison Smith, who average 15.7 and 15.2 points per game, respectively, with both earning All-Mountain West honors. Perry had 22 in the Falcons' earlier 76-58 win over the Wolverines on Dec. 4, 2024 in Colorado. Mabry led UVU with 21 in that game, but was the lone scorer in double figures while Air Force had three players score double figures while shooting 51.9% as a team. Utah Valley leads the all-time series between the teams, 4-3 and is 2-2 at Clune Arena. 

WHERE UVU RANKS
Entering Wednesday, Utah Valley ranks first in the WAC in steals per game (13.5), turnovers forced per game (23.27), offensive rebounds per game (13.8), and bench points per game (23.). The steal numbers put the Wolverines fourth in the nation in that category, while they are also eighth in the country in turnovers forced per game.