Lone home game brings in-state foe UVU to Marriott Center Saturday

PROVO, Utah — With a 3-4 record on the year, BYU women’s basketball returns to the Marriott Center for its only home game in December. The Cougars host in-state foe Utah Valley, Saturday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m. MDT. The BYU vs. UVU matchup will be carried live on BYUtv and on the BYUtv App.

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars are 3-4 on the year heading into Saturday’s home game against UVU
• With 396 total wins, head coach Jeff Judkins is the all-time winningest men’s or women’s BYU basketball head coach. He needs four wins to reach 400 victories, a coaching milestone
• In this week’s USA Today Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll, the Cougars play two teams ranked in the top-25; Oregon State (No. 4) and Gonzaga (No. 17); ASU was receiving votes (12)
• In four of the seven games played to date, three players have finished with double figures in points, the last time was at Boise State
• Junior guard Paisley Johnson leads the team in scoring, averaging 16 points per game; senior guard Brenna Chase Drollinger follows contributing 11.7 points per contest; Drollinger currently ranks 28th all-time in career points with 1,031
• Drollinger tops the leaderboard in assists with a 3.9 average and steals with a 2.4 average; junior center Sara Hamson leads the way in rebounds and blocks, pulling down 9.4 boards a game and getting 3.6 blocks a contest
• Entering this week’s basketball action, BYU ranked eighth nationally in rebounds per game, 16th in defensive rebounds per game and 27th in offensive rebounds per game

ABOUT UTAH VALLEY

• Utah Valley comes to the Marriott Center with a 1-7 record; The Wolverines were picked to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference race
• Two players are scoring in double figures for the Wolverines, led by 10.5 points from sophomore forward Eve Braslis and 10.1 points from senior forward Jordan Holland; Holland also gets the most steals on the squad with a 1.4 average
• UVU is averaging 59.8 points a game while grabbing 36.3 boards a contest
• The entire coaching staff leading the Wolverine program has BYU ties with three former players (Ashley Garfield, Morgan Bailey, Keilani Unga); Garfield was also an assistant coach; former associate assistant coach Dan Nielson is now the head coach at UVU

SERIES HISTORY
BYU leads the overall series vs. Utah Valley 9-0. The Cougars are 5-0 when the Wolverines come to play in Provo. In last year’s matchup, BYU picked up a 77-51 victory in Orem on Nov. 29.

UP NEXT FOR BYU
BYU closes out its nonconference portion of the schedule in Maui, Hawaii, playing San Jose State and No. 4 Oregon State on Wednesday, Dec. 18 and Thursday, Dec. 19. Both of those games will be heard live on BYU Radio online at byuradio.org and online on BYUcougars.com.  After the Christmas holidays, the Cougars open up West Coast Conference action at LMU and Pepperdine on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30.