Utah Valley women’s basketball will travel to the University of San Francisco for the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Mar. 18. The game is scheduled for Thursday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Mountain Time and 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
The matchup is significant as it marks Utah Valley’s second appearance in the WNIT and their first time earning back-to-back postseason berths. The Wolverines are looking to build on last season’s tournament, where they secured their first postseason victory by defeating Air Force before falling to Washington State in a close second-round game.
Thursday’s contest will be broadcast on ESPN+, featuring George Devine as play-by-play announcer and Sophia Jones as analyst. Fans can also follow live statistics through GoUVU.com/stats.
In their most recent outing, Utah Valley lost in the quarterfinals of the Air Force Reserve Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament after Tarleton State overcame a fourth-quarter deficit and took the lead with a late three-pointer. Kaylee Headrick led Utah Valley with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Amanda Barcello added 15 points and Cambree Blackham contributed 10 points along with seven assists. The Wolverines scored more than half of their points in the paint and capitalized on turnovers by scoring 22 points off 17 Texan mistakes.
San Francisco enters Thursday’s game with an overall record of 18-14 and finished conference play at .500 in the West Coast Conference. The Dons have been strong at home this season, posting a 9-7 record, and are led by First Team All-WCC selection Candy Edokpaigbe, who averages nearly 18 points per game. Freshman Aina Cargol has also made an impact, averaging almost five assists per game.
This will be just the third meeting between Utah Valley and San Francisco, with each team having previously won once on its home court during past seasons.
The winner of Thursday’s matchup will advance to face Montana State in the second round. Montana State was runner-up in the Big Sky Conference tournament this year.
