Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Utah Valley
GAME NOTES: Wildcats Host Wolverines for Home Opener
11/18/2022 12:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game 2: Utah Valley (1-2, 0-0) at Weber State (0-2, 0-0)
Saturday, November 19Â | 1:00 PM
Ogden, UT | Dee Events Center
TV Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats:Â https://bit.ly/3XeKm5L
Weber State basketball returns to the Dee Events Center for its 2022-23 home opener against the Utah Valley Wolverines. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2019.
• The Weber State women's basketball team returns to the Dee Events Center for its 2022-23 home opener against the Utah Valley Wolverines. The game will tip off at 1:00 and can be seen on ESPN+
• Weber State finished last season with 11 wins, including a win in the first round of the Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise. The 11 wins were a nine-win increase from the 2020-21 season - the highest increase in the Big Sky Conference.
• With the recent upward trajectory in the program, the Wildcats have high hopes for the '22-'23 season. WSU is eager to prove the doubters wrong after being picked seventh and ninth, respectively, in the Big Sky Conference preseason media and coaches polls.
• The 'Cats are amazingly returning 12 players from last year's team that catapulted the team in the right direction. The only other teams in the nation returning at least 12 other players are Columbia (13), Western Michigan (13), and Liberty (12).
• Among the returning players is 2021-22 all-conference performer Daryn Hickok. "Monka", as her family and teammates call her, averaged 15.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg last season. Her performance in the '21-'22 season earned her a spot on the '22-'23 Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team.Â
• With a running floater against Omaha, Hickok became the 22nd Wildcat to join the exclusive 1,000-point club.Â
• Jadyn Matthews started this season in similar fashion to how she played last year - with a double-double. Matthews led the Wildcats with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the Wildcats' season opener against Boise State, and followed that up by tying her career high in points with 21 against Omaha.
• Emma Torbert is another featured piece in Head Coach Velaida Harris' scheme. Torbert finished the season with an impressive 12.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.5 bpg stat line last season, and hopes to improve on those numbers heading into her senior year.
• This game will be the 16th meeting between the two schools, Weber State leads the overall series 8-7. The Wildcats won the last meeting between the in-state rivals in 2019 by a score of 72-46.
• Hickok, Matthews, and Vicky Parra are the three Wildcats on this year's roster that played in that 2019 game against UVU. Matthews had 10 points to go with seven rebounds, Hickok tallied seven points, and Parra added a couple of points with three rebounds in the Wildcats' win.
• Following a 59-54 victory over Park University in Orem to start the season, the Wolverines have dropped their following two games against Utah (97-27) and UNLV (82-38). Jaeden Brown is UVU's leading scorer (9.0 ppg) and second leading rebounder (5.0 rpg) through the first three games of the season and will be someone to keep an eye on.
