The Teams: Tarleton Texans (7-13, 1-8 WAC) vs. Utah Valley Wolverines (4-16, 1-8 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Arena: Wisdom Gym
Day and Time: Saturday at 2 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Byron Anderson, Chris Reisman)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Jimmy Christopher)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the fifth all-time meeting, all within the last two years. Last year at home, Tarleton won 61-48 on New Year's Day, outscoring the Wolverines 26-11 in the fourth quarter.
• Utah Valley is on an eight-game losing streak since opening WAC play with a 65-63 2OT win vs. Grand Canyon. They're 0-10 on the road and have lost 11 straight true road games.
• Tarleton and Utah Valley are fighting to make the WAC Tournament, both tied-12th at 1-8. Of the 13 teams in the WAC, 12 make the tournament, decided traditionally by conference records.

 
QUICK HITS

• Both Tarleton and Utah Valley had their Thursday games postponed to Monday. The Texans were supposed to host Stephen F. Austin, while Utah Valley was supposed to play at Abilene Christian.
• The Texans are 6-3 at home this season. They have the tied-fifth fewest home losses in the WAC.
• Tarleton just forced the last remaining undefeated team in WAC play, Southern Utah, to 55 points on 19-of-52 (.365) shooting, 4-of-14 (.286) from three. The 55 points allowed was Tarleton's fewest since Dec. 21, while the .365 FG% was a Tarleton opponent-low since Dec. 14.
• The Texans won the turnover battle 19-8 against SUU, their best advantage since +14 on Dec. 21 vs. Richmond. Tarleton's eight TO's were a season-low, lowest since their 2020-21 season finale.
• Tarleton has lost four straight and 10 of their last 11. Three of their next four are at home.
• The Texans allow the seventh fewest points per game in the conference at 66.2 PPG. They're fifth in the WAC in both average turnover margin (+1.7) and turnovers forced per game (18.8).
• Mayra Caicedo is seventh in the WAC in assists per game at 3.9. No Texan has finished a season with that high of an average since Morgan Ashmore had 4.1 APG in 2012-13.
• Last time out, Tarleton lost for just the second time when leading at half, now 6-2 in such games.
• In each of the last two games, Tarleton has started Caicedo, Da Silva, Jackson, Axelsson and Mitchels. The Texans hadn't rolled out that group first since the very first two games of the year.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Tyler Jackson – Jackson returned to form in the last game, tallying 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, two rebounds, a block and a steal. It was her highest scoring game since Dec. 6 vs. Weber State (16) and her 11th double-digit scoring game of the year. She had six all of last year.
• Teresa Da Silva – Da Silva scored 14 points in the last game, putting her at 288 on the season. That's more than any Texan scored all of last season, and she already has the third most points in a season in Tarleton's D1 history. She's 24 short of the second most, 312 by Marissa Escamilla.
• Mayra Caicedo – Caicedo just led the team in assists for the 10th time this season, now the tied-most such games on the team with Teresa Da Silva. She is 11 assists short of reaching 400 for her career. Two games ago, Caicedo scored her 500th career point.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
56: Of Tarleton's scoring on the year, Teresa Da Silva and Mayra Caicedo have either scored or assisted on 56 PERCENT OF THE TEXANS' POINTS this season.
 
17: Whether on the winning side or losing end, Tarleton has had very few close games either way. In fact, 17 of their 20 games have been DECIDED BY DOUBLE FIGURES, with 14 of those 17 decided by 15+ points. Tarleton has had two games since Dec. 21 decided by fewer than 10 points.
 
24: Tarleton COMMITTED JUST 24 FOULS over the last two games, their fewest in a two-game stretch all year. The Texans had a season-low eight fouls at Utah Tech in the first game of the stretch, their fewest since Jan. 22, 2022, at Seattle U (seven).
 
72: Tarleton has EXCELLED AT HOME OFFENSIVELY, averaging nearly 72 points per game (71.9 PPG). In all other games, nine true road contests and two neutral site matchups, Tarleton has averaged 54.9 points per game.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will have their makeup game against Stephen F. Austin on Monday at 1 p.m. CT at Wisdom Gym.