USU Women's Basketball Opening Home Season Thursday

Utah State [University] women's basketball is set to open the home portion of its season Thursday, Nov. 20, when it hosts Utah Valley at 7 p.m.

Thursday's game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network, while live stats will also be available. Aggie fans in Cache Valley can also hear every Utah State game on the radio on VFX 97.1 FM with Craig Hislop on the call. Links to all three features will be posted on the Utah State Athletics website prior to the game.

Utah Valley comes into Thursday's game with a 2-1 record. The team opened the season with a 68-62 home loss to Eastern Washington, but has since earned home wins over Bristol (109-74) and Montana Tech (75-65). The trip to Logan will be the first road game UVU will play.

The Wolverines are led by sophomore guard/forward Rhaiah Spooner-Knight who has averaged 17.0 points per game thus far. She has shot 53.8 percent (21-of-39) from the field and 100 percent (9-for-9) from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Karlee Norris leads the team in rebounds, averaging 9.7 per game. Norris is also shooting 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) from the three-point line.

As a team, Utah Valley is averaging 82.0 points and 43.3 rebounds per game, while holding its opponents to 69.0 points and 37.3 rebounds. Cathy Nixon is the head coach at UVU, beginning her 20th season with the program. She is assisted by Jason Glover, Liz Darger and Adam Wardenburg. Utah Valley returns three starters from last season, where it finished 7-23 overall, with a 4-12 Western Athletic Conference record. The Wolverines return six additional letterwinners, while also welcoming six newcomers.

Utah State leads the all-time series between the two schools, 5-3, including a 3-1 home record. The first meeting between the teams was during the 2004-05 season, when UVU was still Utah Valley State College. The Wolverines did not become a full Division I program until the 2009-10 season. The two teams last met in the 2012-13 season opener in Orem, where the Aggies fell, 78-62.

The Aggies started the season with an 0-2 weekend trip to Oregon, falling to Oregon, 100-77 and No. 20 Oregon State, 85-62. Junior guard Makenlee Williams leads Utah State, averaging 21.0 points per game. She is shooting 51.6 percent from the field (16-of-31) and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) from the free throw line.

Aggie women's basketball tickets will be available by contacting the USU Athletics Ticket Office at (435) 797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) for more information or visit the Utah State athletics website at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Fans can follow USU women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram, as well as on Facebook. Aggie fans can also follow Utah State Athletics on Twitter, on Instagram and on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics website.