GAME NOTES

OREM, Utah - The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) women's basketball team begins its quest for a Great West Conference title as the fifth seeded Broncs face off against the fourth seeded Utah Valley Wolverines in the opening round of the Great West Confference Championship Tournament on Wednesday at the UCCU Center in Utah. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM MT.

The Broncs (12-18, 4-8) are coming off an impressive 69-62  home victory over the University of North Dakota last Saturday at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Donna Jackson racked up her third double-double of the season to lead the Broncs to their first ever win over North Dakota. Jackson scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while making eight-of-nine free throws.

Ce'Monay Newell added 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Bianca Torre chipped in 13 while going seven-of-eight from the free throw line and Re-Shawndra Jackson added 12 points.

The Broncs are led by Torre, who named to the GWC All-Conference team on Monday. Torre averaged 16.9 points per game, good for tops on the club and tied for third in the GWC. Newell, who was named a member of the GWC All-Newcomer team on Monday, is second on the Broncs in scoring at 14.4 points per game. Newell set a school record for three-pointers made in a season with 106. Newell led the nation in three-pointers made per game at 3.5. Erin Lewis is the top distributor for UTPA, and the sixth best in the country in assists at 6.2 per game.

The Wolverines (7-20, 5-7 GWC) are the defending tournament champions and have the honor of playing the conference tournament on their home floor. Last season the Wolverines beat the top three seeds to win the inaguaral GWC tournament title. .

Sammie Jensen leads UVU with a double-double average of 13.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Jensen has also picked up 13 double-doubles for the year. Jensen was named Newcomer of the Year on Monday. Jenna Johnson is right behind Jensen in scoring with an average of 13.4 points per night, while Abbie Beutler averages 9.0 points and a team-high 5.0 assists.

The Broncs and Wolverines have GWC tournament history, as it was UVU who eliminated UTPA from the semi-finals of last year's tournament. The Broncs are 0-2 against UVU this season. The Wolverines handed the Broncs their first home loss of the season, a 71-62 defeat at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Newell hit eight-threes on the night for a game-high 28 points, but could not hold off the Wolverines.Jensen led UVU with 21 points and a game-high 16 boards. The Broncs lost their match-up in Orem against UVU 82-70.

UVU also leads the all-time series advantage 8-5 wih UVU winning three straight.

The winner of Wednesday night's game will face top-seeded Chicago State on Friday in the seni-finals.