USU’S CHRISTENSEN NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State senior guard Devyn Christensen has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 19-25. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the second of her career.
The Caldwell, Idaho native averaged 28.0 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game as the Aggies won the Great Alaska Shootout with wins over Prairie View A&M (67-66) and Alaska Anchorage (67-57). In the win over Prairie View, Christensen scored 24 points to give the Aggies their first win of the season. She hit a three-pointer, one of six on the game, with eight seconds left on the clock to give USU the 67-66 win. She also added a career-high eight assists. In USU’s win against UAA, Christensen had a career-high 32 points, once again hitting six treys. For her efforts, she was named MVP of the Great Alaska Shootout. For the week, she shot 42.5 percent from the field (17-of-40) and 42.9 percent from downtown (12-of-28). She also added 12 assists and eight steals in the two games. The tournament title was the first ever for Utah State.
Other nominees included: Denver’s Morgan Van Riper-Rose finished with 21 points and four assists in a win over UC Irvine ... Jelena Vucinic of Louisiana Tech led the Lady Techsters to their first win of the season with 17 points, four assists and four steals against previously unbeaten Central Arkansas ... New Mexico State’s Sasha Weber averaged 12.3 points as the Aggies went 2-1 on the week ... Sylvia Shephard of Seattle U averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.0 steals en route to MVP honors as the Redhawks won the Washington Dental Service Thanksgiving Tournament ... UT Arlington’s Malaika Green finished with 28 points, four assists and three steals in a loss to Memphis ... Kamra King of UTSA averaged 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals as the Roadrunners went 2-0 on the week ... Texas State’s Diamond Ford averaged 24.0 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists as the Bobcats went 1-1 on the week.
UTSA OFF TO BEST START IN FIVE YEARS
UTSA currently sits atop the WAC standings with a 5-1 record. It is the Roadrunners’ best start to a season since going 6-0 to start the 2007-08 campaign. What’s more, UTSA has held five of its six opponents under 50 points. The Roadrunners lead the WAC by holding opponents to just 45 points per game.
TEXAS STATE BEATS BIG 12 OPPONENT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2005
When the Bobcats defeated TCU 91-80 on Nov. 25, it was Texas State’s first win over a Big 12 opponent since 2005, when it defeated Oklahoma State, 77-69. Against TCU, all five starters scored at least nine points for Texas State, for the third time this season. The Bobcats are 3-0 in those games.
CHRISTENSEN SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
With her game-winning three-pointer with eight seconds remaining against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 20, Devyn Christensen became the seventh member of the 1,000-point club at Utah State. The senior currently has 1,033 career points, good for sixth place all-time and 10 points shy of fifth place. At her current pace, Christensen would become Utah State’s career scoring leader on Jan. 19 against Denver.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Texas State leads the WAC in scoring (80.5), three-point field goal percentage (32.4), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.3), rebounding (42.2), turnover margin (3.5), assist-turnover ratio (0.96) and three-pointers per game (8.25). UTSA is tops in scoring defense (45.0), scoring margin (19.8), field goal percentage defense (28.4), rebounding margin (6.8) and blocks (4.33). Denver tops the WAC in field goal percentage (41.4) and rebounding defense (33.2), while Seattle U leads the WAC in assists (15.4). Utah State is tops in free throw percentage (82.7) and steals (15.6).
Individually, Utah State’s Devyn Christensen leads the WAC in scoring (25.0), steals (4.8), free throw percentage (93.5) and three-pointers per game (4.0). Seattle U’s Kacie Sowell is tops in rebounding (9.8), while Frannie Vaaulu leads the WAC in field goal percentage (69.6). Seattle U’s Sylvia Shephard leads the league in assists (5.4), while San Jose State’s Riana Byrd is tops in blocks (2.0) and Texas State’s Kaylan Martin is tops in three-point field goal percentage (54.5). Denver’s Emiko Smith leads the league in assist-turnover ratio (2.22), while Chereese Thomas of San Jose State is tops in minutes played (39.0).
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Two of the first team All-WAC players from last year return for the 2012-13 season in Idaho’s Alyssa Charlston and Utah State’s Devyn Christensen. Other WAC honorees that return are Louisiana Tech’s Whitney Frazier, who was named to both the All-Defensive and All-Freshman Teams, and fellow All-Freshman honorees Ta’Rea Cunnigan of San Jose State and Krissy Karr of Idaho.
Diamond Ford of Texas State was named first team All-Southland, while Emiko Smith of Denver was named second team All-Sun Belt. Ashley Ezeh of Texas State was named third team All-Southland, while UTSA’s Judy Jones was an honorable mention honoree.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
WAC teams have several key non-conference matchups this season, including 41 games against teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season. The complete list follows.
Games vs. NCAA Teams
Nov. 11 – UT Arlington at Michigan State
Nov. 12 – South Carolina at Louisiana Tech
Nov. 14 – New Mexico State at UC Santa Barbara
Nov. 20 – Utah State vs. Prairie View A&M
Nov. 24 – Sacred Heart at Seattle U
Nov. 28 – UTEP at New Mexico State
Dec. 1 – Texas State at UTEP
Dec. 2 – UT Arlington at Fresno State
Dec. 4 – Utah State at Brigham Young
Dec. 4 – Louisiana Tech at Texas A&M
Dec. 5 – New Mexico State at UTEP
Dec. 8 – Utah State at Notre Dame
Dec. 9 – Louisiana Tech vs. Rutgers
Dec. 12 –McNeese State at Louisiana Tech
Dec. 16 – Louisiana Tech at LSU
Dec. 20 – Seattle U at Brigham Young
Dec. 20 – Idaho at Gonzaga
Jan. 30 – Louisiana Tech at UALR
Games vs. WNIT Teams
Nov. 9 – Louisiana Tech at Tulane
Nov. 9 – Pacific at Seattle U
Nov. 10 – Utah at Denver
Nov. 11 – Idaho at Colorado
Nov. 14 – Washington at Seattle U
Nov. 16 – Oral Roberts at UT Arlington
Nov. 18 – UTSA at Wichita State
Nov. 19 – San Jose State at Eastern Illinois
Nov. 20 – Central Arkansas at Louisiana Tech
Nov. 21 – Memphis at UT Arlington
Nov. 25 – San Jose State at San Diego
Nov. 27 – Utah State at Utah
Nov. 28 – Texas State at Oklahoma State
Nov. 29 – Northern Colorado at Denver
Dec. 1 – Cal State Northridge at San Jose State
Dec. 3 – Pacific at San Jose State
Dec. 8 – UNLV at UTSA
Dec. 11 – Colorado at Denver
Dec. 14 – Oral Roberts at Louisiana Tech
Dec. 16 – Idaho at Washington
Dec. 20 – South Dakota at Utah State
Dec. 21 – UMKC at New Mexico State
Dec. 22 – Oklahoma State at UT Arlington