SAN JOSE STATE’S BYRD NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
San Jose State freshman forward Riana Byrd has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Richmond, Calif. native posted her second double-double of the season with 17 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Cal State Northridge, a team that had only lost at Arizona and to No. 6 Penn State. Her 19 boards equaled the Event Center rebounding record, which was set in the 2002-03 season, and was one shy of the program’s all-time record. At halftime, with the Spartans down by five points, Byrd had yet to score a point and had six rebounds. She scored 17 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the final 20 minutes of the game to bring San Jose State back to .500 on the season. Her points, rebounds, free throws (9) and free throw attempts (11) were all career highs.
Other nominees included: Denver’s Morgan Van Riper-Rose averaged 15 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists as the Pioneers went 2-0 on the week ... Alyssa Charlston of Idaho averaged 17 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists on the week ... Louisiana Tech’s Jasmine Bryant finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Lady Techsters defeated Ole Miss ... Stefanie Gilbreath of New Mexico State averaged 18.5 points and 5.0 rebounds as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week ... Seattle U’s Kacie Sowell finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in an overtime loss to UC Irvine ... Jenna Johnson of Utah State averaged 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.5 steals on the week.
TRAKH PICKS UP 300TH CAREER VICTORY
When the Aggies defeated Southern Utah 70-68 on Dec. 1 at the Centrum Arena in Cedar City, Utah, it was career victory No. 300 for head coach Mark Trakh. In his 18 years as a head coach, Trakh has a 300-213 (.585) record.
SOWELL GRABS 500TH CAREER REBOUND
In her team’s 61-60 overtime loss to UC Irvine on Dec. 1, Seattle U junior forward Kacie Sowell grabbed her 500th career rebound with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. She now has 502 boards on her career for an average of 7.4 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 1,069 career points, good for fifth place all-time and 12 points shy of fourth place. At her current pace, Christensen would become Utah State’s career scoring leader on Jan. 26 at Louisiana Tech.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Texas State leads the WAC in scoring (76.3), three-point field goal percentage (31.6), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.2) and three-pointers per game (8.0). UTSA is tops in scoring defense (48.2), scoring margin (13.1), field goal percentage defense (30.0) and turnover margin (2.6). Seattle U leads the WAC in rebounding (41.0), rebounding defense (36.2), rebounding margin (4.8) and assists (15.5), while Denver is tops in field goal percentage (41.3) and assist-turnover ratio (0.95). Utah State tops the WAC in free throw percentage (80.3) and steals (14.7), while Idaho leads the lead in blocks (4.43).
Individually, Utah State’s Devyn Christensen leads the WAC in scoring (23.0), free throw percentage (94.7) and three-point field goals per game (3.6). Seattle U’s Kacie Sowell is tops in rebounding (10.5) and field goal percentage (60.8), while teammate Sylvia Shephard leads the league in assists (6.0) and steals (4.2). San Jose State’s Riana Byrd is tops in blocks (2.0) and Texas State’s Jasmine Baugus is tops in three-point field goal percentage (50.0). Denver’s Emiko Smith leads the league in assist-turnover ratio (2.43), while Diamond Ford of Texas State is tops in minutes played (37.5).
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.