UTAH STATE’S SCHLOTT NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State junior guard Jennifer Schlott has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 14-20. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Mesa, Ariz. native helped Utah State to a 2-0 record last weekend with a pair of wins over New Mexico State (65-63) and Denver (85-69). Against NM State, Schlott scored 21 points and had a career-high-tying seven rebounds, to go along with seven assists and four steals. She also had the assist on Makenlee Williams’ game-winning three-pointer with one second remaining in the game. Against Denver, Schlott scored 15 points and tied her career high with nine assists, while grabbing six rebounds. For the week, she averaged 18.0 points, 8.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals, while shooting 47.8 percent from the field (11-of-23) and 86.7 percent at the free throw line (13-of-15).
Other nominees included: Idaho’s Alyssa Charlston averaged 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals as the Vandals went 1-1 on the week ... Stefanie Gilbreath of New Mexico State averaged 19.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks ... San Jose State’s Ta’Rea Cunnigan averaged 22.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals as the Spartans went 2-0 on the week ... Ashley Ward of Seattle U averaged 18.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists as the Redhawks remained the only unbeaten team in WAC play with a pair of wins ... UTSA’s Whitney Wright finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in a win at Texas State.
LA TECH POSTS SECOND-LARGEST COMEBACK IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Louisiana Tech posted its second-largest comeback in program history on Jan. 17, when it defeated Idaho 67-58. Idaho led 50-30 with 16:17 left in the game when the Lady Techsters used a 37-8 run to close out the game. The win trailed only the 1988-89 squad that overcame a 21-point second half deficit at home to beat Old Dominion on Feb. 11, 1989.
THREE WAC PLAYERS RANK IN TOP 20 NATIONALLY IN SCORING
Three WAC players – Diamond Ford of Texas State, San Jose State’s Ta’Rea Cunnigan and Devyn Christensen of Utah State – rank in the top 20 nationally in scoring. Ford averages 20.8 points per game, good for 12th place, while Cunnigan is 14th with a 20.5 average and Christensen is 16th (20.4).
UTSA HOLDS OPPONENT UNDER 20 POINTS IN A HALF FOR 12TH TIME
UTSA, which ranks 39th nationally in scoring defense (54.3), held Texas State to 19 points in the first half on Jan. 19. It was the 12th time this season that the Roadrunners have limited their opponent to 20 or fewer points in a half.
SJSU’S SCHILL, CUNNIGAN COMBINE FOR 62 POINTS AGAINST UTAH STATE
San Jose State scored a program-best 103 points in a win over Utah State on Jan. 12. Two players – freshman Emily Schill and sophomore Ta’Rea Cunnigan – scored 63 of the Spartans’ points, or 61 percent of the scoring for the Spartans.
IDAHO SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR THREE-POINTERS IN A GAME
Idaho broke a program record with 15 three-pointers against Utah State on Jan. 5. Stacey Barr and Christina Salvatore accounted for 12 of the 15, as they made six three-pointers each, tying for the second-highest total by an individual in a game in program history. It was the second time making six treys in a game for each player.
CHARLSTON GRABS 500TH CAREER REBOUND
Idaho junior Alyssa Charlston grabbed her 500th career rebound at the 5:32 mark in the first half against Utah State on Jan. 7. The 6-1 post player now has 542 career boards and is also just 83 points shy of 1,000 on her career.
FOUR OVERTIME GAMES ALREADY IN WAC PLAY
There were four overtime games in WAC play in the first two weeks of the conference season. There were two overtime games during WAC play in all of 2011-12, while the high for this century was six overtime games during the 2003-04 WAC season.
IDAHO’S BARR SCORES 18 POINTS IN JUST OVER FOUR MINUTES
Idaho’s Stacey Barr matched her career high with 23 points against Utah State on Jan. 5, and 18 of her points came during a 21-0 Idaho run early in the second half. Barr got the run started with an old-fashioned three-point play, then buried five consecutive long balls to score 18 points in a span of four minutes and five seconds.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Seattle U leads the WAC in field goal percentage (41.7), rebounding defense (36.4), rebounding margin (4.1), assists (16.0) and steals (14.1). UTSA leads the WAC in scoring defense (54.3), scoring margin (5.2), field goal percentage defense (34.3) and three-point field goal percentage defense (28.1). Idaho tops the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (33.5), rebounding (42.3) and three-pointers per game (8.3), while Utah State leads the league in scoring (74.1) and free throw percentage (79.9). Meanwhile, Texas State is tops in the WAC in turnover margin (2.24) and assist-turnover ratio (0.92), and San Jose State leads the league in blocks (4.17).
Individually, Texas State’s Diamond Ford leads the WAC in scoring (20.8) and minutes per game (37.2), while Utah State’s Devyn Christensen is tops in free throw percentage (92.1) and three-point field goals per game (3.17). Denver’s Emiko Smith leads the league in assists (5.95) and assist-turnover ratio (2.46), while Ashley Ezeh of Texas State is tops in rebounding (10.0). Seattle U’s Kacie Sowell is tops in field goal percentage (59.7), while teammate Sylvia Shephard leads the league in steals (3.56). San Jose State’s Riana Byrd leads the league in blocks (2.56) and Utah State’s Makenlee Williams is tops in three-point field goal percentage (43.5).
In WAC games only, Seattle U leads the league in scoring margin (8.9), field goal percentage (43.6), assists (17.4) and steals (12.6). New Mexico State is tops in scoring defense (59.0), field goal percentage defense (35.3) and three-point field goal percentage defense (25.4), while Utah State leads the WAC in scoring (78.6) and free throw percentage (81.5). Idaho is tops in three-point field goal percentage (39.0) and three-pointers per game (9.1), while Denver leads the league in rebounding (46.2) and rebounding margin (8.1). San Jose State is tops in blocks (4.7) and turnover margin (3.1), while UTSA leads the WAC in rebounding defense (37.3) and Texas State is tops in assist-turnover ratio (0.92).
Individually in WAC games, San Jose State’s Ta’Rea Cunnigan is tops in scoring (21.9) and tied with Utah State’s Jenna Johnson and Seattle U’s Daidra Brown for the lead in steals (2.86). Sowell leads the league in field goal percentage (63.2) and rebounding (10.3). Denver’s Smith is tops in assists (6.6) and assist-turnover ratio (2.12). Utah State’s Jennifer Schlott leads the WAC in free throw percentage (89.1), while teammate Williams is tops in three-point field goal percentage (48.4). SJSU’s Byrd is tops in blocks (3.0), while Idaho’s Christina Salvatore leads the WAC in three-pointers per game (3.3) and Texas State’s Ford is tops in minutes per game (38.3).
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 304-220 (.580) 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 597 boards on her career.
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 1,253 career points, good for second place all-time at Utah State. At her current pace, Christensen will become Utah State’s career scoring leader on Feb. 2 vs. Seattle U.
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.
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.