KANSAS CITY’S O’CONNOR NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kansas City senior guard Eilise O’Connor has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 4-10. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The San Francisco, Calif., native opened the season with 27 points on 50 percent shooting, a career-high 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal in a road loss to North Texas. O’Connor tied her own school record with 17 made free throws on 19 attempts for an 89.4 percent clip and recorded the third double-double of her career.
Other nominees included: Bakersfield’s Tyonna Outfield finished with 23 points, five steals, two rebounds and two assists against Oregon ... Tierra Williams of Chicago State finished with 23 points on 59 percent shooting and five steals in a win over Indiana Tech ... Grand Canyon’s Johnna Brown finished with 17 points on 62 percent shooting, 11 rebounds and five steals in a win over Western State ... Alyssa Charlston of Idaho finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal in a loss at No. 25 Gonzaga ... Seattle U’s Kacie Sowell finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in a loss to Pepperdine ... Shawnte’ Goff of Texas-Pan American averaged 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals as the Broncs went 1-1 on the week ... Utah Valley’s Katie Kuklok averaged 23.5 points on 62 percent shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists as the Wolverines went 1-1 to open the season.
UVU SETS FIELD GOAL RECORD, DOUGHTY SETS FREE THROW RECORD
Utah Valley shot a program-best 66.7 percent (46-of-69) from the field in its rout of Walla Walla on Nov. 9. In addition, the 114-point output was the third-highest total in program history and the 86-point margin of victory stood as the second-highest.
Individually, Tina Doughty went 16-of-18 from the free throw line on the game, setting a new single game record for free throws made and tying the previous mark for free throws attempted.
WAC STAT LEADERS
After the first week of the season, Grand Canyon leads the WAC in scoring (92.0), scoring defense (35.0), scoring margin (57.0), field goal percentage (48.7), field goal percentage defense (28.4), rebounding margin (16.0), steals (19.0), turnover margin (23.0) and assist-turnover ratio (3.0). Kansas City lead the league in free throw percentage (77.1), three-point field goal percentage defense (10.5) and rebounding (51.0), while Utah Valley is tops in three-point field goal percentage (45.9), rebounding defense (31.5) and assists (22.0). Grand Canyon, Utah Valley and Texas-Pan American are all tied for the conference lead in blocks (4.00), while Idaho is tops in three-pointers per game (8.06).
Individually, Kansas City’s Eilise O’Connor leads the WAC in scoring (27.0), while Chicago State’s Chanel Wilson-Stewart is tops in rebounding (16.0), and teammate Jasmine Sanders leads the WAC in assists (8.0). Katie Kuklok of Utah Valley leads the league in three-pointers per game (6.5), while Seattle U’s Alexis Montgomery and Kristin Stoffel, and Asha McDonnell of Grand Canyon are tops in field goal percentage (75.0). Four players – Idaho’s Alyssa Charlston and Christina Salvatore, August Touchard of Grand Canyon and Tayler Leathers of Kansas City – all have perfect free throw shooting percentages. Four players – Grand Canyon’s Deanna Daniels, Johnna Brown and Judy Jones, and Chicago State’s Tierra Williams – are averaging a WAC-best 5.0 steals per game. McDonnell and Jordan Evans of Kansas City lead the WAC in blocks (3.0), while Grand Canyon’s Kaitlyn Petersen and Erica Paskell are tops in assist/turnover ratio (999.00). Charlston and Sanders currently lead the league minutes played (38.0).
THREE WAC PLAYERS NAMED SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATES
Three WAC student-athletes – Alyssa Charlston of Idaho, Eilise O’Connor of Kansas City and Kacie Sowell of Seattle U – are among the 30 candidates for the 2013-14 Senior CLASS Award® in women’s basketball. All three student-athletes were named to the Preseason All-WAC first team by both the coaches and the media, while Sowell was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select the candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Women’s Final Four®.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Two of the first team All-WAC players from last year return for the 2013-14 season in Idaho’s Alyssa Charlston and reigning WAC Player of the Year Kacie Sowell of Seattle U. Other WAC honorees that return are Seattle U’s Sylvia Shephard, the reigning WAC Defensive Player of the Year, who was named second team All-WAC and to the All-Defensive Team. Idaho’s Stacey Barr, a third team All-WAC selection, and Christina Salvatore, an All-Freshman honoree, round out the group.
Tierra Williams of Chicago State earned the Great West Sixth Woman Award and was named second team All-Great West, while teammates Paris Williams (honorable mention) and Layne Murphy (all-newcomer) were also honored.
Grand Canyon’s Judy Jones was named PacWest Player and Newcomer of the Year and was a first team all-conference pick.
Eilise O’Connor of Kansas City was named first team All-Summit, while KaeLynn Boyd of Texas-Pan American was named to the Great West All-Newcomer Team. Tina Doughty of Utah Valley was named second team All-Great West and to the all-newcomer team.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
This season, WAC teams have as many as 27 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season. The complete list is below.
Games vs. NCAA Teams
Nov. 8 – Idaho at Gonzaga (Preseason WNIT)
Nov. 10 – Texas-Pan American at Texas Tech
Nov. 18 – New Mexico State at Cal Poly
Nov. 30 – *Idaho vs. California (Nugget Classic)
Dec. 6 – Idaho at Montana (Lady Griz Classic)
Dec. 7 – Bakersfield at Cal Poly
Dec. 15 – Bakersfield at California
Dec. 22 – Texas-Pan American at Wichita State (Wichita State Winter Classic)
Dec. 29 – Texas-Pan American at Oklahoma State
Games vs. WNIT Teams
Nov. 16 – Chicago State at Miami (Ohio)
Nov. 19 – Seattle U at Washington
Nov. 20 – Toledo at Kansas City
Nov. 23 – IUPUI at Chicago State
Nov. 26 – Idaho at San Diego
Nov. 26 – Kansas City at Missouri
Nov. 29 – Sam Houston State at Kansas City (Plaza Lights Classic)
Nov. 30 – Texas-Pan American vs. Northern Iowa (UTSA Classic)
Nov. 30 – Eastern Illinois at Kansas City (Plaza Lights Classic)
Dec. 7 – *Idaho vs. Appalachian State (Lady Griz Classic)
Dec. 8 – Seattle U at San Diego
Dec. 11 – Utah Valley at Utah
Dec. 14 – *Grand Canyon vs. East Carolina (Warhawk Classic)
Dec. 15 – Texas Southern at Kansas City
Dec. 20 – Idaho State at Utah Valley
Dec. 21 – Wyoming at Idaho
Dec. 23 – Hawai‘i at Grand Canyon
Dec. 28 – Seattle U at UC Santa Barbara
*possible match-up in tournament