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CSU BAKERSFIELD'S ZEMPARE NAMES WAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield's Batabe Zempare has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 16 through Nov. 22.
Zempare, a senior forward from Accra, Ghanna (Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chapparal HS), averaged 20.0 points per game and 15.5 rebounds per game as the Runners split a pair of contests against in-state opponents. In a one-point loss at UC Santa Barbara, she put up 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists. On Sunday against San Jose State, she dominated the game, scoring 24 points and bringing down 22 rebounds in a 90-88 overtime win.
Other nominees included: Missouri-Kansas City's Kiana Law averaged 11.0 rpg and 6.5 rpg for the Kangaroos … NM State's Tamera William averaged 16.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg to lead the Aggies to a pair of wins over New Mexico and Sacramento State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Mary Savoy averaged a double-double on the week with 15.3 ppg and 10.7 rpg for the Vaqueros … Utah Valley's Georgia Agnew helped the Wolverines to a 3-0 week, averaging 13.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 4.0 apg.
BY THE NUMBERS
A little more than a week into the season, defending champion NM State leads the WAC in scoring offense with 79.0 ppg and free throw percentage at .774. UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in scoring defense (57.6) and scoring margin (+14.6)/ Utah Valley has the top field goal percentage at .433 while Seattle U holds the top field goal percent defense at .344. UVU is also tops in three-point field goal percentage at .352 while NM State is the top rebounding team at 45.0 per game.
The Aggies also lead the WAC in blocked shots (7.0) and steals (11.3) while CSU Bakersfield is averaging the most assists at 15.3 per contest. UTRGV is best in turnover margin at +4.00 and three-pointers per game at 8.6.
Individually, CSUB's Batabe Zempare is the top scorer (19.7 ppg) and rebounder (16.7 rpg). NM State's Brianna Freeman is the top shooter at .621 while Utah Valley's Georgia Agnew has a WAC best 5.0 assists per game. UTRGV's Mary Savoy is averaging a league-best 3.8 steals per game. NMSU's Freeman is also the top shot blocker at 2.7 per game. UTRGV's Shawnte' Goff has the top assist/turnover ratio at 2.1 while NM State's Sasha Weber is averaging a league-high 36.3 minutes per game.
CLEANING THE GLASS
CSU Bakersfield senior Batabe Zempare broke her own school record for rebounds in a game with 22 against San Jose State. She is currently eighth nationally among active career leaders with 869 career rebounds.
WINNING AWAY
Utah Valley's win last week at Boise State broke a 16-game road losing streak that reached back to the 2013-14 season. The Wolverines are currently riding a five-game win streak into this weekend's games at Nevada against the host Wolfpack and Alabama.
AGGIE UP
After starting last season 0-5, NM State is avoiding that fate this year as they are 3-0, which is their best start since 2007-08. The Aggies will attempt to match the 4-0 start from 07-08 against Southern Utah.
ISTANBUL (NOT CONSTANTINOPLE)
Last Saturday's game between UT Rio Grande Valley and Eastern Michigan featured the first-ever matchup of Turkish-born players in an NCAA women's basketball game, including freshman Idil Türk (Istanbul) and EMU senior Sera Ozelci (Ankara). It was the second-ever matchup of players of Turkish decent, as American-born Yasemin Kimyacioglu (Santa Clara) faced her sister, Sebnem (Stanford), in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Turk finished with nine points.
BLOCK PARTY
Seattle U center Taelor Ross recently recorded her 101st career block in a win over Evergreen. The WAC record for blocks in a career is 303 by Christen Roper of Hawai'i.
UPCOMING MILESTONES
UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff is only 47 points away from 1000 for her career. The WAC's active scoring leader Sasha Weber of NM State is also closing in on a milestone as she is only one three-pointer away from 200 for her career.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
NM State is the favorite to win the 2015-16 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball title and the Aggies' Brianna Freeman was selected WAC Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league's eight head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
The Aggies, who won their first WAC title last season, received 49 points and seven first place votes in the preseason poll. CSU Bakersfield was selected second with 39 points. Seattle U earned the third spot with 33 points and the remaining first place vote while UT Rio Grande Valley was selected fourth with 30 points. Grand Canyon was predicted fifth with 27 points, followed by Utah Valley (26), Missouri-Kansas City (13) and Chicago State (7).
Freeman, the 2014-15 WAC Player of the Year and 2015 WAC Tournament MVP, leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are teammates Sasha Weber and Shanice Davis, UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff and Seattle U's Taelor Ross.
PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
The Western Athletic Conference women's basketball media have selected NM State as the preseason favorite to repeat as conference champions in 2015-16 and Aggie junior Brianna Freeman as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
The Aggies earned nine of 10 first place votes in the media poll to collect 79 of 80 possible points. CSU Bakersfield earned the other first place vote to take second with 65 points. UT Rio Grande Valley, last season's WAC Tournament runner-up, was picked third with 54 points. Seattle U picked up 48 points to earn the fourth position, followed shortly behind Grand Canyon in fifth with 43 points. Utah Valley took sixth with 40 points followed by Missouri-Kansas City (19) and Chicago State (12).
Freeman, the 2014-15 WAC Player of the Year and 2015 WAC Tournament MVP, leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team is teammate Sasha Weber, UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff, Utah Valley's Rhaiah Spooner-Knight and CSU Bakersfield's Alyssa Shannon.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Four of five First Team All-WAC players from last season return for the 2015-16 season as CSU Bakersfield's Tyonna Outland is the lone graduate. NM State will bring back the trio of Brianna Freeman, Sasha Weber and Shanice Davis while UTRGV's Shawnte' Goff looks to expand on a solid sophomore season.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
This season, WAC teams will face some tough competition in the non-conference portion of the schedule, with as many as 16 games against NCAA Tournament participants and as many as 16 against Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) participants. The complete list is below.
Games vs. NCAA Teams
Nov. 13 - Utah Valley at Brigham Young
Nov. 15 - Seattle U at Montana
Nov. 18 - Seattle U at Washington
Nov. 19 - Utah Valley at Boise State
Dec. 15 - CSU Bakersfield at Oregon State
Nov. 23 - Grand Canyon at Gonzaga
Nov. 24 - Chicago State at DePaul
Nov. 28 - CSU Bakersfield vs. South Carolina (at Honolulu)
Nov. 28 - Seattle U vs. Princeton (at Los Angeles) (depending on 11/27)
Nov. 29 - CSU Bakersfield vs. Arizona State (at Honolulu)
Dec. 5 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Oklahoma State
Dec. 19 - Boise State at Seattle U
Dec. 22 - CSU Bakersfield at Stanford
Dec. 22 - Missouri-Kansas City at Northwestern
Jan. 2 - Seattle U at CSUN
Games vs. WNIT Teams
Nov. 13 - Hawai'i at Grand Canyon
Nov. 13 - Pacific at CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 19 - Sacramento State at NM State
Nov. 21 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Eastern Michigan
Nov. 23 - San Francisco at Utah Valley
Nov. 27 - CSU Bakersfield at Hawai'i
Nov. 28 - UT Rio Grande Valley at TCU
Dec. 2 - CSU Bakersfield at Fresno State
Dec. 3 - Utah Valley at Eastern Washington
Dec. 5 - CSU Bakersfield at UCLA
Dec. 5 - Kansas State at Chicago State
Dec. 7 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Kansas State
Dec. 21 - Northern Colorado at Grand Canyon
Dec. 30 - Hawai'i at CSU Bakersfield
Dec. 30 - NM State at Fordam (depending on 12/29)
Dec. 31 - Long Beach State at Seattle U
ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS TO HOST 2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2016 WAC Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the sixth year in a row. This year's tournament includes all seven eligible teams and will be held Wednesday-Saturday, March 9-12.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RULES CHANGES
The NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee made a number of rules changes, most of which are intended to align the college game with the international and pro game.
Key Rule Changes
- The time limit to replace a disqualified player is reduced to 15 seconds. When the head coach fails to replace a disqualified player before the second horn, the head coach is assessed a bench technical foul. (Rules 2-10.9 and 10-4.5)
- Playing time for varsity games shall consist of four 10-minute periods. The intermission between the first and second and the third and fourth periods shall be the length of the elctronic-media timeout. (Rule 5-6.1)
- When a timeout is charged to the offensive team during the last 59.9 seconds of the fourth period and/or any extra period, the team has the option to advance the throw-in spot to the 28-foot mark in the frontcourt on the same side of the court as the scorers' table. (Rule 5-14.2)
- A team is awarded two free throws for each common foul beginning with the fifth team fould in a period. (Rule 8-2.1)
- The 10-second count shall reset on all stoppages of the game clock except when the defense causes the ball to be out of bounds, the offense retains possession after a held ball, or there is a technical foul assessed to the offensive team. (Rule 9-10)
- When an offensive post player with her back to the basket in the lane area is in control of the ball, a post defender may only place one forearm or one hand with a bend in the elbow on the offensive player. (Apendix III, Section 3)