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UTRGV'S GOFF NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 14 through Nov 20.
Goff, a senior guard from Copperas Cove, Texas (Copperas Cove HS), became UTRGV's all-time leading scorer this weekend in a win over North Texas and a loss at Abilene Christian. Against North Texas, the WAC Preseason Player of the Year scored 29 points and brought down 11 rebounds for her third career double-double. She followed that up with 13 points against Abilene Christian, moving past Bianca Torre for the most points in program history with 1,451. She also broke the program's free throws made record over the weekend.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Aja Williams tied the school's Division I record for three-pointers made with nine en route to 35 points in a loss to California on Sunday … Chicago State's Sh'Toya Sanders earned the double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's loss to Wright State … Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie achieved a double-double at Duke, scoring 22 points and recording 12 rebounds in a loss to the Blue Devils … UMKC's Samantha Waldron led UMKC with a career-high 22 points in a last-second win at Wichita State … Utah Valley's Taylor Gordon averaged 15.5 ppg in losses to in-state rivals Weber State and Utah.
ON TAP
Teams from around the WAC will get a little pre-Thanksgiving workout on Tuesday and Wednesday, with six of the eight teams in action, before returning to the hardwood on Friday for a full weekend of action. Among the highlights are Grand Canyon at Rice on Tuesday, Pepperdine at NM State on Wednesday, UT Rio Grande Valley making their home debut against Prairie View A&M on Friday, nationally-ranked Washington at Seattle U on Saturday and South Dakota making the trip to CSU Bakersfield on Sunday.
BY THE NUMBERS
With everyone in the conference having played at least twice, the statistical leaders have a familiar look this season. NM State leads the WAC in scoring offense (68.2), scoring margin (+1.2), rebounding (44.8), assists (17.0), steals (11.5), turnover margin (+5.50), assist/turnover ratio (1.0) and defensive rebounds (28.5). UT Rio Grande Valley leads the conference in scoring defense (63.8) and field goal defensve (.340). The Roadrunners from CSU Bakersfield are tops in free throw percentage (.674) while the UMKC Roos are the best shooting team by field goal percentage (.444). Grand Canyon is the league leader in three-point field goal percentage (.345) and three-point field goals per game (9.5) while Seattle U is the best at defending the three with opponents shooting just .287 behind the arc.
Individually, CSUB's Aja Williams is the early scoring leader at 23.3 ppg. GCU's Marina Laramie is averaging a WAC-high 9.5 rebounds per game. UMKC's Kristen Moore is atop the field goal percentage list at .632 and NMSU's Brooke Salas is the top free throw shooter at .900. NMSU's Zaire Williams is the assist leader at 7.8 per game while UVU's Taylor Gordon has a league best 4.0 steals per game. GCU's Laramie is the top three-point shooter at .571 but CSUB's Williams is averaging the most at 5.0 per game. Chicago State's Sh'Toya Sanders is the top shot blocker with 4.3 per game and UMKC's Samantha Waldron is averaging the league-high 36.5 minutes per game.
HOME SWEET HOME
UMKC opened the season with a home game and a road trip but for the remainder of non-conference play, the Roos will have the comfort of their home beds most of the nights. After four straight at home, they will play a single road game on Dec. 3 at Abilene Christian and then return for four more at home before heading back east to take on La Salle and Stony Brook to wrap up non-conference play in late December.
FREQUENT FLIERS
On the other side of the spectrum will be Seattle U, who will open a six-game road trip on Dec. 4 that will have them visiting four different states. The Redhawks will be at home on Dec. 2 against Montana and then won't play at the Connolly Complex again until a Dec. 29 game against CSUN.
RAINING THREES
Both Grand Canyon and Seattle U hit 12 three-pointers in their season openers. For the Redhawks, it was their highest total since 2010. For Grand Canyon, it was their highest total in three seasons.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
NM State is the favorite to win the 2016-17 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball title and UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff 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 second straight WAC title last season, received 49 points and seven first place votes in the preseason poll. UT Rio Grande Valley was a close second with 42 points and the remaining first place vote. Grand Canyon earned the third spot with 34 points while CSU Bakersfield was selected fourth with 29 points. UMKC was predicted fifth with 26 points, followed by Utah Valley (23), Seattle U (13) and Chicago State (8).
Goff, the 2015-16 WAC Player of the Year, leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are NM State's Moriah Mack and Brianna Freeman, Utah Valley's Mariah Seals and Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski.
Second team selections include Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir (UT Rio Grande Valley), Kaylee Allen (Chicago State), Aries Washington (UMKC), Kaylee Best (Seattle U) and Erika Williams (CSU Bakersfield).
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 2016-17 and UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
The Aggies earned six first place votes in the media poll to collect 90 points and edge out UT Rio Grande, who earned five first place votes to finish with 88 points. Grand Canyon was selected third with 64 points, followed by CSU Bakersfield, who earned 55 points including one first place vote. Utah Valley was selected fifth, followed by UMKC, Seattle U and Chicago State.
Goff, the 2015-16 WAC Player of the Year, leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are NM State's Moriah Mack, Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski, UMKC's Aries Washington, and Utah Valley's Mariah Seals.
Second team selections include Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir (UT Rio Grande Valley), Mary Savoy (UT Rio Grande Valley), Brianna Freeman (NM State), Kaylee Allen (Chicago State) and Brooke Salas (NM State).
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Just two of five First Team All-WAC players from last season return for the 2016-17 season as reigning WAC Player of the Year Shawnte' Goff from UT Rio Grande Valley and NM State's Moriah Mack are the only returners.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
This season, WAC teams will face some tough competition in the non-conference portion of the schedule, with a minimum of 15 games against NCAA Tournament participants and a minimum of 17 against Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) participants. The complete list is below.
Games vs. NCAA Teams
Nov. 11 - Chicago State at Kansas State
Nov. 11 - Idaho at Seattle U
Nov. 11 - Brigham Young at Utah Valley
Nov. 13 - Hawai'i at CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 15 - Seattle U at San Francisco
Nov. 20 - NM State at Hawai'i
Nov. 26 - Idaho at Grand Canyon
Nov. 26 - Washington at Seattle U
Dec. 1 - Washington at Grand Canyon
Dec. 1 - Stanford at CSU Bakersfield
Dec. 8 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Oklahoma
Dec. 11 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Oklahoma State
Dec. 15 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Texas
Dec. 18 - Seattle U at Colorado State
Dec. 29 - Grand Canyon at Hawai'i
Games vs. WNIT Teams
Nov. 12 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Nebraska
Nov. 18 - CSU Bakersfield at Oregon
Nov. 19 - Wright State at Chicago State
Nov. 19 - Utah Valley at Utah
Nov. 25 - Utah Valley vs. Central Michigan (Cal Poly Holiday Tournament)
Nov. 27 - South Dakota at CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 29 - Grand Canyon at UC Riverside
Dec. 1 - Chicago State at Ball State
Dec. 4 - Seattle U at Montana State
Dec. 4 - Chicago State at Northwestern
Dec. 10 - Seattle U at UC Riverside
Dec. 12 - Seattle U at San Diego
Dec. 14 - Chicago State at Milwaukee
Dec. 14 - UC Riverside at CSU Bakersfield
Dec. 15 - NM State at UTEP
Dec. 19 - NM State vs. Quinnipiax (Play for Kay Shootout)
Dec. 28 - CSU Bakersfield at UTEP
ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS TO HOST 2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2017 WAC Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the seventh year in a row. This year's tournament includes all seven eligible teams and will be held Wednesday-Saturday, March 8-11.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 43 regular season women's basketball games, including all four games on the final day of the regular season and the first round and semi-final games at the 2017 WAC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.