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CHICAGO STATE'S SANDERS NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chicago State's Sh'Toya Sanders has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 21 through Nov 27.
Sanders, a sophomore forward-center from Fort Wayne, Ind. (Wayne HS), scored 54 points and brought down 36 rebounds in a pair of road losses. Her biggest game came on Tuesday night at Northern Illinois, scoring 38 points and bringing down 23 rebounds, the single-game high in NCAA Division I this season. She followed that up with 16 points and 13 rebounds at Morehead State for her fourth double-double of the season. The sophomore also recorded five blocks at NIU and six blocks at MSU as she is second nationally in both blocked shots (24) and blocked shots per game (4.8).
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Addi Walters came off the bench to scored 16 points in a home loss to South Dakota ... Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie continued to lead the Lopes, using a 31-point, 10-rebound performance to earn an overtime win over Denver on Friday … UMKC's Kiana Law averaged 6.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game as the Roos went 1-2 on the week, including a win over Morgan State on Saturday … NM State's Tamera William averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week … UT Rio Grande Valley's Mary Savoy was named Tournament MVP at the Feast on the Border Classic, averaging 15.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in wins over Prairie View A&M and Sam Houston State … Utah Valley's Britta Hall scored 18 points in a loss to host Cal Poly at the Cal Poly Share SLO Holiday Tournament.
ON TAP
It's another busy week around the WAC with 20 games on the docket. On Wednesday, NM State hosts in-state rival New Mexico while on Thursday, No. 13 Washington travels to Grand Canyon and No. 11 Stanford heads to CSU Bakersfield. Friday night brings Seattle U's last home game for awhile when the Redhawks host Montana. On Saturday, UT Rio Grande Valley travels to rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and on Sunday, NM State plays host to Pac-12 school Arizona.
BY THE NUMBERS
NM State currently leads the WAC in scoring offense (73.7), scoring defense (61.8), scoring margin (+11.8), rebounding offense (44.3), rebounding margin (+1.0), assists (16.8), steals (12.2), turnover margin (+8.00), assist/turnover ratio (1.1), offensive rebounds (15.8) and defensive rebounds (28.5). UT Rio Grande Valley is the league leader in free throw percentage (.691), field goal percentage defense (.341) and three-point field goal defense (.270). UMKC leads the conference in field goal percentage (.438), three-point field goal percentage (.377) and rebounding defense (33.6). Chicago State is the early leader in blocked shots (6.0) while CSU Bakersfield leads in three-point field goals made (9.4).
Individually, Chicago State's Sh'Toya Sanders leads the WAC in scoring (19.4), rebounding (12.6) and blocked shots (4.8). NM State's Tyesha Taylor has the top field goal percentage (.612) while teammate Zaire Williams leads the league in assists (6.7). The Aggies' Tamera William has the top free throw percentage (.862) while Grand Canyon's Aniya Baker is the league leader in steals (3.8). UTRGV's Angela Villarreal is the most accurate three-point shooter in the conference (.600) but it is CSUB's Aja Williams who is averaging the most three-pointers (4.0). CSU's Konner Harris is the current leader in minutes played (37.4).
CLEANING UP
Chicago State sophomore Sh'Toya Sanders set a new NCAA Division I season best with 23 rebounds in a loss at Northern Illinois. She wasn't just rebounding as she also finished with 38 points agaisnt the Huskies.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
When CSU Bakersfield plays host to nationally-ranked Stanford on Wednesday night, CSUB head coach Greg McCall welcomes home his daughter and Cardinal senior forward Erica McCall. The Ridgeview HS graduate is averaging 17.1 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game as she will look to lead her squad past Greg's Roadrunners in front of a hometown crowd.
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.