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UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY'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 Dec. 19 through Dec. 25.
Goff, a senior guard from Copperas Cove, Texas (Copperas Cove HS), earned Battle on the Border Tournament MVP honors after leading the Vaqueros to a pair of wins at home. In a 81-67 win over North Dakota State, the reigning WAC Player of the Year scored 27 points and brought down six rebounds to go with four steals and three assists. She followed that up with 19 points in a 55-46 win over rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. This is the second player of the week honor for Goff this season and the fourth of her career.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee scored 10 points and brought down 10 rebounds in an overtime loss at Pepperdine … Chicago State's Kaylee Allen scored 19 points in a home loss to Western Michigan … Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski scored 31 points as the Lopes earned a win over Northern Arizona … UMKC's Samantha Waldron scored 37 points in a loss to Southern Illinois and 18 points in a loss to Northern Illinois to earn Roo Holiday Classic All-Tournament honors … NM State's Brooke Salas averaged 11.7 ppg and 3.3 rpg as the Aggies faced tough competition at the Play4Kay Shootout in Las Vegas … Utah Valley's Taylor Gordon scored 21 points in a road loss at Idaho State.
ON TAP
With WAC play set to begin on Jan. 5, it's the final full week on non-conference play as all eight teams work towards getting ready for conference games. CSU Bakersfield tips off the action on Wednesday with a road game at UTEP before hosting Cal Poly on Saturday. UMKC hits up the east coast, playing at La Salle on Wednesday and Stony Brook on Saturday. Chicago State is also in action on Wednesday at Cincinnati before returning to the Windy City for a matchup with NJIT on Friday. Grand Canyon closes out 2016 with games at Hawai'i on Thursday and Chaminade on Saturday. Seattle U hosts CSUN on Thursday and Utah Valley hosts Antelope Valley on Thursday and Dixie State on Saturday. UT Rio Grande Valley is also home this week, hosting St. Thomas on Thursday. NM State plays host to Western New Mexico on Saturday before ringing in the new year.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Roos of UMKC lead the WAC in scoring offense (68.4), field goal percentage (.429). three-point field goal percentage (.363), rebounding defense (33.1) and rebounding margin (+3.5). NM State is the tops in scoring defense (61.8), scoring margin (+4.9), field goal defense (.375), three-point defense (.276), rebounding (39.5), steals (10.5) and turnover margin (+3.54). CSU Bakersfield is the leader in free throw percentage (.745) and three-pointers (8.9). UT Rio Grande Valley is the top shot-blocking tema (5.1) and Grand Canyon leads the WAC in assists (15.9) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1).
Individually, GCU's Marina Laramie is the top scorer at 20.6 ppg while teammate Zelor Massaquoi is the top rebounder (8.7). Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke is the top shooter (.587) while CSUB's Erika Williams is the top three-point shooter (.485). NMSU's Tamera William leads the league in free throw shooting (.855) and the UVU duo of Mariah Seals and Taylor Gordon are the leaders in assists and steals with 4.9 apg and 3.2 spg respectively. UMKC's Samantha Waldron leads the league in three-pointers made (2.7) while CSUB's Jazmyne Bartee is the top shot blocker (1.7).
PUT ‘EM UP
Perhaps inspired by the Western-themed WAC Roundups, the conference has five teams in the top 50 nationally in steals. UT Rio Grande Valley is 12th nationally with 146, followed by NM State at 21st with 136. Utah Valley is 23rd with 125, Seattle U is 40th with 123 and Chicago State is 44th with 122.
BACK IN THE DAY
While concluding 2016 in the Aloha State, Grand Canyon will round out the calendar year with a road game againt former Pacwest Conference foe Chaminade. The Lopes and Silverswords last met on Dec. 4, 2012 in Phoenix with GCU earning the 90-48 win. The two teams last played each other in Hawai'i on Jan. 30, 2012 with GCU taking the 68-40 win.
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. Sanders recently left the CSU program and is not expected to return this season.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
When CSU Bakersfield played host to nationally-ranked Stanford on Dec, 1, CSUB head coach Greg McCall welcomed home his daughter and Cardinal senior forward Erica McCall. The Ridgeview HS graduate scored a game-high 18 points with 12 rebounds to lead Stanford past CSU Bakersfield, 77-56.
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 played 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 opened a six-game road trip on Dec. 4 that will have them visiting four different states. The Redhawks were at home on Dec. 2 against Montana and now 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.