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GRAND CANYON'S LARAMIE NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 28 through Dec. 4.
Laramie, a senior forward-center from St. Louis (Fort Zumwalt West HS/East Carolina), continued to lead the Lopes with two 24-point games and a 30-point game on the week. At UC Riverside, she scored 24 points to go with nine rebounds to narrowly miss the double-double. She followed that up with 24 points and seven rebounds two days later against No. 13 Washington before rounding out the week with a 30-point, 10-rebound performance in a blowout win over Florida Atlantic. The transfer currently leads the WAC in scoring at 20.5 points per game.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Erika Williams tied her career high with 25 points in a loss at Pacific … Chicago State's Kaylee Allen had a pair of 16-point games against both Oakland and Northwestern … UMKC's India Johnson led the Roos to a pair of wins, averaging 16.0 ppg and 3.5 apg … NM State's Tamera William averaged 20.0 ppg as the Aggies beat rival New Mexico and then took Arizona to overtime … UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff averaged 13.0 ppg as the Vaqueros dropped a home game to Houston before bouncing back for a win at rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi … Utah Valley's Taylor Gordon was named to the Air Force Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 15.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg over two games.
ON TAP
It's a light week around the WAC but not without some marquee games. On Thursday, UT Rio Grande Valley heads to nationally-ranked Oklahoma for the first of two games in the Sooner State as the Vaqueros will also travel to Oklahoma State on Sunday. Utah Valley plays host to Denver on Friday while Chicago State makes the quick trip to Loyola-Chicago for a Windy City matchup on Saturday.
BY THE NUMBERS
NM State currently leads the WAC in scoring offense (72.8), scoring margin (+8.4), three-point field goal defense (.264), rebounding offense (43.4), blocked shots (5.5), steals (11.5), turnover margin (+6.62), offensive rebounds (15.4) and defensive rebounds (28.0). UMKC is the leader in scoring defense (63.6), field goal percentage (.453), three point field goal percentage (.393), rebounding defense (32.0) and rebounding margin (+4.6). CSU Bakersfield has the top free throw percentage (.723) and is averaging the most three-pointers (8.4) while UT Rio Grande Valley has the top field goal percentage defense (.351). Grand Canyon leads the WAC in assists (16.3) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1).
Individually, GCU's Marina Laramie leads the WAC in scoring at 20.5 ppg. Chicago State's Sh'Toya Sanders is still the top rebounder (9.9) while UMKC's Kristen Moore is the top shooter (.569). NM State's Zaire Williams leads the league in assists (6.6) and teammate Tamera William is the top free throw shooter (.885). Utah Valley's Taylor Gordon is averaging a WAC-high 3.8 steals per game and GCU's Laramie is the top three-point shooter at .545. Seattle U's Kaylee Best is averaging a league-best 3.3 three-pointers per game while CSU's Sanders is the top shot blocker (4.1).
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 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.