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NM STATE'S SALAS NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State's Brooke Salas has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 2 through Jan. 8.
Salas, a sophomore guard from Placentia, Calif. (El Dorado HS), led the Aggies to a pair of wins to open conference play. In the WAC-opener against UMKC, she scored 17 points and brought down seven rebounds to go with three assists and a pair of steals as the Aggies came from behind to win 78-72. On Saturday, she finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, adding four assists, one block and one steal, in a blowout win over Chicago State. This is her second player of the week honor this season and the third of her career.
Other nominees included: Chicago State's Kaylee Allen continued to lead the Cougars, posting a pair of 20-point games on the road at UT Rio Grande Valley and NM State … Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski notched a team-leading 22 points in a win at Utah Valley on Saturday … Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery led SU to a WAC-opening win over CSU Bakersfield, scoring 20 points and bringing down seven rebounds … UT Rio Grande Valley's Mary Savoy scored in double-digits three times on the week as the Vaqueros went 3-0 ... Utah Valley's Taylor Gordon scored 21 points in a loss to Grand Canyon.
ON TAP
WAC play is underway and the conference schedule features a full slate of games this week. Utah Valley and Seattle U make the trip east to Chicago State and UMKC while NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley visit Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield.
BY THE NUMBERS
NM State leads the conference in scoring offense (70.6), scoring defense (60.4), scoring margin (+10.2), rebounding (39.9), turnover margin (+4.31) and defensive rebounds (26.1). CSU Bakersfield leads the conference in free throw percentage (.733) while UMKC leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.420), rebounding defense (33.3), rebounding margin (+3.3) and offensvie rebounds (14.5). UT Rio Grande Valley is best in field goal defense (.372), three point defense (.268), blocked shots (5.1) and steal (11.1). Grand Canyon is the WAC-leader in assists (15.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and three point field goals made (8.0).
Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery leads the WAC in scoring at 16.1 ppg and Grand Canyon's Zelor Massaquoi leads the league in rebounding at 8.5 rpg. Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke is tops in field goal percentage (.603) and teammate's Mariah Seals and Taylor Gordon leads the league in assists and steals at 4.9 apg and 3.2 spg respectively. NM State's Tamera William is the top free throw shooter (.840) while CSU Bakersfield's Erika Williams is the top three point shooter (.453). GCU's Jessica Gajewski is averaging the most three-pointers per game (2.8) and CSUB's Jazmyne Bartee is averaging a league-high 1.9 blocks per game. GCU's Laura Marcos-Canedo holds the top assist/turnover ratio at 2.6.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
CSU Bakersfield closed out 2016 with a milestone victory at home, winning the ‘Runners 100th game at the Icardo Center. In 16 seasons, CSUB has a home record of 100-38 which includes a 22-game winning streak that ended last season. Seattle U is also hit a milestone on Jan. 7 against CSUB, earning the Redhawks' 300th win at Connolly Complex.
MILLENIUM AGGIE
NM State senior Brianna Freeman scored her 1,000th career point on Jan. 7 against Chicago State. She becomes the second active player in the WAC with 1,000 points as UT Rio Grande Valley senior Shawnte' Goff has 1,646 points in her UTPA/UTRGV career. The WAC's leader in career points in Colorado State's Becky Hammon, who scored 2,740 points in her Ram career.
CLEANING UP
Chicago State sophomore Sh'Toya Sanders set a new NCAA Division I season best (now ranked second) 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 returned 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 is 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 did not 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. NM State did the Lopes and Redhawks two better in its WAC opener, draining 14 three pointers against UMKC.
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.