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UMKC's MOORE NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UMKC's Kristen Moore has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 9 through Jan. 15.
Moore, a sophomore forward from Chicago (Homewood-Flossmoor HS), averaged 20.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg as the Roos went 1-1 in WAC games. Against Seattle U, she scored a career-high 22 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists in the loss. In a three-point win over Utah Valley, she scored 19 points with seven rebounds and was a perfect 7-for-7 on free throws.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Tylinn Carter earned the double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to NM State … Chicago State's Kaylee Allen averaged 14.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg as the Cougars dropped a pair at home to Utah Valley and Seattle U … Grand Canyon's Brie Mobley put together a pair of double-digit scoring games as the Lopes split a pair at home to NM State and UTRGV … NM State's Moriah Mack led the Aggies to a pair of road wins, averaging 16.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg in victories at CSUB and GCU … UT Rio Grande Valley's Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir scored 14 points and brought down eight rebounds in a loss at Grand Canyon … Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke averaged 15.5 ppg and 11.0 rpg as the Wolverines went 1-1 on a road trip to Chicago and Kansas City.
ON TAP
It's a light week as the WAC has games on just Saturday. NM State heads to UMKC, UT Rio Grande Valley travels to Chicago State, CSU Bakersfield visits Utah Valley and Seattle U plays host to Grand Canyon.
BY THE NUMBERS
NM State leads the conference in scoring offense (70.8), scoring defense (60.3), scoring margin (+10.5), three-point defense (.269), turnover margin (+4.44) and defensive rebounds (25.7). CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.739) while UMKC is tops in field goal percentage (.424), rebounding defense (32.3), rebounding margin (+3.7) and offensive rebounds (14.3). UT Rio Grande Valley sits on top of field goal defense (.373), rebounding offense (39.3), blocked shots (5.0) and steals (10.9). Grand Canyon is the league-leader in three-point field goal percentage (.353), assists (15.6), assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and three-pointers per game (7.6).
Individually, GCU's Marina Laramie leads the league in scoring at 20.0 ppg. Her teammate Zelor Massaquoi leads the league in rebounding at 8.8 rpg. Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke is the top shooter (.623) while teammate Mariah Seals is the leader in assists (4.9). NM State's Brooke Salas is the top free throw shooter (.854) and CSUB's Erika Williams is the top three-point shooter (.469). UVU's Taylor Gordon leads the league in steals (3.2) while CSUB's Jazmyne Bartee is the top shot-blocker (2.0). The GCU duo of Casey Rarrick and Jessica Gajewski are each averaging a WAC-high 2.5 three-pointers per game while fellow Lope Laura Marcos-Canedo holds a league-best 2.4 assist/turnover ratio.
In conference-only play, NM State leads the WAC in scoring at 80.8 ppg while UT Rio Grande Valley leads the league in defense at 54.0 ppg. NMSU also leads the WAC in scoring margin (+17.0), free throw percentage (.797), field goal percentage (.479), three-point field goal percentage (400) and turnover margin (+4.75). Individually, UVU's Gordon leads the WAC with 19.0 ppg in league games. GCU's Massaquoi holds the rebounding lead at 10.7 ppg while UVU's Lubcke is the top shooter at .714.
RED-HOT REDHAWKS
While it's just two weeks into the season, Seattle U sits at 3-0 in WAC play, already matching their conference win total from a year ago. The 2012-13 Redhawks started the season with seven straight wins en route to their first WAC regular season title.
WINNING WAYS
Currently 4-0 in conference play, defending champion NM State is now 30-2 in WAC games dating back to the start of the 2014-15 season. Add in WAC tournament games and the Aggies are 34-2 against WAC schools over the last three seasons.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
CSU Bakersfield closed out 2016 with a milestone victory at home, winning the ‘Runners 100th game at the Icardo Center. 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 1,669 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.