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GRAND CANYON'S MOBLEY NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Brie Mobley has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 6 through Nov. 12.
Mobley, a senior guard from Winter Haven, Fla. (Winter Haven HS), led the Lopes on opening weekend. On Friday afternoon against Rice, she scored 23 points with eight rebounds and played all 40 minutes. She followed that up with 15 points and nine rebounds, also adding four assists, in a loss to 12th-ranked Duke on Sunday. Two games into the season, she is third in the WAC in scoring and tied for fourth in rebounding.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Jazmine Johnson scored 15 points in a road loss at UTEP on Saturday … Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix recorded a career-high 14 points in a loss to Northwestern on Friday … Kansas City's Kristen Moore scored 22 points as the Roos fell on the road at Western Illinois … NM State's Brooke Salas earned a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds in a season-opening loss to Western Michigan on Sunday … Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery scored a career-high 31 points on Friday night and added 16 more on Sunday in a pair of losses to Idaho State and Hawaii … UT Rio Grande Valley's Megan Johnson average 13.5 ppg as the Vaqueros earned a pair of wins at the Islanders Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas … Utah Valley's Taylor Christensen led the Wolverines with 13 points and three steals in a loss at Weber State.
UP NEXT
After a tough opening weekend, it won't get any easier for the WAC with a number of games against postseason teams from a year ago. Highlighting the week is Utah Valley visiting No. 18 Oregon State and CSU Bakersfield traveling to No. 14 Stanford. Kansas City visits Nebraska on Monday while Chicago State heads to Illinois on Tuesday. UT Rio Grande Valley will take on Oklahoma State on Friday while Grand Canyon heads to Las Vegas to take on UNLV on Sunday.
200 FOR TIDWELL
UT Rio Grande Valley head coach Larry Tidwell earned his 200th career win on opening night against Concordia (Texas).
STAT LEADERS BACK
The statistical leaderboard may see some new names rising up this season but it won't be without some familiar faces.
On the scoring list, Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery was third in the WAC last season at 15.4 ppg and leads the returners. UVU's Taylor Christensen (then Gordon) averaged 13.7 ppg in her junior season, which was fifth in the league last season. Montgomery is also the top returning rebounder at 8.3 rpg. CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee was fifth last season at 6.9 rpg. UVU's Mariah Seals returns after averaging a WAC-best 4.8 assists per game while NM State's Brooke Salas is the top returner at the free throw line, having shot a WAC-best .844 last season.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
NM State is the favorite to win the 2017-18 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball title and Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery 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 third straight WAC title last season, received 47 points and six first place votes in the preseason poll. CSU Bakersfield picked up the remaining two first place votes for a total of 39 points to edge out Seattle U by one point for second place. Utah Valley was selected fourth while Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley and Kansas City were all separated by just two points for the fifth, sixth and seventh spots. Chicago State rounded out the poll.
Montgomery leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are NM State's Brooke Salas, Grand Canyon's Brie Mobley and Utah Valley's Taylor Christensen and Mariah Seals.
Second team selections include Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke, CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee and Aja Williams, Kansas City's Samantha Waldron and NM State's Zaire Williams.
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 2017-18 and Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
The Aggies earned seven first place votes in the media poll to collect 82 points to top the poll. Seattle U was second with four first place votes and 76 points while CSU Bakersfield came in third with 60 points. Grand Canyon was selected fourth with 55 points and Utah Valley earned fifth with 46 points. UT Rio Grande Valley, Kansas City and Chicago State rounded out the poll.
Montgomery leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are NM State's Brooke Salas, Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke, Grand Canyon's Brie Mobley and CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee.
Second team selections include CSU Bakersfield's Aja Williams, Utah Valley's Mariah Seals and Taylor Christensen, and Kansas City's Kristen Moore and Samantha Waldron.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Just two of five First Team All-WAC players from last season return for the 2016-17 season as WAC Preseason Player of the Year Alexis Montgomery and NM State's Brooke Salas return for this season. Second Team honoreers Brie Mobley (Grand Canyon), Taylor Christensen (Utah Valley) and Jazmyne Bartee (CSU Bakersfield) are back as well.
WAC ATTITUDE ON ALTITUDE
The WAC Digital Network is producing a 30-minute WAC Basketball Preview Show in advance of the upcoming season. Altitude Sports Network will air the show 17 times during the month of November.
WDN on-air talent Jessie Punch is the host. Punch will have on-set interviews with Grand Canyon Men's Basketball Coach Dan Majerle, NM State Women's Basketball Coach Brooke Atkinson and WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd, along with features as the WAC starts its 56th season of basketball competition next month.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
This season, WAC teams will face some tough competition in the non-conference portion of the schedule, with 14 games against NCAA Tournament participants and 11 against Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) participants. The complete list is below.
Games vs. NCAA Teams
Nov. 10 - Kansas City at Western Illinois
Nov. 12 - Duke at Grand Canyon
Nov. 15 - Utah Valley at Oregon State
Nov. 19 - CSU Bakersfield at Stanford
Nov. 20 - Kansas City at Iowa State
Nov. 22 - Western Illinois at Chicago State
Nov. 24 - NM State vs. Texas Southern (at UTEP)
Nov. 29 - Chicago State at Western Illinois
Nov. 30 - Seattle U at California
Dec. 7 - Long Beach State at Grand Canyon
Dec. 10 - Grand Canyon at Washington
Dec. 18 - Chicago State at Kansas State
Dec. 20 - CSU Bakersfield at Boise State
Dec. 20 - Seattle U at Washington
Games vs. WNIT Teams
Nov. 17 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Oklahoma State
Nov. 19 - Grand Canyon at UNLV
Nov. 20 - Northern Illinois at Chicago State
Nov. 21 - Utah Valley at Brigham Young
Nov. 26 - Morehead State at Chicago State
Nov. 26 - UC Davis at Seattle U
Dec. 3 - Grand Canyon at Bethune-Cookman
Dec. 3 - Chicago State at Wright State
Dec. 3 - CSU Bakersfield at SMU
Dec. 9 - CSU Bakersfield at South Dakota
Dec. 29 - Kansas City vs. Stetson (at FAU)
READY TO GO
After playing through a four-year transition period to NCAA Division I, Grand Canyon is eligible for the postseason this year. The Lopes are predicted to finish fourth by the media and fifth by the coaches
COMING SOON
California Baptist is scheduled to join the WAC for 2018-2019 competition. They will begin their four year transition process to Division 1. This will make them ineligible to compete in post season tournaments (WAC and NCAA) until 2022-2023 season. They will be coming from the Pacific West Conference where they won five championships (M&W Cross Country, W. Basketball, W. Golf, and Softball) during 2016-2017 season.
ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS TO HOST 2018 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2018 WAC Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the eighth year in a row. This year's tournament includes all eight teams and will be held Wednesday-Saturday, March 7-10.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 104 regular season women's basketball games. In addition, the WDN will produce 15 regular-season games as well as all games at the 2017 WAC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for broadcast on ESPN3