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SEATTLE U'S SANDERS NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's Kamira Sanders has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 13 through Nov. 19.
Sanders, a sophomore guard from Redding, Calif. (Enterprise HS), helped lead Seattle U to a pair of road wins over the weekend. On Friday night at UC Santa Barbara, she scored 13 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Redhawks erased a 21-point deficit to post a 77-71 win. She also tied her career high in rebounds with nine and set a new career-high in assists with six. Sanders followed up that performance with 15 points and five assists in a 65-62 win at Pepperdine on Sunday afternoon. Two weeks into the season, she leads the WAC in steals at 3.5 per game, three-point shooting percentage at .500 and assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.2.
Other nominees included: Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix nearly averaged a double-double on the week, scoring 12.5 ppg and bring down 9.0 rpg in a pair of losses … Grand Canyon's August Touchard scored in double-digits twice on the week, posting 18 points at Cal Poly and 10 points at UNLV … NM State's Gia Pack recorded a pair of 18-point performances in games against UT Permian Basin and New Mexico, adding 15 rebounds against rival UNM … Utah Valley's Taylor Christensen averaged 15.5 points per game in losses at Portland and Oregon State.
UP NEXT
The WAC continues a challenging non-conference schedule this week with games against several challenging foes. Seattle U looks to keep a two-game win streak alive on Wednesday when they play host to Portland State. The Redhawks then entertain UC Davis on Sunday. NM State heads to El Paso for neutral-site games against Texas Southen and Arkansas. UT Rio Grande Valley is home for a pair agianst Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M. Grand Canyon hosts Benedictine on Wednesday before traveling to Valparaiso on Saturday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Two weeks into the regular season, NM State leads the WAC in scoring offense (71.2), scoring margin (+4.0), field goal percentage (.401), field goal defense (.343), three-point percentage (.366), rebounding offense (44.5), assist/turnover ratio (0.9), defensive rebounds (33.5), three-pointers made (7.5) and are tied with Chicago State for the lead in blocked shots (5.3) and assists (12.3). UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in scoring defense (59.8), reounding defense (36.2) and rebounding margin (+3.0). Grand Canyon is the leader in free throw percentage (.810) while Chicago State leads the leage in three-point defense (.288). Utah Valley is the leader in steals (9.7) and CSU Bakersfield is the leader in turnover margin (+5.25) and offenseive rebounds (16.0).
Individually, GCU's Brie Mobley is the leading scorer at 21.7 ppg. NMSU's Brooke Salas is to top rebounder at 9.5 rpg. UTRGV's Krisynthia Sampson holds the top field goal percentage (.593) while her teammate Idil Turk and NMSU's Gia Pack are tied for the lead in free throw percentage (1.000). SU's Kamira Sanders is the top assist woman in the league at 4.0 per game and also leads the league in steals a 3.5 per game. CSU's Ines Mata Boix is the top shot blocker at 3.3 per game while NMSU's Zaire Williams holds the top assist/turnover ratio at 1.5.
200 FOR TIDWELL
UT Rio Grande Valley head coach Larry Tidwell earned his 200th career win on opening night against Concordia (Texas).
FIRST-TIME LEADERS
The WAC has three new head coaches in 2017-18 and all three of them are first-year head coaches. NM State's Brooke Atkinson, who was an assistant with the Aggies early in her career, headed to Las Cruces after serving as an assistant at Colorado State. Grand Canyon's Nicole Powell returns to her hometown of Phoenix after working as an assistant at Oregon. Kansas City's Jacie Hoyt comes to the Roos from Kansas State.
CLOSING IN ON 1000
Three WAC women's basketball players are within 100 points of joining the 1,000-point club. Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery (954), Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski (940) and Kansas City's Samantha Waldron (909) could all meet the milestone in the next few weeks. Utah Valley's Mariah Seals is the only active member of the WAC's 1,000-point club.
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.
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