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SU'S MONTGOMERY NAMED WAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 11 through Dec. 17.
Montgomery, a senior forward from Beaverton, Ore. (Beaverton HS), collected a trio of double-doubles to stretch her streak to five as the Redhawks went 2-1 on the week, including a pair of wins on the road. At Montana, she finished with 22 points, including a career-best five three pointers, and 11 rebounds as the Redhawks earned a 78-64 win. She followed that up with 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 68-60 win at Idaho before scoring 25 points with 13 rebounds and six assists in a home loss to Pacific. The WAC Preseason Player of the Year leads the conference in both scoring (20.8 ppg) and rebounding (10.4 rpg).
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Aja Williams scored 12 points as the ‘Runners earned a big win over Whittier on the weekend … Grand Canyon's Brie Mobley earned the double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Lopes earned a win over in-state rival Northern Arizona, 72-54 … Kansas City's Kiana Law recorded the double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds in a 114-59 win over Harris-Stowe State … NM State's Brooke Salas scored 32 points with five-three pointers in a road win at Pepperdine … UT Rio Grande Valley's Quynne Huggins led the Vaqueros with 20 points in a 80-64 loss at Texas Tech … Utah Valley's Taylor Christensen tallied 20 points with seven assists in a loss to Idaho State.
UP NEXT
It's a busy week around the WAC with both Kansas City and UT Rio Grande Valley hosting tournaments. The Roos welcome Northern Colorado and Denver to Kansas City with UTRGV play host to Canisius and Southern California, now coached by former NM State head coach Mark Trakh. Seattle U visits Washington on Wednesday before hosting UC Irvine on Friday. NM State will take on Northeastern at a tournament host by Long Beach State. Utah Valley hosts a pair of Big West foes in Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton. Chicago State welcomes Milwaukee to the Windy City while Grand Canyon hosts Santa Clara on Thursday. After earning a win over Omaha on Monday night, CSU Bakersfield wraps up the week on Wednesday at Boise State.
BY THE NUMBERS
Seattle U leads the WAC in scoring offense (70.3 ppg) and rebounding offense (39.3 rpg) as well as assist/turnover ratio (1.0). CSU Bakersfield is tops in scoring defense (54.1), field goal defense (.359), three point defense (.275) and offensive rebounds (15.4). Grand Canyon is the top free throw shooting team (.759) while NM State is the best from the field (.416) and behind the three-point arce (.364). UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in rebounding defense (38.2) and rebounding margin (+0.5) while NMSU leads the league in blocked shots (4.3) and assists (14.1). Utah Valley is the top team in steals (10.1) and turnover margin (+3.91).
Individually, Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery leads the WAC in scoring (20.8), rebounding (10.4), free throw percentage (.824) and defensive rebounds (8.2). UTRGV's Laura Van Tilburg is the top shooter in the conference (.500) while Grand Canyon's Jordan Jackson is the most accurate from three-point range (.447). NMSU's Zaire Williams is the assist leader (5.8) and Utah Valley's Taylor Christensen continues to lead the WAC in steals (3.5). Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix is the leader in blocked shots (2.0) and offensive rebounds (3.8). UMKC's Daijane Dillard holds the top assist/turnover ratio (2.6).
THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
Two WAC women's basketball players recently joined Utah Valley's Mariah Seals as active members of the WAC's 1,000-point club. Seattle U's Alexis Montgomery scored her 1,000th point on Nov. 30 at California and Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski scored her 1,000th point on Dec. 3 at Bethune-Cookman. Two more players are close to joining the trio in the club as Kansas City duo Samantha Waldron and Aries Washington have 973 and 959 career points respectively.
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.
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