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SEATTLE U'S MONTGOMERY NAMED WAC WOMENâ€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 Nov. 27 through Dec. 3.
Montgomery, a senior forward from Beaverton, Ore. (Beaverton HS), averaged a double-double on the week as the Redhawks went 1-1. On Thursday, she became the 17th player in program history to score her 1,000th point as she finished with 26 points and seven rebounds in a loss at nationally-ranked California. She followed that up with 18 points and 13 rebounds in a seven-point win over San Diego on Saturday. Montgomery ranks second in the WAC in scoring this season at 20.1 points per game and is the leading rebounder at 9.8 rebounds per game.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Aja Williams averaged 14.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg as the ‘Runners split a pair of games on the road with a win at Southern Utah and a loss at SMU … Grand Canyon's Brie Mobley posted GCU's first double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 assists in an overtime win at Florida Atlantic … UT Rio Grande Valley's Megan Johnson averaged 14.0 ppg to earn MVP honors at the Battle on the Border Tournament as the Vaqueros went 2-1 on the week … Utah Valley's Taylor Christensen led the Wolverines to a 2-1 week, averaging 17.7 ppg and 3.4 rpg in home wins against Dixie State and Southern Utah and a road loss at Pepperdine.
UP NEXT
UT Rio Grande Valley takes its 8-2 record on the road this week with tough games at North Dakota State and Wisconsin. CSU Bakersfield also heads to the Dakotas, traveling to South Dakota on Saturday after a Wednesday matinee at UC Riverside. Seattle U hosts Nevada in the Redhawks' lone game while NM State welcomes border rival UTEP. Utah Valley is home for a pair against Air Force and Utah State and Grand Canyon hosts Long Beach State before heading to Washington. Kansas City hosts Oral Roberts on Wednesday before traveling to Kansas State on Saturday. Chicago State continues its roadtrip at Valparaiso.
BY THE NUMBERS
Seattle U leads the WAC in scoring (70.0), assosts (13.1) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0). CSU Bakersfield is the top defensive team (54.7) while UT Rio Grande Valley is the leader in scoring margin (+3.8). Grand Canyon is the leader in both free throw percentage (.746) and field goal percentage (.411) while NM State is the best from behind the three-point arc (.340). CSUB holds the top field goal defense (.353) while Kansas City is best at defending the three (.273). NMSU leads the league in rebounding offense (41.0) but it is UTRGV leading in rebounding defense (36.0) and rebounding margin (+4.3). Utah Valley is the leader in steals (10.1) and turnover margin (+4.25) while NMSU is again at the top of the list in blocked shots (5.0) and three-pointers per game (7.1).
Individually, GCU's Brie Mobley is the leading scoring at 20.8 ppg and is also tops in assists (4.3). SU's Alexis Montgomery is the leading rebounder (9.8). Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix is the top shooter (.524) and also leads the league in blocks (2.6). UVU's Gabrielle Leos holds the top free throw percetnage (.870) while teammate Taylor Christensen is tops in steals (3.0). SU's Jacinta Beckley is the leading three-point shooter (.464) while GCU's August Touchard leads the WAC in three-pointers made (2.4). UTRGV's Valeria Tapia is the leader in assist/turnover ratio (2.2).
OFF AND RUNNING
UT Rio Grande Valley is off to its best start in school history at 8-2. The Vaqueros won their second-straight tournament last week at the Battle on the Border with wins over Massachusetts and UTSA.
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 939 and 907 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