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CSU BAKERSFIELD'S WILLIAMS NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield's Erika Williams has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 20 through Feb. 26.
Williams, a senior forward from Fresno, Calif. (Diamond Ranch HS), helped to lead the ‘Runners to a pair of road wins at UMKC and Chicago State. At UMKC, she hit the winning basket with three seconds left and scored 11 points, brought down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. She followed that up with 20 points and six rebounds in a four-point win at Chicago State on Saturday.
Other nominees included: Chicago State's Kaylee Allen averaged 21.5 ppg as the Cougars played Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield tough … Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie tallied 31 points in a win at Chicago State … UMKC's India Johnson averaged 17.0 ppg as the Roos went 1-1 on the week … NM State's Zaire Williams led the way for the Aggies with 18.0 ppg as they clinched their third-straight WAC regular season title …UT Rio Grande Valley's Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir averaged 12.0 ppg and 10.5 rpg as the Vaqueros won a pair on the road at Seattle U and Utah Valley.
ON TAP
The regular season comes to a close this weekend as only two of seven seeds are determined for next week's WAC Tournament in Las Vegas. Regular season champion and top seed NM State heads to UT Rio Grande Valley while CSU Bakersfield travels to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon. Seattle U will be looking to secure the number two seed when they host Utah Valley and UMKC visits Chicago as part of the doubleheader to wrap up conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS
Regular season champion NM State sits atop several statistical categories as well, leading the WAC in scoring offense (70.0), scoring defense (59.0), scoring margin (+10.9), field goal percentage (.422), three-point field goal percentage (.354), three-point defense (.282), rebounding margin (+2.9) and turnover margin (+3.15). Grand Canyon leads the league in free throw percentage (.722), assists (14.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0). UT Rio Grande Valley is the leader in field goal defense (.362), rebounding offense (40.6), steals (9.8), offensive rebounds (14.3) and defensive rebounds (26.2). UMKC is the leader in rebounding defense (32.4) while CSU Bakersfield is tops in blocks (5.5) and three-pointers (7.4).
Individually, Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie leads the WAC in scoring at 19.9 ppg. Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke is the top rebounder (8.6) while CSU Bakersfield's Bartee is the top shooter (.591). UVU duo Mariah Seals and Taylor Gordon are the leaders in assists and steals with 5.0 apg and 2.6 spg respectively. NM State's Brooke Salas is the top free throw shooter (.853) while her teammate Zaire Williams is the top three-point shooter at .457. Seattle U's Kaylee Best is averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game while CSUB's Bartee also leads the WAC in blocks at 2.6 per contest.
In WAC-only play, NM State leads the league in scoring offense (72.1), scoring margin (+13.4), field goal percentage (.445), three-point percentage (.380), rebounding margin (+4.7) and three-pointers made (7.9). CSU Bakersfield is tops in scoring defense (55.8), field goal defense (.329) and blocked shots (6.0). Grand Canyon is the leader in free throw percentage (.776), steals (9.4) and turnover margin (+2.15) while Utah Valley is the best in three-point defense (.304). UT Rio Grande Valley is the leader in rebounding offense (42.5) and UMKC is tops in rebounding defense (31.9). Seattle U leads the league in assists (15.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0).
Individually, GCU's Laramie is average 19.4 ppg in WAC play. CSUB's Bartee leads the league in rebounding (9.5), field goal percentage (.551) and blocked shots (3.2). UVU's Seals is the leader in assists (4.8) and NM State's Moriah Mack leads in steals (2.2). NMSU's Salas holds a WAC-best .906 free throw percentage while CSU Bakersfield's Kate Tokuhara is shooting a league-high .591 from three-point range in WAC contests. SU's Best has a WAC-best 2.6 three-pointers per game and NMSU's Mack leads in assist/turnover ratio (1.6).
THREE-PETE
NM State clinched it's third straight WAC regular season title last week and the Aggies are now 39-2 in WAC games dating back to the start of the 2014-15 season. Add in WAC tournament games and the Aggies are 43-2 against WAC schools over the last three seasons.
DON'T TAKE ME OUT
Chicago State's Cailin Nix has played 494 of 525 possible minutes for the Cougars in conference play. Her teammate Jessica Cerda has played 481 minutes for CSU in conference play.
WAC TOP 10
UT Rio Grande Valley senior Shawnte' Goff moved into the WAC top 10 scoring list and currently sits at eighth with 1,824 career points. She is now 12 points out of seventh place, currently held by New Mexico's Abby Garchek with 1,836 points between 1994-98. The WAC's leader in career points in Colorado State's Becky Hammon, who scored 2,740 points in her Ram career.
GOOD WORK(S)
Utah Valley's Britta Hall was named to the Allstate/WBCA Good Works Team. The award comes to Hall after she took time off from playing college basketball to serve a voluntary mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rancagua, Chile, for 18 months. This year, the members of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team® will be recognized during the 2017 WBCA Convention and at the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four® in Dallas, and will also participate in a local community project in Dallas community.
TOP COACH
A pair of WAC coaches hit milestones over the weekend, with NM State's Mark Trakh picking up his 100th win with the Aggies and UT Rio Grande Valley's Larry Tidwell earning his 70th win to become the Vaqueros' winningest coach in program history.
SHE GOT GAME
CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee became just the third player this season in NCAA Division I to take a minimum of 10 shots and make them all after going 10-for-10 in a win over Utah Valley. Kelsey Lang of Texas was 11-for-11 in a game over New Orleans on Dec. 20 and Ohio State's Tori McCoy was 10-for-10 against Southern on Dec. 7. Her eight blocks against UVU tie her for 9th among individuals this season while CSUB's 13 blocks as a team in the same game is tied for 10th nationally.
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. NM State is the latest team to hit a milestone, earning the Aggies' 400th win at Pan American Center on Feb. 12 against Grand Canyon.
MILLENIUM CLUB
NM State senior Brianna Freeman scored her 1,000th career point on Jan. 7 against Chicago State. Teammate Moriah Mack accomplished the feat on Jan. 28 against Utah Valley. UVU's Mariah Seals was the third player to join the club this season, scoring her 1,000th career point on Feb. 4 against Seattle U. The latest player to score her 1,000th point is Seattle U's Kaylee Best, who broke into four digits on Feb. 16 at Grand Canyon. The quartet joins UT Rio Grande Valley senior Shawnte' Goff as the four active 1,000-point scorers in the league.