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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 Jan. 30 through Feb. 5.
Montgomery, a junior wing from Beaverton, Ore. (Beaverton HS), recorded her fifth double-double of the season as the Redhawks improved to 6-1 in conference play with a win at Utah Valley. Montgomery finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead SU. She also dished out six assists and blocked one shot in 32 minutes on the floor. She leads Seattle U in scoring, rebounding, assists and field goal percentage.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee collected her fourth straight double-double, scoring 14 points and recording 10 rebounds in a win over Grand Canyon … Chicago State's Kaylee Allen equaled her season scoring high with 20 points in a loss to league-leading NM State …
Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski notched 12 points, including 6-for-6 on free throws, in a loss at CSU Bakersfield … NM State's Brianna Freeman led the Aggies to a win in Chicago, scoring 17 points with seven rebounds against the Cougars … UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff scored 16 points and brought down 12 rebounds in a road win at UMKC … Utah Valley's Mariah Seals surpassed the 1,000 point mark in a loss to Seattle U.
ON TAP
The race towards Vegas heats up this week with a full schedule of games on the docket. Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield head east to take on NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley in some big games. Chicago State and UMKC will also be on the road, traveling to Seattle U and Utah Valley for a pair each.
BY THE NUMBERS
Conference leader NM State is not only atop the standings as the Aggies also lead the WAC in scoring offense (69.8), scoring defense (59.0), scoring margin (+10.8), field goal percentage (.422), three-point defense (.278), rebounding margin (+2.70) and turnover margin (+4.32). CSU Bakersfield leads the league in free throw percentage (.727), blocked shots (5.3) and three-pointers made (7.4). UT Rio Grande Valley leads the way in field goal defense (.368), rebounding offense (40.1), steals (10.1), offensive rebounds (14.5) and defensive rebounds (25.7). Grand Canyon is the WAC leader in three-point percentage (.339), assists (14.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0). UMKC is tops in rebounding defense (32.5).
Individually, Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie is the leading scorer at 19.6 ppg. Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke is the top rebounder at 8.5 rpg. CSU Bakersfield's Jazmyne Bartee is the top shooter (.650). NM State's Brooke Salas is the top free throw shooter (.833) and GCU's Laramie is the top three-point shooter (.457). Utah Valley duo Mariah Seals and Taylor Gordon lead the league in assists and steals with 4.8 apg and 2.9 spg respectively. Seattle U's Kaylee Best is tops in three-pointers made (2.5) and CSUB's Bartee is the top shot blocker (2.3). GCU's Laura Marcos-Candeo holds a WAC-best 2.1 assist/turnover ratio.
In conference-only play, NM State leads in scoring offense (73.0), scoring margin (+14.6), free throw percentage (.746), field goal percentage (.458), three-point percentage (.353), rebounding defense (30.4) and turnover margin (+4.25). CSU Bakersfield is the leader in scoring defense (51.9), field goal defense (.310), three-point defense (.291), rebounding margin (+5.7) and blocked shots (6.0). UT Rio Grande Valley leads in rebounding offense (42.5) and offensive rebounds (16.0) while Seattle U leads in assists (15.0), assist/turnover ratio (1.1), defensive rebounds (27.3) and three-pointers made (7.1). Grand Canyon leads the league in steals (9.3).
Indvidually, GCU's Laramie leads in scoring (18.3) while SU's Alexis Montgomery and UVU's Lubcke are tied for the lead in rebounds (10.0). CSUB's Bartee is shooting a WAC-best .633 in conference play while UTRGV's Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir is the top free throw shotoer (.941) and NM State's Salas is the top three-point shooter (.471). UVU's Seals is averaging 4.3 assists per game in WAC play while NM State's Moriah Mack has 3.0 steals per game.
DON'T TAKE ME OUT
Chicago State's Cailin Nix has played 321 of 325 possible minutes for the Cougars in conference play. Her teammate Jessica Cerda has played 300 minutes for CSU.
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.
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.
WINNING WAYS
Currently 8-0 in conference play, defending champion NM State is now 34-2 in WAC games dating back to the start of the 2014-15 season. Add in WAC tournament games and the Aggies are 38-2 against WAC schools over the last three seasons.
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.
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 is the latest to join the club, scoring her 1,000th career point on Feb. 4 against Seattle U. The trio joins UT Rio Grande Valley senior Shawnte' Goff as the four active 1,000-point scorers in the league. The WAC's leader in career points in Colorado State's Becky Hammon, who scored 2,740 points in her Ram career.