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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 Feb. 27 through March 5.
Montgomery, a redshirt junior wing from Beaverton, Ore. (Beaverton HS), put together her 10th 20-point performance of the season to help the Redhawks secure the number two seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament with a win over Utah Valley. She finished the game with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, also adding eight rebounds and three steals in the victory. Montgomery is second in the
WAC in scoring at 16.3 points per game and second in rebounding at 7.9 rebounds per game.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Aja Williams scored 16 points and 10 rebounds as the ‘Runners earned a road win at Grand Canyon … UMKC's Ceidra Coleman scored 10 points, dished out seven assists and brought down six rebounds in a road win at Chicago State … NM State's Brooke Salas earned the double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Aggies finished the regular season undefeated in WAC play … UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff scored 14 points as the Vaqueros fell to regular season champion NM State … Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Wolverines nearly earned a road win in Seattle.
TOURNEY TIME
The WAC heads to Vegas this week for the 2017 WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena. NM State is the number one seed and will play the winner of No. 4 UT Rio Grande Valley and No. 5 UMKC. No. 2 Seattle U takes on No. 7 Chicago State in the second quarterfinal and No. 3 CSU Bakersfield and No. 6 Utah Valley face off in Wednesday's final game. The championship game is on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time on ESPN3.
BY THE NUMBERS
Regular season champion NM State finished the regular season leading the league in scoring offense (69.8), scoring defense (58.6), scoring margin (+11.2), field goal percentage (.424), three-point field goal percentage (.356), three-point field goal defense (.277), rebounding margin (+3.2) and turnover margin (+2.86). Grand Canyon finished its season ranked first in free throw percentage (.723), assists (14.3) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0). UT Rio Grande Valley led the league in field goal defense (.365), rebounding offense (40.1) and steals (9.6). UMKC is the leader in rebounding defense (31.9) while CSU Bakersfield led the WAC in blocked shots (5.3) and three-point field goals made (7.6).
Individually, GCU's Marina Laramie finished the season averaging 20.1 points per game to lead all players in scored. UVU's Sam Lubcke led the league in rebounding (8.6) and CSUB's Jazmyne Bartee shot a WAC-best .590 from the field, also leading the league in blocks (2.5). NM State's Brooke Salas was the leader in free throw percentage (.853) while teammate Zaire Williams shot a league-best .450 from three-point range. UVU duo Mariah Seals and Taylor Gordon led the WAC in assists (4.9) and steals (2.6) respectively. Seattle U's Kaylee Best led the conference in three-pointers made (2.4) and GCU's Laura Marco-Canedo led the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.9).
In WAC-only play, NM State led the league in scoring offense (71.5), scoring margin (+13.7), field goal percentage (.446), three-point field goal percentage (.381), rebounding margin (+5.4) and three-pointers made (7.9). CSU Bakersfield had the top scoring defense (56.4), field goal defense (.331) and the most blocks (5.6). Grand Canyon led in free throw percentage (.774) and steals (9.1) while Seattle U was on top in three-point defense (.289), assists (14.5), and assist/turnover ratio (1.0).
Individually, GCU's Laramie led the WAC in scoring at 19.8 ppg in league games. CSUB's Bartee was the top rebounder (9.6), shooter (.552) and shot blocker (2.9). UVU's Seals led the league in assist (4.6) while NM State's Moriah Mack led the league in steals (2.2). NMSU's Salas was the top free throw shooter (.906) and CSUB's Kate Tokuhara led the WAC in three-point shooting (.577).
THREE-PETE
NM State clinched it's third straight WAC regular season title last week with a perfect 14-0 record. The Aggies are now 40-2 in WAC games dating back to the start of the 2014-15 season. Add in WAC tournament games and the Aggies are 44-2 against WAC schools over the last three seasons.
DON'T TAKE ME OUT
Chicago State's Cailin Nix has played 533 of 565 possible minutes for the Cougars in conference play. Her teammate Jessica Cerda has played 521 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 seventh with 1,838 career points. She is now 10 points out of sixth place, currently held by Colorado State's Teresa James with 1,848 points between 1992-96. Goff is also in the top 10 in scoring in WAC games, with 879 points, good enough for ninth all-time. 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.