United Athletic Conference

 

Grand Canyon's Mae Bryant has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 20 through Jan. 26.

 

Bryant, a freshman forward from Sammamish, Wash., led the Lopes to a pair of road victories, shooting 60 percent from the field while averaging 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Against Seattle U, she finished with a team-high 14 points alongside six rebounds and two blocks in just 23 minutes. The Washington native topped that performance in GCU's 66-59 win over Utah Valley as she finished with her first career double-double. In 26 minutes of play, Bryant posted a season-high in points (16) and rebounds (10) to lead the Lopes to their fourth win in conference play.

 

Other nominees included: California Baptist's Lexy Ram led the Lancers to their first league win of the season, posting 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists in an 80-65 victory over Chicago State… Kansas City's Cristina Soriano posted her seventh double-double in eight games as she led the Roos in points (17), rebounds (13) and assists (6) in a 75-65 win over California Baptist… NM State's Gia Pack managed her third-straight double-double as she helped lead the Aggies to a one-point victory over UTRGV behind 26 points and 11 boards… Seattle U's Joana Alves finished the week averaging 20.5 points, including a season-high 26 points on 62.5 percent shooting in a 63-57 win over CSU Bakersfield… UT Rio Grande Valley's Zhane Templeton posted a team-high fifteen points to go along with 6 rebounds as the Vaqueros fell at NM State.

 

On Wednesday, Utah Valley travels to California Baptist to get this week's array of games underway. Thursday will see Grand Canyon hosting UT Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield taking on NM State on their home court. Saturday's slate of games includes Chicago State visiting Kansas City, Grand Canyon hosting NM State, CSU Bakersfield hosting UT Rio Grande Valley and Seattle U heading to Riverside, Calif. to take on the Lancers of California Baptist.

 

California Baptist leads the WAC in scoring offense (74.1), rebounding offense (39.6), assists (17.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.2), defensive rebounds (30.7), three-pointers made per game (9.8) and three-point defense (.271). Utah Valley is the leader in free throw percentage (.755) while CSU Bakersfield is the leader in scoring margin (+2.4), steals (10.1), turnover margin (+3.79) and offensive rebounds (14.3). Grand Canyon has the top scoring defense (62.2), field goal percentage (.426), three-point shooting percentage (.337) and rebounding defense (35.1). Kansas City is the leader in field goal percentage defense (.378) and blocked shots (4.3) and NM State leads the league in rebounding margin (+1.0).

 

Individually, NM State's Gia Pack is the leading scorer at 18.7 points per game and the league's top defensive rebounder (7.8). Pack also holds the top free throw percentage (.823). GCU's Da'jah Daniel is the leading rebounder (10.2) as well as the leader in blocks (1.6). CSUB's Vanessa Austin has the top field goal percentage (.551) and Grand Canyon's Venla Varis has the top three-point field goal percentage (.421). CBU's Ane Oleata holds the lead in assists (5.7) while UTRGV's Trelynn Tyler has the lead in steals (2.7). SU's Courtney Murphy is averaging a league-high 2.9 three-pointers per game while also leading the league in minutes played (34.7). CSUB's Dalis Jones is the leader in assist/turnover ratio at 2.7. CSU's Ines Mata Boix is the top offensive rebounder (3.5).

 

In WAC play only, UT Rio Grande Valley has the top scoring offense at 76.2 points per game. Utah Valley leads the league in scoring defense (57.0), scoring margin (+9.7), field goal percentage defense (.345), assists (17.0) and assist to turnover ratio (1.3). NM State is atop the conference in free throw percentage (.786), rebounding offense (43.0) and rebounding margin (+9.8). Grand Canyon is the leader in field goal percentage (.426), rebounding defense (31.7) and blocked shots (4.2). Chicago State holds the top three-point percentage (.350) while California Baptist is the leader in three-point defense (.248), defensive rebounds (30.5) and three-pointers made (7.7). Seattle U is the leader in steals (9.3), CSU Bakersfield paces the conference in turnover margin (+3.0) and Kansas City is the leader in offensive rebounds (14.3).

 

Individually, NM State's Gia Pack is the scoring leader with 19.8 points per game. Pack also leads the conference in rebounds per game (12.5) and defensive rebounds (11.2). GCU's Mae Bryant has the top field goal percentage (.583). UVU's Maria Carvalho is the leader in assists (6.4) and minutes played (37.4). CSUB's Jayden Eggleston has the lead in free throw percentage (.905) while UTRGV's Trelynn Tyler leads in steals (2.8). The Vaqueros also have the top shot blocker in Jordan Augustus (1.8) and the most accurate three-point shooter in Zhane Templeton (.441). KC's Emily Ivory hits the most three-pointers per game at 2.9. CSUB's Dalis Jones has the league's top assist/turnover ratio (6.3) while KC's Cristina Soriano collects the most offensive rebounds per game at 5.1.

 

after scoring 20 points against CSU Bakersfield, Utah Valley's Jordan Holland went into Saturday's contest with GCU only two points shy of 1,000 career points. Holland sunk a layup just 51 seconds into the first quarter to put her in elite company. She became just the eigth player in the Wolverines NCAA Division I era to reach this mark. She also joins NM State's Gia Pack and Seattle U's Kamira Sanders as the only active WAC players with 1,000 career points. Holland finished the game with 15 points, giving her 1,103 career points.

 

During the week, both CSU Bakersfield and NM State edged out victories behind game-winners in the final seconds. In a battle between the league's top two teams, CSU Bakersfield took down Utah Valley 55-53 thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the hands of Andie Easley. Following a missed layup with four seconds to go, the ball ricocheted off multiple people in the paint and eventually bounced to Easley who was waiting at the three-point line. The graduate transfer took the final shot with 1.3 seconds on the clock and saw the ball fall through the net with no time left on the clock.

 

In a rematch of last year's WAC Tournament championship game, Adrianna Henderson hit the game-winning hook shot with 0.2 seconds left on the clock in overtime to lead the Aggies over UT Rio Grande Valley. Henderson used an Adenike Aderinto screen to get into the paint where she split a double team and put up a jump hook from the top of the restricted area to put NM State up 76-75.

 

Two WAC athletes eclipsed career milestones with their numbers from the week of Jan. 13-19. On Saturday, Jan. 18, Chicago State's Tyeshia Bowers became just the third active conference player to reach 250 free throws made as she went nine of 10 from the stripe to in the Cougars 60-58 victory over CSU Bakersfield. Bowers now sits at 251 free throws made during her career at Chicago State.

 

Meanwhile, UT Rio Grande Valley's Megan Johnson became the sixth active WAC player to grab 500 rebounds for her career. Johnson became part of the 500 club with her four rebounds in a win over Seattle U on Thursday, Jan. 16. She now has 503 total rebounds in her four seasons with UTRGV.

 

Kansas City's win over Missouri was the WAC's first win over a Power Five opponent since the Roos earned a 47-44 win over Kansas on Dec. 10, 2015. It was also the league's first win over an SEC opponent since Louisiana Tech earned a win over Ole Miss on Dec. 1, 2012.

 

Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly returns for her senior season after leading the WAC in scoring (19.8), assists (6.0), free throw percentage (.817), steals (3.2) and minutes played (35.5). California Baptist's Britney Thomas is also back after leading the league in field goal percentage (.577). Kansas City sharpshooter Emily Ivory will look for a strong sophomore campaign after averaging a WAC-best 2.7 three-pointers per game and Chicago State senior Ines Mata Boix will look to lead the league in blocked shots again after averaging 1.9 per game last season.

 

NM State is the favorite to win the 2018-19 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball title and the Aggies' Gia Pack was selected WAC Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league's nine head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

 

The Aggies, who won their fifth-straight WAC regular season title last season, received 62 points and six first-place votes in the preseason poll. California Baptist picked up two first-place votes for a total of 57 points and Kansas City earned the remaining first-place vote and 44 points. UT Rio Grande Valley was picked fourth with 40 points while CSU Bakersfield earned fifth with 35 points. Utah Valley was selected sixth with 29 points, followed by Grand Canyon, Seattle U and Chicago State.

 

Pack leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are Utah Valley's Jordan Holland, Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly and California Baptist duo Ane Olaeta and Britney Thomas.

 

Second team selections include CSU Bakersfield's Vanessa Austin, Grand Canyon's Da'jah Daniel, UT Rio Grande Valley pair Amara Graham and Megan Johnson and Seattle U's Kamira Sanders.

 

The Western Athletic Conference women's basketball media have selected NM State as the preseason favorite to repeat as conference champions in 2019-20 and Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.

 

The Aggies earned eight first place votes from the media to collect 110 points to top the poll. California Baptist is second with three first place votes and 96 points overall. Kansas City was right behind the 'Runners with the Roos earning two first place votes and 92 points. UT Rio Grande Valley came in fourth with 66 points, followed by Utah Valley in fifth with 64 points. CSU Bakersfield is sixth with 57 points, followed by Seattle U in seventh, Grand Canyon in eighth and Chicago State in ninth.

 

Mattingly leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are Utah Valley's Jordan Holland, NM State's Gia Pack, Seattle U's Kamira Sanders and California Baptist's Britney Thomas.

 

Second team selections include Seattle U's Joana Alves, CSU Bakersfield's Jayden Eggleston, UT Rio Grande Valley's Megan Johnson, Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix and California Baptist's Ane Olaeta.

 

After three new coaches in each of the last two seasons, Utah Valley's Dan Nielson is the lone rookie head coach in the WAC this season. A former UVU assistant, he most recently was on the bench at nearby Brigham Young, helping lead the Cougars to the WCC Tournament title last season.