United Athletic Conference

 

Grand Canyon's Katie Scott has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 21 through Dec. 27.

 

Scott, a freshman from Carl Junction, Mo., collected her second straight player of the week award behind a monster performance against Arizona Christian. She recorded a Division-1 program-record 34 points on 13-of-21 from the field as she helped carry the Lopes to a 97-65 win over the Firestorm. Scott snagged 13 rebounds and added five steals and two assists en route to her second double-double of the season.

 

Other nominees included: Chicago State's Ifunanya Okoye posted a team-high 12 points, pulled down eight rebounds and tallied a block, a steal and an assist against SIUE… Dixie State's Breaunna Gillen finished with a team-high nine points and added a pair of assists, a block and a steal as the Trailblazers battled with Southern Utah… Seattle U's McKenzi Williams hit five triples as she exploded for 36 points to set a Redhawk DI program record in a shootout against Idaho… Tarleton's Alexa Hoy recorded a team-high 16 points, collected four boards and dished out three assists as the Texans hosted Eastern Michigan.

 

NM State opens up this week of action tonight as they travel to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Jayhawks. Chicago State will also be on the road when they take on Western Illinois on Wednesday in Macomb, Ill. Utah Valley is set to resume play for the first time in over three weeks as they will hose Simpson (Calif.) on Saturday, Jan. 2. Meanwhile, Grand Canyon will tip off their 2021 schedule with a home matchup against Park-Gilbert on Sunday to close the week.

 

Grand Canyon currently leads the league in scoring, putting up an impressive 82.2 points per game. The Lopes also pace the conference in field goal percentage (.440), steals per game (15.1) and turnover margin (+11.63). Utah Valley remains the top scoring defense as they are holding teams to a nation-leading 45.0 points per game. UVU also leads the league in scoring margin (+26.0), free throw percentage (.750), field goal percentage defense (.264), three-point field goal percentage defense (.200), rebounding offense (45.0), rebounding margin (+7.5), offensive rebounds (15.0) and offensive rebounding percentage (.380). NM State holds the best three point percentage (.380) while also leading in rebounding defense (36.2). Undefeated California Baptist rejects the most shots, tallying 5.3 blocks a game. The Lancers also post the most assits per game (21.6), have the best assist to turnover ratio (1.5), collect the most defensive rebounds (34.0), and hit the most three-pointers per game (8.4). Lastly, Dixie State has the best defensive rebounding percentage at .739.

 

Individually, Grand Canyon's Katie Scott leads the WAC in scoring, posting 19.8 points per game. She also leads the conference in field goal percentage (.602). Utah Valley's Nehaa Sohail is still the leading rebounder as she collects 9.5 boards per game. Sohail also snags the most defensive rebounds at 6.5 per game and is tied with Chicago State's Christina Britter for the most offensive rebounds per game (3.0). California Baptist's Ane Olaeta leads the league in assists per game (8.1) and assist to turnover ratio (2.6). Utah Valley's Josie Williams has the best free throw percentage (.923) while fellow Wolverine Eleyana Tafisi has the best three point percentage (1.000). Grand Canyon's Taylor Caldwell collects the most steals per game (3.6) and the Redhawks Courtney Murphy hits the most three-pointers per game (2.2). California Baptist's Caitlyn Harper blocks the most shots among conference players, swatting 2.3 a game. UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham sees the most floor time, recording 37.0 minutes per game.

 

Grand Canyon freshman Katie Scott is currently pouring in 19.8 points per game, placing her in 44th among all qualified Division I scorers. Scott also ranks third in scoring amongst freshman in the DI ranks, sitting behind only Iowa's Caitlin Clark and San Francisco's Ioanna Krimili. Scott's 34 points against Arizona Christian is also the most points scored by anyone wearing a GCU jersey in their DI era.

 

Seattle U's 106-39 win over Northwest produced a night of scoring that is unmatched in Redhawk history. SU set a Division I program scoring record with 106 points while they tied their DI program record in both assists (29) and three-pointers made (15).

 

Tarleton also posted numbers that were etched into the history books as they blew out Champion Christian College, 95-27. The Texans reached a new program record for three-pointers made, knocking down 16 triples. Tarleton also forced 32 turnovers to set a new record for a Misty Wilson-coached team. The 68-point win is also the most dominating victory during Wilson's tenure.

 

Seattle U took down Utah State 75-72 in overtime on Thursday, Dec. 3. In the Redhawks overtime win, they collected 66 rebounds, marking the third-most by an NCAA team up to that point in the season and the most by a Seattle U team since 2010.

 

Grand Canyon's Katie Scott scored 29 points to lead the Lopes past Loyola Marymount on Dec. 5. Scott's 29 points are the most scored by any freshman in the WAC since CSU Bakersfield's Ashley Austin scored 30 against Kansas City on Feb. 16, 2019.

 

Despite a slow start, Tarleton put together an 80-39 win over Bacone College on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The 41-point margin marks the Texans' most dominating victory since 2017 when they took down Arlington Baptist 104-52.

 

California Baptist's Ane Olaeta returns for her senior season after leading the WAC in assists (6.0). The WAC Preseason Player of the Year is also the leagues leading scorer amongst returners as she finished ninth a year ago, averaging 12.2 points per game. UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham is also back after leading the conference in three-point percentage (.427). 

 

Utah Valley has been named the favorite to win the 2020-21 women's basketball title and California Baptist's Ane Olaeta was selected as the 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.

 

After finishing second in the conference a year ago, the Wolverines earned the top spot with 57 points and two first-place votes in the preseason poll. California Baptist collected four first-place votes and tallied 55 points, followed by Grand Canyon with two first-place votes and 47 points. NM State garnered the final first-place vote and a total of 45 points as they were picked to finish fourth while UT Rio Grande Valley came in just behind the Aggies with 44 points. Seattle U claimed sixth with 29 points. Newcomer Tarleton followed the Redhawks to capture the seventh spot with Dixie State and Chicago State rounding out the group.

 

Olaeta is atop the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. The senior guard is joined on the first team by Utah Valley's Josie Williams and Maria Carvalho, UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham and Aaliyah Prince of NM State.

 

Second team honors went to Grand Canyon's Laura Piera, NM State's Soufia Inoussa, Tarleton's Alexa Hoy and Seattle U's duo Courtney Murphy and McKenzi Williams.

 

The Western Athletic Conference women's basketball media have selected California Baptist as the preseason favorites to be named the 2020-21 conference champions while the Lancers' Ane Olaeta was named WAC Preseason Player of the Year.

 

In just their third year in the league, California Baptist earned five first-place votes and 61 points from the media to capture the top spot. Utah Valley came in just behind CBU with 60 points and received one first-place vote. UT Rio Grande Valley collected the third spot as they earned 56 points while NM State picked up a first-place vote to put them in fourth with 53 points. The media gave the fifth spot to Seattle U with 41 points. Grand Canyon tallied the final first-place vote and 39 points to finish sixth, followed by Tarleton in seventh, Dixie State in eighth and Chicago State in ninth.

 

Olaeta leads the group of Preseason All-WAC award getters and is joined by teammate Britney Thomas. UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham, Utah Valley's Maria Carvalho and NM State's Aaliyah Prince are also among the first-team honorees.

 

Second-team selections include Utah Valley's Josie Williams, Seattle U's Courtney Murphy, California Baptist's Georgia Dale and Caitlyn Harper, and NM State's Soufia Inoussa.

 

There will be a total of four new faces among head coaches in the WAC. JD Gustin and Misty Wilson will lead newcomers Dixie State and Tarleton into the league, respectively. Chicago State brings in rookie head coach Tiffany Sardin to lead their program and Molly Miller, who currently holds the nation's best active winning percentage, will be at the helm for Grand Canyon.

 

With a fluid schedule that is bound to change, the WAC had two games against

teams that advanced to the 2019 NCAA Tournament and six games against

teams that participated in the 2019 NIT. The complete list is below.

 

Nov. 28 Seattle U at Oregon, L, 51-116

Nov. 30 Chicago State at DePaul, L, 66-128

 

Dec. 5 Loyola Marymount at Grand Canyon, W, 76-54

Dec. 5 Tarleton at Lamar, L, 58-73

Dec. 12 NM State at Pepperdine, L, 46-54

Dec. 15 California Baptist at Pepperdine, W, 75-67

Dec. 18 Prairie View A&M at UT Rio Grande Valley, W, 66-63

Dec. 21 Seattle U at Idaho, L, 96-105

 

The WAC adds two new schools as Dixie State and Tarleton join the conference. The Dixie State Trailblazers come over from the DII Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and while the Texans of Tarleton competed in the DII Lone Star Conference a year ago. The two newcomers are replacing CSU Bakersfield (Big West) and Kansas City (Summit League). Dixie and Tarleton join California Baptist as schools transitioning from Division II to Division I. The Lancers enter the third year in the WAC and will be eligible for NCAA postseason in the 2022-23 season. Dixie and Tarleton will complete their transition and be eligible for NCAA postseason play in 2024-25.

 

After COVID-19 cut the 2020 WAC Basketball Tournament short, the conference will head back to #WACVegas for the 2021 tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The tournament will be held March 10-13 and will include all six NCAA-eligible teams as well as transitioning member California Baptist.