United Athletic Conference

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Utah Valley's Jordan Holland has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 17-23.

 

Holland, a senior forward from Los Lunas, N.M., led the Wolverines to an undefeated weekend behind a combined 37 points and 14 rebounds in a pair of road wins. On Thursday, Holland helped UVU take down CSU Bakersfield in overtime with seven of her 17 points coming in the extra period. She also recorded only one turnover in 36 minutes of play against the 'Runners. Saturday, Holland scored a game-high 20 points, including eight in the fourth, as Utah Valley snapped Grand Canyon's eight-game win streak. Against the Lopes, the senior was also only one rebound shy of recording her fourth double-double for the year. With Holland's help, the Wolverines jumped two spots in the conference standings and now sit in third place with three games to go.

 

Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Miracle Saxon had a stellar night in a win over Seattle U as she finished with a career-high 19 points to go along with 15 boards… Chicago State's Tyeshia Bowers put up double digits for the fourth consecutive game as she had 21 in the Cougars' loss at California Baptist… Grand Canyon's Jada Holland posted 23 points, snagged six rebounds and dished out four assists to help the Lopes take down Seattle U over the weekend… Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly scored 23 points and pulled down seven rebounds in a win over CBU with all of her points coming in the second half… UT Rio Grande Valley's Trelynn Tyler led the Vaqueros in scoring for the seventh time this season, finishing with 19 points as UTRGV knocked off NM State 74-63.

 

With two weeks of conference play remaining, California Baptist will travel to take on Utah Valley to start the week. On Thursday, CSU Bakersfield will look to even the series with UT Rio Grande Valley as they travel to south Texas. Grand Canyon will head to Las Cruces, N.M., as they look for the first regular season sweep of NM State since joining the WAC in 2013.

 

Saturday, Chicago State and Kansas City will kick things off with a battle in the Windy City. UT Rio Grande Valley will host Grand Canyon. CSU Bakersfield will visit NM State and Seattle U will host California Baptist. Currently, Grand Canyon and Kansas City are tied for first in the conference with each team having three WAC games left on their schedule. The Lopes and the Roos split their regular season matchups with each team collecting a win on the road. Looking at the rest of the conference, only two games separate third-place Utah Valley and seventh-place NM State while California Baptist and Chicago State round out the standings.

 

California Baptist leads the WAC in scoring offense (75.0), rebounding offense (40.7), assists (18.2),  scoring margin (+2.9), assist/turnover ratio (1.3), three point defense (.275), defensive rebounds (31.1) and three-pointers made per game (10.1). Utah Valley is the leader in free throw percentage (.756) while CSU Bakersfield is the leader in steals (9.8) and offensive rebounds (14.2). UT Rio Grande Valley has the league's best turnover margin (+2.74). Grand Canyon has the top scoring defense (61.2), field goal percentage (.427), three-point shooting percentage (.345) and rebounding defense (35.4). Kansas City is the leader in field goal percentage defense (.372) and blocked shots (4.6). NM State leads the conference in rebounding margin at +1.9.

 

Individually, NM State's Gia Pack is the leading scorer at 18.4 points per game and has the league's top free throw shooting percentage (.844). GCU's Da'jah Daniel is the leader in rebounds (10.5), field goal percentage (.547), blocked shots (1.6) and defensive rebounds per game (7.9). UTRGV's Amara Graham has the top three-point field goal percentage (.424). CBU's Ane Oleata holds the lead in assists (6.1) while SU's Kamira Sanders holds the lead in steals (2.7). KC's Emily Ivory holds the lead in three-pointers per game (2.7). CSU's Tyeshia Bowers leads the league in minutes played per game at 35.1. CSUB's Dalis Jones is the leader in assist/turnover ratio at 2.3. CSU's Ines Mata Boix is the top offensive rebounder (3.5). 

 

In WAC play only, UT Rio Grande Valley is the leader in scoring offense (70.5) and turnover margin (+1.8). CSU Bakersfield has the top scoring defense (57.4) while also leading in steals per game (9.0). Utah Valley leads the conference in scoring margin (+5.4) and free throw percentage (.763). Grand Canyon has the best field goal percentage (.428) while Kansas City holds opponents to the lowest field goal percentage (.358). The Roos lead the conference in rebounding offense (41.3), blocked shots (4.8) and offensive rebounds (13.8). Chicago State has the best three point percentage at .348 while Seattle U has the stingiest three point defense (.250). NM State has the best rebounding defense (33.1) and also lead the league in rebounding margin (+6.8).

 

Individually, Seattle U's Kamira Sanders is the league's top point-scorer, averaging 17.1 points per game. She also leads the conference in steals per game (2.8). Grand Canyon's Da'jah Daniel collects the most rebounds (11.1) and also snags the most defensive rebounds (8.2). Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix leads the conference in field goal percentage (.569) while California Baptist's Ane Olaeta dishes out the most assists (6.5). Utah Valley's Maria Carvalho has the best free throw percentage (.857) and sees the most floor time at 38.4 minutes per game. Seattle U's Joana Alves has the best three-point percentage (.520) while Kansas City's Emily Ivory knocks down the most triples per game at 2.8. The Roos also have the top shot blocker in Cristina Soriano as she rejects 1.8 shots per game. Soriano also collects the most offensive rebounds per game (4.5). Jada Holland of Grand Canyon has the best assist to turnover ratio (3.0).

 

Kansas City and Grand Canyon sit atop the conference with 10 conference wins apiece. This marks the highest win total in conference play for the Roos since coming to the WAC in 2013. The Roos will look to add to that historic mark as games against Chicago State, Utah Valley and Seattle U still remain on their schedule. 

 

GCU's ten-win season marks the most wins for the Lopes in league play since they went 10-6 their inagural season in the WAC. Grand Canyon will look to best their 2013 mark as they close out their season with road games against NM State, UT Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield.

 

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 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 joined the 1,000 point club as she went for 28 in a loss to CSU Bakersfield two weeks ago. She joined NM State's Gia Pack, Seattle U's Kamira Sanders, Utah Valley's Jordan Holland and Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly as the only active WAC players with 1,000 career points.

 

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.

 

After scoring 20 points against CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 23, Utah Valley's Jordan Holland went into UVU'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 eighth player in the Wolverines NCAA Division I era to reach this mark.

 

Five more players reached impressive career marks during the week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2. Both Seattle U's Courtney Murphy and California Baptist's Lexy Ram eclipsed 100 three-pointers made for their careers. Murphy nailed two triples in the Redhawks victory over CBU on Feb. 1 to put her over the 100 mark. Meanwhile, Ram went four of seven from downtown in the Lancers home matchup with Utah Valley on Jan. 29 to give her exactly 100 three-pointers for her career.

 

NM State's Gia Pack and Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly also joined elite company as they both surpassed 250 free throws made in their careers. Pack went a perfect 10 for 10 at the stripe on Thursday, Jan. 30 to reach the mark. She also added another two free throws on Saturday, Feb. 1 against GCU to put her at 254 for her career. Mattingly went 7 for 10 against Chicago State on Saturday, Feb. 1 to put her over 250 free throws.

 

Mattingly also sits among the career 150 steals group as she reached the mark thanks to seven steals in the Roos 73-57 win over Chicago State on Saturday, Feb. 1. Two weeks ago, Mattingly reached another career milestone as she hit her 100th triple in a win over UTRGV. This week, Mattingly eclipsed 1,000 career points when she posted 19 points in the Roos loss to Grand Canyon. She sits in fifth amongst active WAC players with 1,019 points.

 

Hercules Tires was named the title sponsor of the upcoming WAC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Hercules Tires will also be the exclusive tire partner for the Conference and will have an integrated marketing presence throughout the year, allowing the brand to connect with WAC alumni, fans, students, and employees at all conference championship events.