United Athletic Conference

 

Grand Canyon's Da'jah Daniel has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 27 through Feb. 3.

 

Daniel, a senior forward from Killeen, Texas, helped move the Lopes into a tie for first place in the WAC, averaging a double-double in a pair of home wins. On Thursday, she led her team to a 62-60 overtime win against UT Rio Grande Valley behind nine points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Her second block against the Vaqueros came with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as she denied a game-winning layup attempt from UTRGV's Jordan Agustus. In GCU's matchup with NM State on Saturday, Daniel notched her school-record 10th double-double as she finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds. The senior shot 66.7 percent from the field on the week and added three assists and two steals in the two wins.

 

Other nominees included: Chicago State's Bethany Carstens hit a career-high four three-pointers as she finished with 17 points in a road loss to Kansas City… Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly led the Roos in points (21), assists (6) and steals (7) in their home win over Chicago State… Seattle U's Kamira Sanders did it all for the Redhawks in a 34-point win over California Baptist, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals… UT Rio Grande Valley's Zhane Templeton finished the week averaging 16.5 points, including setting a career-high with 21 points in the Vaqueros 66-52 win over CSU Bakersfield.

 

This week kicks off with a midweek matchup between California Baptist and CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday. On Thursday, conference leader Kansas City travels to UT Rio Grande Valley while NM State hosts Chicago State. Saturday's matchups include Chicago State visiting UT Rio Grande Valley, Grand Canyon hosts California Baptist, NM State hosts Kansas City and Utah Valley takes on Seattle U in Seattle.

 

California Baptist leads the WAC in scoring offense (73.2), rebounding offense (39.5), assists (17.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.2), defensive rebounds (30.6) and three-pointers made per game (9.8). Utah Valley is the leader in free throw percentage (.762) and rebounding margin (+1.3) while CSU Bakersfield is the leader in steals (10.0) and offensive rebounds (13.6). UT Rio Grande Valley leads the league in scoring margin (+2.0) and turnover margin (+3.33). Seattle U has the top three-point defense (.279). Grand Canyon has the top scoring defense (61.4), field goal percentage (.427), three-point shooting percentage (.336) and rebounding defense (35.1). Kansas City is the leader in field goal percentage defense (.378) and is tied with GCU for the league lead in blocked shots (4.4).

 

Individually, NM State's Gia Pack is the leading scorer at 18.6 points per game and has the league's top free throw shooting percentage (.840) while also leading in minutes played (35.1). GCU's Da'jah Daniel is the leading rebounder (10.6) and leading defensive rebounder (8.0). UTRGV's Jordan Agustus is the conference's top shot-blocker at 1.9 blocks per game. KC's Cristina Soriano has the top field goal percentage (.552) and UTRGV's Amara Graham has the top three-point field goal percentage (.404). CBU's Ane Oleata holds the lead in assists (5.8) while UTRGV's Trelynn Tyler and SU's Kamira Sanders share the lead in steals (2.5). KC's Emily Ivory is tied with SU's Courtney Murphy in three-pointers per game (2.8). CSUB's Dalis Jones is the leader in assist/turnover ratio at 2.5. 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 72.9 points per game as well as the lead in steals (9.1) and turnover margin (+3.3). Utah Valley leads the league in scoring margin (+6.9) while NM State is atop the conference in free throw percentage (.798), rebounding offense (42.2) and rebounding margin (+7.6). Grand Canyon is the leader in scoring defense (57.0), field goal percentage (.430), rebounding defense (32.6) and blocked shots (4.5). Chicago State holds the top three-point percentage (.356) while California Baptist is the leader in assists (16.9), assist to turnover ratio (1.4), defensive rebounds (30.3) and three-pointers made (7.7). Seattle U is the leader in three-point defense (.230) and field goal percentage defense (.356). Kansas City is the leader in offensive rebounds (14.4).

 

Individually, NM State's Gia Pack is the scoring leader with 19.3 points per game. Pack also leads the conference in defensive rebounds (10.3) and minutes played (37.0). GCU's Da'jah Daniel is the conference's top rebounder at 11.6 per game. GCU's Mae Bryant has the top field goal percentage (.586). CBU's Ane Olaeta is the leader in assists (6.3). UVU's Maria Carvalho has the best free throw percentage (.900) while UTRGV's Trelynn Tyler and SU's Kamira Sanders share the lead in steals (2.4). CSU's Bethany Carstens is the most accurate three-point shooter (.452) and KC's Emily Ivory hits the most three-pointers per game (3.0). CSUB's Dalis Jones has the league's top assist/turnover ratio (3.5) while KC's Cristina Soriano collects the most offensive rebounds per game at 4.6 and blocks the most shots at 1.6 per game.

 

The Grand Canyon Lopes are currently riding a league-best four-game win streak that has put them in a tie with Kansas City for the top spot in the WAC. GCU collected a pair of home wins over UT Rio Grande Valley and NM State over the week to give them six wins in conference play. Just two weeks ago the Lopes had a 2-2 record and were sitting in the sixth spot in the conference. Grand Canyon will host an up-and-down California Baptist team on Saturday, Feb. 1, as they look to keep their streak alive.

 

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. 

 

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.

 

After scoring 20 points against CSU Bakersfield, 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. 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.

 

Five more players reached impressive career marks during the week. 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 to put her at 101 total three-pointers during her time at Seattle U. Meanwhile, Ram went four of seven from downtown in the Lancers home matchup with Utah Valley 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 to reach the mark. She also added another two free throws on Saturday against GCU to put her at 254 for her career. Mattingly hit seven free throws in the Roos victory over Chicago State to place her at 252 career free throws made. The KC senior also joined the career 150 steals group as she managed seven steals for the third time this season to put her at 152 steals for her career.

 

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.