United Athletic Conference

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California Baptist's Lexy Ram has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for March 2-8.

 

Ram, a senior guard from Tucson, Ariz., helped the Lancers close their season on a high note as she averaged 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead her team to two home victories. Against NM State, she recorded her seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds to secure a 12-point win over the Aggies. Ram backed up that performance with a 24-point, eight-rebound outing on senior night against UT Rio Grande Valley. She knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds against UTRGV that would help the Lancers secure their 16th win of the season.

 

Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Lexus Green led the 'Runners to an 8-point win over GCU behind a team-high 10 points in 24 minutes of play… Kansas City's Ericka Mattingly finished the week averaging 14 points, five rebounds and four assists per game as she led the Roos to a pair of wins, including a win over Utah Valley that clinched the regular-season title… UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham notched her seventh straight game in double figures as finished with 17 points against California Baptist… Utah Valley's Josie Williams recorded her second career double-double against Kansas City, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Wolverines in both categories.

 

#WACVegas is here. The top-seeded Kansas City Roos will open up tournament play on Wednesday at noon against Chicago State. UT Rio Grande Valley earned the fourth seed and will take on fifth-seed and defending tournament champion NM State at 2:30 p.m. Utah Valley played their way to the Second seed and they will battle with the seven seed in Seattle U, at 6 p.m. Third-seed Grand Canyon and sixth-seed CSU Bakersfield will wrap up the first day of action, tipping at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday's winners will play on Friday in the semifinal round with the title game set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Orleans Arena.

 

California Baptist leads the WAC in scoring offense (75.0), rebounding offense (39.8), assists (18.2), assist/turnover ratio (1.3), three-point defense (.280), defensive rebounds (30.9), three-point percentage (.330) and three-pointers made per game (10.3). Utah Valley is the leader in free throw percentage (.753) while CSU Bakersfield is the leader in steals (9.9), turnover margin (+2.83) and offensive rebounds (13.8). Grand Canyon has the top scoring defense (61.3), rebounding defense (35.6) and field goal percentage (.422). Kansas City is the leader in field goal percentage defense (.370), scoring margin (+3.3) and blocked shots (4.4). NM State leads the conference in rebounding margin at +2.8.

 

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). Pack also pulls down the most defensive rebounds (7.8).GCU's Da'jah Daniel is the leader in rebounds (10.3) and blocked shots (1.5). Kansas City's Cristina Soriano has the top field goal percentage in the conference at .550. UTRGV's Amara Graham has the top three-point field goal percentage (.436). CBU's Ane Oleata holds the lead in assists (6.0) while SU's Kamira Sanders remains the league leader in steals (2.6). KC's Emily Ivory holds the lead in three-pointers made per game (2.7). CSU's Tyeshia Bowers leads the league in minutes played per game at 34.9. GCU's Jada Holland is the leader in assist/turnover ratio at 1.9. 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 (70.4). CSU Bakersfield leads the league in steals per game (9.4) and scoring defense (58.0). Chicago State leads the conference in free throw percentage (.757). Grand Canyon has the best field goal percentage (.419) while Kansas City holds opponents to the lowest field goal percentage (.357) and the best scoring margin (+6.9). The Roos also lead the conference in rebounding offense (41.2), blocked shots (4.4) and offensive rebounds (13.6). Seattle U has the stingiest three-point defense (.277) and the best turnover margin (+1.80). NM State has the best three-point field goal percentage (.349), rebounding defense (33.1) and also lead the league in rebounding margin (+7.6). California Baptist is atop the conference in assists (17.6), three-pointers made (9.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and defensive rebounds (30.3).

 

Individually, Seattle U's Kamira Sanders is the league's top point-scorer, averaging 17.2 points per game. She also leads the conference in steals per game (2.7). Grand Canyon's Da'jah Daniel collects the most rebounds (10.5) and also snags the most defensive rebounds (7.6). Chicago State's Ines Mata Boix leads the conference in field goal percentage (.556) while California Baptist's Ane Olaeta dishes out the most assists (6.2). Seattle U's Olivia Crawford are all tied for the best free throw percentage (.861) while Utah Valley's Maria Carvalho sees the most floor time at 38.4 minutes per game. UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham has the best three-point percentage (.467) while Kansas City's Emily Ivory knocks down the most triples per game at 2.6. The Roos also have the top shot blocker in Cristina Soriano as she rejects 1.7 shots per game. Soriano also collects the most offensive rebounds per game (3.9). Jada Holland of Grand Canyon has the best assist to turnover ratio (2.6).

 

This season, a trio of WAC schools achieved conference win totals greater than or equal to their school's best previous mark since joining the WAC. Kansas City, Utah Valley and Grand Canyon all etched themselves in their school's record books as the Roos finished with 13 league wins, the Wolverines with nine and Grand Canyon with 10. Previously, Kansas City's highest win total in conference play was nine, accomplished by last year's team. UVU's best mark came during the 2015-16 season when they also won nine games. Meanwhile, GCU's 10-win season matches their win total from their first season in the WAC back in 2013-14.

 

For the second year in a row, CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon will find themselves across from one another in the first round of the WAC tournament. The third-seed 'Runners took down the sixth-seed Lopes 73-59 in last year's opening round. However, this year the CSU Bakersfield will play the role of underdog as they will come in as the six seed and GCU will be the three seed. During the season, CSUB swept Grand Canyon, with their final matchup coming less than a week ago, on Saturday, March 7, when the 'Runners took down the Lopes 49-41.

 

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.

 

Seattle U's Kamira Sanders and UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham both reached career milestones. Sanders eclipsed 500 career field goals made when she knocked down a jumper with just under three minutes to go in the Redhawks matchup with California Baptist on Saturday. Against the Lancers, she went 7-for-19 and now sits at 501 career field goals made.

 

Meanwhile, Graham of UTRGV dished out her 250th career assist in the third quarter of the Vaqueros matchup with CSU Bakersfield on Thursday, Feb. 27. She finished the game with five assists and has since added four assists to sit at 256 for her career.

 

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.

 

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.

 

The 2020 Hercules WAC Basketball Tournament Presented by TicketSmarter returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the 10th year in a row. This year's tournament includes all eight eligible teams and will be held Wednesday-Saturday, March 11-14. Be sure to catch every second of the 2020 Hercules WAC Basketball Tournament Presented by TicketSmarter on ESPN+ or on the WAC Digital Network for those viewing internationally.