United Athletic Conference

 

California Baptist's Britney Thomas has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 4 through Jan. 10.

 

Thomas, a redshirt fifth-year senior from San Jacinto, Calif., opened her 2021 WAC campaign with 20 points and five boards in the first half alone, helping the Lancers collect their 12th straight win. Thomas would finish with 24 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in just 19 minutes of play. On Saturday, she came up with seven rebounds, three blocks and nine fourth quarter points to assist the Lancers in maintaining their undefeated record.

 

Other nominee included: Seattle U's McKenzi Williams filled up the stat sheet for the Redhawks, posting 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead SU over Saint Martin's.

 

Week two of conference play will feature Chicago State as they host Grand Canyon for a pair of games this weekend. League leader California Baptist will be traveling to Stephenville, Texas, to take on newcomer Tarleton and Utah Valley looks to bounce back as they will be at home against Seattle U for their series. This weekend also includes the rescheduled matchups between NM State and Grand Canyon.

 

Posting 84.9 points per game, Grand Canyon continues to lead the league in scoring. The Lopes also pace the conference field goal percentage (.455), steals per game (15.6), turnover margin (+12.56) and offensive rebounds per game (15.2). Undefeated California Baptist claims the top scoring defense, allowing just 60.0 points per game. The Lancers also pace the conference in a slew of other categories, including scoring margin (+17.6), field goal percentage defense (.327), three-point field goal percentage defense (.230), rebounding offense (42.4), blocked shots (5.5), assists (21.8), assist to turnover ratio (1.5), defensive rebounds (33.2) and three-pointers made (8.5). Utah Valley is atop the group in rebounding defense (35.8), rebounding margin (+5.8) and offensive rebound percentage (.355). Meanwhile, Tarleton has the top free throw percentage (.730) and NM State leads in three point percentage (.352). Lastly, Dixie State holds the top defensive rebounding percentage (.739).

 

Individually, Grand Canyon's Katie Scott continues to lead the league in scoring as she is averaging 20.7 points per game. Scott also leads in field goal percentage (.603) and three point percentage (.600). Utah Valley's Nehaa Sohail leads in rebounding (8.2) and defensive rebounds (6.0). California Baptist's Ane Olaeta leads the WAC in assists (7.9) and assist to turnover ratio (2.7). London Pavlica of Dixie State has the best free throw percentage (.875) and GCU's Taylor Caldwell is atop the league in steals (3.8). Seattle U's Courtney Murphy hits the most triples, knocking down 2.4 a game. Tarleton's Callie Boyles rejects the most shots a game (2.1) and Utah Valley's Josie Williams collects the most offensive rebounds a game (3.2). Finally, UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham leads the conference in minutes played, spending 37.0 minutes a game on the hardwood.

 

Following a 10-0 start, California Baptist earned a spot on CollegeInsider.com's Women's Mid Major Top 25. CBU is now up to No. 20 after being ranked 22nd a week ago.

 

In Seattle U's victory over Saint Martin's the Redhawks had four players score more than 15 points. The group of McKenzi Williams, Bree Calhoun, Georgia Kehoe and Courtney Murphy are now the only foursome in the WAC to average at least 11 points per game this year.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.