United Athletic Conference

 

California Baptist's Ane Olaeta has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 8 through Feb. 14.

 

Olaeta, a senior guard from Gernika-Lumo, Spain, averaged a double-double to help the Lancers remain undefeated with a pair of wins at UT Rio Grande Valley. On Friday, she dished out 13 assists and chipped in 10 points of her own to go with five rebounds in an 82-61 win. She followed that up with 13 points and 11 assists with six rebounds and four steals in Saturday's 79-64 win over UTRGV. On the season, her 8.1 assists per game are a WAC-best and her 3.1 assist/turnover ratio also leads the league.

 

Other nominees included: Chicago State's Wynter Webb averaged 13.5 points and 4.0 assists per game as the Cougars dropped a pair at home to Tarleton … Grand Canyon's Tiarra Brown put up double-figures in back-to-back games, averaging 13.5 points per game at GCU split on the road at Utah Valley … NM State's Rodrea Echols averaged 15.0 points per game in a home split with Seattle U … Seattle U's Georgia Kehoe earned the double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Redhawks' series-tying win at NM State on Saturday … Tarleton's Marissa Escamilla averaged 21.0 points per game to lead the Texans to their first two WAC wins in a series sweep at Chicago State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Sara Bershers set a new career-high with 25 points on Friday against first-place California Baptist … Utah Valley's Maria Carvalho scored a career-high 23 points in a 63-51 win over Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon.

 

Conference play continues this week as the WAC's top two scoring offenses are pitted against each other in Phoenix with Grand Canyon hosting unbeaten California Baptist on Friday and Saturday. UT Rio Grande Valley makes the long trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on Seattle U and Utah Valley hosts NM State as both teams look to build momentum before heading to Las Vegas for the WAC tournament.

 

California Baptist continues to lead the league in scoring, posting 78.9 points per game. The undefeated Lancers also lead the conference in several other categories, including scoring defense (58.8), scoring margin (+20.1), field goal percentage (.447), field goal percentage defense (.317), three-point percentage (.328),  three-point field goal percentage defense (.232), rebounding offense (43.2), blocked shots (5.6), assists (21.8), assist to turnover ratio (1.5), defensive rebounds (33.2) and three-pointers made (9.2). Grand Canyon paces the conference in steals per game (15.0) and turnover margin (+10.38) while also leading the nation in both categories. Utah Valley is atop the group in free throw percentage (.725), rebounding defense (32.7), rebounding margin (+7.2), offensive rebound percentage (.344) and defensive rebound percentage (.744) while NM State leads in offensive rebounds (13.5).

 

For the eighth straight week, Grand Canyon's Katie Scott leads the league in scoring as she is averaging 16.4 points per game. Scott also leads the conference in three-point percentage (.500). Utah Valley's Josie Williams collects the most rebounds per game at 8.6 while also leading the league in blocked shots (2.0) and offensive rebounds (3.5). California Baptist's Britney Thomas has the top field goal percentage by a wide margin, shooting at a .645 clip. Thomas also snags the most defensive rebounds per game (5.9). Fellow Lancer, and one of the top passers in the country, Ane Olaeta dishes out the most assists per game at 8.1 while also maintaining the best assist to turnover ratio (3.1). Seattle U's McKenzi Williams holds the best free throw percentage at .832 while her teammate Bree Calhoun collects the most steals per game (3.4). Tarleton's Iyana Dorsey connects on the most triples, hitting 2.2 per contest. Lastly, UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham records the most playing time as she spends 37.7 minutes on the floor per game.

 

Behind an 18-0 record and the nation's second-longest active win streak (22), California Baptist has earned a spot on CollegeInsider.com's Women's Mid Major Top 25. The Lancers are now up to No. 8 and will look to extend their win streak as they face one of their biggest tests to date in Grand Canyon. The Lopes bring one of the country's best defenses to town as they lead all Divison I teams in steals, steals per game and turnover margin.

 

CBU stands alone as the only team in the country with at least 18 wins and an undefeated record. It is also one of only two unbeaten teams and one of only five teams with at least 18 wins on the year.

 

California Baptist head coach Jarrod Olson posted his 200th win as the Lancer leader. Friday, CBU dominated NM State 94-53 at home to help Olson reach the mark. His 74.1 win percentage is also the best in program history by far and ranks second in program wins behind Dave King as King was at the helm for 287 wins. In Olson's 200th victory, the Lancers' offense was rolling as they shot 54.8 percent from deep and knocked down 17 triples, just one shy of most all-time in a WAC contest.

 

The Redhawk defense came to play on Saturday, Jan. 30, as Seattle U took down Chicago State for its fourth WAC win of the season. Seattle U held the Cougars to just 26.8 percent shooting and allowed zero three-pointers as Chicago State went 0-for-8 in the contest. The Redhawks gave up only 39 points, marking the lowest point total for any opponent in a WAC game this year and the lowest total in a conference game since CSU Bakersfield held Grand Canyon to 37 on March 2, 2019.

 

After enduring a seven-game losing streak, Tarleton collected its first true Division I win as it took down UT Rio Grande Valley, 79-63, on Wednesday, Feb. 27. In their debut DI season, the Texans had earned wins over three non-DI opponents (Howard Payne, Bacone College, Champion Christian) before securing their first win over a DI program. In the win, the Texans had three players with 16 or more points, including Emily Cunningham's 20-point outburst to lead the way.

 

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 it 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.

 

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.