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. 15 through Feb. 21.

 

Olaeta, a senior guard from Gernika-Lumo, Spain, averaged a double-double for the second straight week to lead the Lancers to their 23rd straight win and the WAC regular-season title. Olaeta posted 12 points and 11 assists in CBU's overtime victory over GCU on Friday. On Saturday, she erupted for 26 points while adding nine assists in the Lancers' 79-64 win. On the season, Olaeta has tallied 158 assists and averages 8.3 assists to pace the NCAA.

 

Other nominees included: Grand Canyon's Tiarra Brown finished the week averaging 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game as the Lopes battled with a tough California Baptist team... NM State's Aaliyah Prince carried the Aggies to a 65-62 win over Utah Valley as she notched 15 second-half points to give her 21 points on the night... Seattle U's Bree Calhoun averaged 21.5 points and eight boards per game as the Redhawks split their weekend series with UT Rio Grande Valley… Tarleton's Jayci Morton had a career night against UNT Dallas as she recorded career-highs in points (16), rebounds (7) and steals (4) to lead Tarleton past the Trailblazers… UT Rio Grande Valley's Jordan Lewis exploded for a career-high 31 points while going a perfect 7-for-7 from three-point range in the Vaqueros 84-74 win over Seattle U on Friday… Utah Valley's Shay Fano highlighted her week with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance in Saturday's 56-47 win over NM State.

 

With just two weeks of conference play remaining, several teams are jostling for seeding as Grand Canyon, Seattle U and Utah Valley all sit at 6-4 in WAC play. The Wolverines open up this week's games with a road series against UT Rio Grande Valley. Seattle U and Grand Canyon will face off in Phoenix for a pair of very important games. The final series of the week features NM State and Tarleton as they battle in the Aggies' temporary home of El Paso, Texas.

 

California Baptist continues to lead the league in scoring, posting 79.0 points per game. The undefeated Lancers also lead the conference in several other categories, including scoring margin (+19.0), field goal percentage (.450), field goal percentage defense (.326), three-point percentage (.332), three-point field goal percentage defense (.239), rebounding offense (42.5), blocked shots (5.6), assists (21.9), assist to turnover ratio (1.5), defensive rebounds (32.8) and three-pointers made (9.2). Grand Canyon paces the conference in steals per game (14.2) and turnover margin (+8.85). Utah Valley is atop the group in scoring defense (59.4), free throw percentage (.723), rebounding defense (33.3), rebounding margin (+5.4), and defensive rebound percentage (.743) while NM State leads in offensive rebounds (13.5) and offensive rebound percentage (.332).

 

For the ninth straight week, Grand Canyon's Katie Scott leads the league in scoring as she is averaging 16.7 points per game. Scott also leads the conference in three-point percentage (.477). Utah Valley's Josie Williams collects the most rebounds per game at 8.2 while also leading the league in blocked shots (2.2) and offensive rebounds (3.2). California Baptist's Britney Thomas has the top field goal percentage by a wide margin, shooting at a .660 clip. Thomas also snags the most defensive rebounds per game (6.0). Fellow Lancer, and one of the top passers in the country, Ane Olaeta dishes out the most assists per game at 8.3 while also maintaining the best assist to turnover ratio (2.9). Seattle U's Bree Calhoun collects the most steals per game (3.5) while Tarleton's Iyana Dorsey connects on the most triples, hitting 2.1 per contest. Lastly, UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham holds the best free throw percentage (.837) and records the most playing time as she spends 37.9 minutes on the floor per game.

 

Amidst one of the greatest women's basketball seasons in WAC history, California Baptist (20-0, 12-0) secured the regular-season title upon completing the sweep of Grand Canyon over the weekend. The Lancers currently hoist a perfect conference record with a pair of road games against Seattle U still on the schedule following a bye this weekend. 

 

Though it will be no simple task as the Redhawks are sitting in a three-way tie for second place, if CBU were to finish the regular season with an undefeated league record, it would be just the sixth program to do so in WAC history. Only San Diego State (1994-95), Colorado State (1998-99), Louisiana Tech (2002-03), Fresno State (2009-10) and NM State (2016-17) have achieved the feat of an unblemished WAC record. The Lancers also have an opportunity to become the only team in WAC history to put together an undefeated regular season.

 

Utah Valley's Maria Carvalho collected her 100th career steal last weekend. After entering the week with 98 career steals, Carvalho came up with a season-high five steals against NM State on Friday, Feb. 19, to reach the century mark. On the season, Carvalho currently has 19 steals, giving her 104 steals in her three seasons as a Wolverine.

 

California Baptist head coach Jarrod Olson posted his 200th win as the Lancer leader. Friday, Feb. 5, 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.