United Athletic Conference

 

Utah Valley's Josie Williams has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 22 through Feb. 28.

 

Williams, a junior center from West Haven, Utah, picked up her third player of the week award following a week in which she averaged 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wolverines to a sweep over UT Rio Grande Valley. Williams shot 60 percent in the pair of wins, including going 7-for-11 from the field in UVU's win on Saturday. She finished Saturday's matchup with 19 points and nine boards as the Wolverines escaped with a narrow 53-50 victory.

 

Other nominees included: Grand Canyon's Katie Scott led the Lopes to a sweep of Seattle U in their final series of the regular season as she posted 14.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists per game… NM State's Soufia Inoussa averaged 11.5 points, five rebounds and two steals in the Aggies' split with Tarleton last week… UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham notched her sixth 20-point game of the season as she hit four three-pointers to finish with 24 points against Utah Valley on Friday.

 

The final week of the regular season opens up with a pair of early-week matchups between Utah Valley and Tarleton on Tuesday and Wednesday in Stephenville, Texas. Chicago State hosts NM State to kick off this weekend's slate of games. California Baptist will look to remain perfect as they visit Seattle U for its final regular season series. Tarleton also has a quick turnaround as they host UT Rio Grande Valley this weekend.

 

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 (13.6), turnover margin (+8.23) and offensive rebounds (13.2). Utah Valley is atop the group in scoring defense (58.4), rebounding defense (33.9), rebounding margin (+4.9), and defensive rebound percentage (.733) while NM State shares the lead in offensive rebound percentage with Grand Canyon at .333. Meanwhile, Tarleton is atop the conference in free throw percentage (.719).

 

For the tenth straight week, Grand Canyon's Katie Scott leads the league in scoring as she is averaging 16.5 points per game. Scott also leads the conference in three-point percentage (.489). Utah Valley's Josie Williams leads the league in blocked shots (1.9) and offensive rebounds (3.2). California Baptist's Britney Thomas collects the most rebounds per game (8.2) and 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 (.835) and records the most playing time as she spends 37.9 minutes on the floor per game.

 

Seattle U redshirt junior guard McKenzi Williams was awarded the Seattle Sports Commission's Female Sports Star of the Year Award. The Auburn, Washington, native has been a force all year as she posts 15.5 points per game to lead the Redhawks. That mark is also good for third-best in the conference. Williams season was highlighted by a 36-point outburst against Idaho on Dec. 21 in which she set the SU Division I program record.

 

Williams beat out four other finalists in the fan voting contest, as Alysha Clark (Seattle Storm), Morganne Flores (Washington softball), Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State basketball) and Jenn Wirth (Gonzaga basketball) were in the running. Williams is just the eighth Seattle U student athlete to win a Sports Star of the Year honor.

 

UT Rio Grande Valley's Amara Graham eclipsed a pair of career marks last week during the Vaqueros series against Utah Valley. Graham knocked down her 100th triple in Friday's contest while she tallied career assist number 300 on Saturday. Graham is one of only two active players in the conference to achieve both totals, joining California Baptist's Ane Olaeta. With 27 three-pointers and 45 assists on the season, Graham currently sits at 102 threes made and 302 assists for her career.

 

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 25 steals, giving her 111 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.

 

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.