This Week in WAC Women's Basketball - Dec. 14
This Week in WAC Women's Basketball - Dec. 14
2022-23 WAC Women's Basketball Release - Dec. 14
SFA RANKED ATOP WAC RESUME SEEDING RANKING
Stephen F. Austin ranked first in the WAC Resume Seeding system. The Lumberjacks are one of the six teams with a positive ranking with 1.78 points followed by Utah Tech (0.93), Grand Canyon (0.86), UT Arlington (0.45), UTRGV (0.12) and Tarleton (0.01).
GCU WINS BIG OVER COLUMBIA (MO.)
GCU pulled ahead early and never looked back as it scored 57 first-half points and had five players in double digits to win 97-39 over Columbia (Mo.). The Lopes forced 29 turnovers and tallied 22 steals with 11 players earning a steal. GCU shot 52.6% (40 of 76) from the floor and held Columbia (7-4) to 28.1% from the field and six free throws. Laila McLeod led all scorers with 17 points as she knocked down three 3-pointers and added three rebounds and three assists. Evan Zars scored her 1,000th point during the victory and is third on the team in scoring with 9.7 points per game.
SFA TAKES DOWN ARIZONA STATE
SFA improved to 7-2 after a 75-60 victory over Arizona State. SFA led ASU in points in the paint (40-22), points off of turnovers (24-9), second chance points (17-9), fast break points (15-12), bench points (14-6), field goal percentage (46.0-40.0), three-point percentage (50.0-26.7), and free throw percentage (83.3-80.0). Aiyana Johnson led the team with 18 points, followed by a career-high from Tyler McCliment-Call with 17 points. Jordan Harrison scored 15 points with three assists and three steals and was named the TicketSmarter WAC Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week.
UTAH TECH TOPS AIR FORCE
Utah Tech came from behind to take a 73-70 win over Air Force and improve to 6-2 and are in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Two Trailblazers scored double figures led by Macie Warren’s career high 29 points. Warren was 12-16 from the field, 3-5 from the free throw line and pulled down eight rebounds. Breaunna Gillen closed the contest with 20 points and three reboundsshooting 7-of-13 from the field. As a team the Trailblazers ended the game shooting 54.7 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from the three and 72.7 percent from the free throw line. UT totaled 31 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.
UTA RALLIES PAST TEXAS A&M-TEXARKANA
Taleyah Jones poured in a season-high 30 points to help lead UT Arlington (6-5) to a 71-67 come-from-behind victory over Texas A&M – Texarkana (8-2). Jones, who had a previous season-high of 11 points, matched that total in the fourth quarter alone. The freshman guard finished 9-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three. Jones added four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal while also finishing 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. Jones, Starr Jacobs and De’Sha Benjamin combined for 53 of the team’s 71 points. Shyia Smith (7), Alexsyah Goudeau (6), Jordyn Turner (3) and Reniya Jones (2) rounded out the scoring. Reniya Jones matched Jones for the team-high in assists (3), while Turner had one of the team’s two blocks. Goudeau swiped three steals, which tied Jacobs for second on the team.
WILLIAMSON LEADS WAC IN DOUBLE DOUBLES
Southern Utah’s Lizzy Williamson is at the top of the WAC double-double standings as of Dec. 13. Williamson has posted five double-doubles to open the season, hitting the 10-rebound mark a total of five times for the Thunderbirds. The next closest WAC players are Shay Fano, Utah Valley and Breaunna Gillen both with three double double performances.
THE WAC IN NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA DI national statistics rankings that were released on Dec. 12, Grand Canyon moved to first nationally in steals per game with 17.0 and fourth in turnovers forced per game. Sam Houston is currently ranked third in offensive rebounds per game at 18.8. California Baptist currently ranks tenth in three-point field goal attempts with 260, followed by UTRGV (226) and Abilene Christian (242).