United Athletic Conference

Complete Release (PDF)

 

Grand Canyon’s Amara Graham has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week with Abilene Christian’s Bella Earle earning TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week honors. 

 

Graham was a key cog in helping the Lopes earn a pair of victories last week. She averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists each time she stepped onto the floor. The senior opened the week by connecting on five of her six attempts from behind the arc en route to a 25-point game in a key showdown with California Baptist on Thursday. She also corralled three rebounds and dished out two assists in the 20-point victory. Two days later she tallied a 16-point, three-rebound, two-assist contest in a grind-it-out 46-43 win at New Mexico State. 

 

Earle came off the bench and played 31 minutes in aiding the Wildcats to an 88-71 home win against Sam Houston. From her guard spot, she didn’t miss any of her five field goal attempts, including two from behind the arc, as she put together a 15-point performance. She also handed out four assists and tallied three rebounds with a steal.

 

Other nominees included: Maria Carvalho had a pair of 22-point games as Utah Valley won home games against Tarleton and Dixie State en route to scoring her 1,000th career point … Jamie Bonnarens played all but two minutes during her 24-point effort as Abilene Christian beat Sam Houston … Zya Nugent scored a career high 31 points en route to averaging 16.3 points per game in Stephen F. Austin’s three victories … Faith Cook scored 46 total points as Sam Houston posted two wins in their three games … Caitlyn Harper averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds as California Baptist split their games against Grand Canyon and Seattle U … Tarleton’s Marissa Escamilla set back-to-back season best scoring highs with 12 and 13 points respectively against Utah Valley and Chicago State … Breaunna Gillen scored 20 points in a 13-point win over  NM State to highlight her 17 points per game week … Taylor Muff started her week with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double as she averaged 13 points and nine rebounds in UT Rio Grande Valley’s two games … Nafatoumata Haidara averaged 10.5 points per game, with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double against Tarleton, for Chicago State

 

Other freshman nominees included: Tahlia White averaged 10 points per game as Utah Valley swept Tarleton and Dixie State … Trinity San Antonio averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while registering eight total steals for California Baptist … Aaliyah Collins highlighted her week for Chicago State with a 14-point, 12-rebound effort at Tarleton … Mason Jones came off the bench for Tarleton to play 12 minutes and dish out a pair of assists … Macie Warren averaged two points and 3.5 assists for Dixie State as they split games against NM State and Utah Valley

 

The final two weeks of games begins Thursday as teams battle for seeding at the season ending conference tournament in Las Vegas. Stephen F. Austin has its sights set on claiming the regular season title and No. 1 seed this week as they travel to Sam Houston and Abilene Christian.

 

One win would clinch at least a tie for the regular season WAC championship for Stephen F. Austin. Two wins by the Ladyjacks gives them the title outright as does one win or one Grand Canyon loss. 

 

Stephen F. Austin has won 15 straight games which is tied with Stanford for the longest in the nation. Moreover, dating back to their time in the Southland, the Ladyjacks have not lost a conference home game since March 3, 2020 vs. Abilene Christian. A stretch of 28 straight. 

 

Stephen F. Austin currently holds the nation’s longest home winning streak at 37. BYU is the next closest at 30. The Ladyjacks last home loss came against UCF on Nov. 16, 2019 (63-57). They haven’t lost a home conference game since Lamar knocked them off 75-58 on Feb. 24, 2018.

 

Stephen F. Austin leads the conference in a handful of team offensive categories. Their 44.8 shooting percentage narrowly lifts them past Abilene Christian (44.1). The Ladyjacks top the league in field goals made (714) and points per game (75.7). Abilene Christian is making a WAC best 35.7 percent of their shots behind the arc with Dixie State’s 240 total made three-pointer topping the conference. From the foul line Utah Valley is making 78.5 percent of their attempts. 

 

On the other side of the court, Grand Canyon leads the WAC with 13.4 steals per game with Ladyjacks holding their opponents to a 34.8 percent shooting mark. 

 

Caitlyn Harper remains atop the league’s top scoring players as she is averaging 18.2 points per game for California Baptist. Josie Williams is second in the league in scoring (16.2) while grabbing a conference best 12.3 rebounds each time she suits up for Utah Valley.  Ane Olaeta is registering 6.9 assists per game for the Lancers.

 

The WAC team duo of Stephen F. Austin and Grand Canyon are among the best teams in the country in turning their opponents over. Stephen F. Austin is third in the nation with 24.54 turnovers forced per game with Grand Canyon (22.64) ranking seventh in that same category. Stephen F. Austin leads the nation in turnover margin (+8.77). Not surprisingly, Stephen F. Austin and Grand Canyon ranked among the top 10 in total steals and steals per game (see page 7 of note pack). 

 

During the season, six active players scored their 1,000th career point. Sam Houston’s Faith Cook broke into the 1,000 career point club in a big way in December to start a trend. Needing only four points in the Bearkats game against Arlington Baptist, she scored 24 to become the seventh active member of the 1,000-point club among WAC players. California Baptist’s Georgia Dale entered the rarified scoring category in December as well. Aiyana Johnson became a member as she reached the milestone a month ago and now has 1,115 career points in four seasons at Stephen F. Austin. Caitlyn Harper recorded her 1,000th career point just over three weeks ago for California Baptist (1,110 points). Two weeks ago, Josie Williams of Utah Valley now has 1,030 career points. The newest member is Utah Valley’s Maria Carvalho. She entered the rarified air in the Wolverines win against Dixie State on Saturday. 

 

Heading into the season, Abilene Christian’s Julie Goodenough already reached the 400-win plateau. In her 26th year as a head coach, she leads the league in most seasons as a head as well as career wins (469). During the first weekend of WAC games, Stephen F. Austin’s Mark Kellogg joined her with 400 career wins. Seattle U’s Suzy Barcomb earned her 400th career win two weeks ago.

 

Following a vote of athletic directors the last week of December, the Western Athletic Conference has adjusted its game cancelation policy to balance the health and safety of coaches, student-athletes, staff and officials as well as protect the integrity of the conference schedule.

The minimum number of participants for conference play has been set at seven Covid-eligible student-athletes and one Covid-eligible coach. If a team meets the requirement, they will be expected to compete in the contest.

In addition, the WAC has determined that if a game is canceled for Covid-related reasons, administrators from the impacted institutions will work collaboratively to find a mutually agreeable date to reschedule. If they are unable to find a date, the game will be considered a no-contest.

The conference will continue to work with institutional leadership regarding any changes to seeding procedures for the 2022 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament.

 

The WAC has been far from immune from the far reaches of the newest coronavirus strain. Heading into the scheduled third full week of conference games, the league has rescheduled 14 games.

 

Following a shortened season, the WAC will return almost all of its stat leaders from the spring. After averaging 16.5 points per game to lead the WAC in scoring in the spring as a part of UT Rio Grande Valley, Amara Graham will return to the court this fall as a Grand Canyon Lope. The WAC’s leader in rebounds per game (8.4) and field goal percentage (66.5) will also be back as California Baptist’s Britney Thomas suits up for her final season as a Lancer. The Lancer roster will also include the top three-point shooter and top assister from the spring 2021 season. CBU’s Sydney Palma shot 44.7 percent from deep to lead the league while Ane Olaeta averaged 7.8 assists per game to finish as the nation’s leader in assists.

 

Josie Williams of Utah Valley will be back on the court for the Wolverines after leading the WAC in blocks per game last season. Seattle U’s Bree Calhoun will also be disrupting WAC offenses once again as she returns after pacing the conference in steals per game at 3.3.

 

California Baptist has been named the favorite to win the 2021-22 women’s basketball title and the Lancers’ Ane Olaeta was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league’s 13 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

 

After putting together one of the best seasons in WAC history a season ago, the Lancers earned the top spot with 137 points and six first-place votes in the preseason poll. WAC newcomer Stephen F. Austin was close behind with six first-place votes and a total of 133 points. The Ladyjacks were followed by Grand Canyon who received the remaining first-place vote and 112 points. Utah Valley was slotted in the fourth spot with 106 points while Abilene Christian was selected to finish fifth, garnering 91 points. Sam Houston claimed a total of 86 points as they landed in sixth. NM State came in just behind the Bearkats with 90 points while Lamar was eighth with 63 points. Seattle U captured ninth with 61 points, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley with 54 points. The Tarleton Texans earned 43 points to see themselves picked to finish 11th. Dixie State and Chicago State rounded out the poll, collecting 25 points and 14 points, respectively. 

 

Olaeta is atop the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. The senior guard is joined on the first team by fellow Lancer Britney Thomas, Stephen F. Austin’s Stephanie Visscher and Zya Nugent, Utah Valley’s Maria Carvalho and Josie Williams, Grand Canyon’s Amara Graham and Lamar’s Micaela Wilson.

 

Second team honors went to UT Rio Grande Valley’s Sara Bershers, Grand Canyon’s Tiarra Brown, Seattle U’s Bree Calhoun and McKenzi Williams, Sam Houston’s Faith Cook, California Baptist’s Caitlyn Harper, Stephen F. Austin’s Aiyana Johnson and Abilene Christian’s Madi Miller.

 

The Western Athletic Conference women’s basketball media have selected California Baptist as the preseason favorite to be named the 2021-22 conference champions while the Lancers’ Ane Olaeta was named WAC Preseason Player of the Year.

 

The Lancers earned the sweep in the polls as they picked up the top spot in the media poll after being selected first overall in the coaches’ poll. CBU was followed by Stephen F. Austin while Utah Valley was picked to finish third in the conference. Grand Canyon was chosen to finish fourth, Sam Houston was fifth and NM State took sixth. The Aggies were followed by Lamar, Abilene Christian, Seattle U, UT Rio Grande Valley, Tarleton, Dixie State and Chicago State.

 

Olaeta leads the group of Preseason All-WAC award getters and is joined by teammate Britney Thomas. Utah Valley’s Maria Carvalho and Josie Williams joined the pair of Lancers while Stephen F. Austin also boasted two first-team members in Aiyana Johnson and Stephanie Visscher. Grand Canyon’s Amara Graham and Lamar’s Micaela Wilson also picked up first-team honors.

 

Second-team selections include Grand Canyon’s Tiarra Brown, Seattle U’s Bree Calhoun, Sam Houston’s Faith Cook, Tarleton’s Marissa Escamilla, California Baptist’s Caitlyn Harper, NM State’s Soufia Inoussa, Abilene Christian’s Madi Miller and Stephen F. Austin’s Zya Nugent.

 

Coming off a year in which the WAC only returned three all-conference players, the WAC will look very familiar this season, returning eight of 10 All-WAC players. From the list of first-team honorees, Utah Valley’s Maria Carvalho and Josie Williams and California Baptist’s Ane Olaeta and Britney Thomas will all be back in action. Also, Grand Canyon’s Tiarra Brown and Amara Graham, California Baptist’s Caitlyn Harper and Seattle U’s McKenzi Williams are returning after earning Second Team All-WAC recognition in the spring.

 

WAC fans will also see four of the five members of the WAC All-Defensive Team back this year as Grand Canyon’s Taylor Caldwell, Seattle U’s Bree Calhoun, Utah Valley’s Carvalho and California Baptist’s Thomas make their way back. Lastly, four WAC All-Newcomer representatives are coming back for the 2021-22 season as California Baptist’s Nicole Avila-Ambrosi, Grand Canyon’s Brown, Seattle U’s Calhoun and Utah Valley’s Shay Fano return

 

With the addition of four schools coming over from the Southland Conference, the WAC also adds four Southland All-Conference selections from last season. Both Lamar’s Micaela Wilson and Stephen F. Austin’s Stephanie Visscher were first-team honorees, while the Ladyjacks Aiyana Johnson and Zya Nugent garnered second team distinction.

 

TEXAS SIZED ADDITION
After adding Dixie State and Tarleton a season ago, the WAC has expanded once again by adding four Texas schools. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin all come over to the WAC after spending time in the Southland Conference. Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and Lamar each finished inside the top four of the Southland’s standings last season. The Ladyjacks also claimed the Southland Conference title as they finished the year with a 24-2 overall record and a near-upset of Georgia Tech in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

 

The WAC will have its fair share of opportunities to shine against top competition this season. The league currently has 10 games against teams that advanced to the 2021 NCAA Tournament and 10 games against teams that participated in the 2021 NIT. The complete list is below.

 

Games vs. 2021 NCAA Tournament Teams

Nov. 9 UT Rio Grande Valley at USF, 8 p.m. ET

Nov. 10 Tarleton at Arkansas, 7 p.m. ET

Nov. 14 Dixie State at Oregon, 5 p.m. PT

Nov. 17 California Baptist at Oregon State, 7 p.m. PT

Nov. 18 Stephen F. Austin at Texas A&M, 7 p.m. CT

Nov. 27 Sam Houston at Arkansas, 2 p.m. CT

Dec. 12 Stephen F. Austin at Gonzaga, noon PT

Dec. 13 Sam Houston at Alabama, 11:30 a.m. CT

Dec. 21 Utah Valley at Idaho State, 7 p.m. MT

Jan. 9 UTRGV at Texas, 2 p.m. CT

 

The conference will head back to #WACVegas for the 2022 tournament in Las Vegas. The tournament will begin March 8 with a pair of games to be held at Michelob Ultra Arena before the remainder of the tournament heads to Orleans Arena on March 9-12. The tournament will include the top 10 eligible teams.