2023-24 WAC Women's Basketball Release - Week Eleven 

GRAND CANYON STANDS ALONE AT THE TOP
After the third week of conference play, Grand Canyon remain the only WAC team with an undefeated league record. The Lopes earned a pair of road wins over Abilene Christian (64-55) and Tarleton State (79-47) to improve to 6-0. Grand Canyon also climbed to the top of the WAC Résumé Seeding System rankings with 3.87 points. California Baptist and Stephen F. Austin are tied in second place of the WAC standings at 5-1, while UT Arlington settled in at fourth with a 4-2 record at the end of last week.
 
ACU STUNS CBU
Abilene Christian defeated California Baptist to give the Lancers their first conference loss of the season in a 96-93 overtime thriller. Bella Earle led the Wildcats recording a double-double with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Aspen Thornton tallied 20 points, Payton Hull chipped in 15 points, Meredith Mayes earned her first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Clare Traeger posted 10 points.
 
GO HARD OR GO HOME    
Stephen F. Austin’s senior center Kurstyn Harden earned her second WAC Player of the Week honor as she scored 36 points in Stephen F. Austin’s wins against Utah Tech and Southern Utah. She shot 75 percent from the field (12-16) and 92.3 percent from the free throw line (12-13). Harden also recorded 13 rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal. She recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds against the defending WAC Champion Southern Utah. Harden is currently leading the WAC and ranked fifth in the nation with 88 made free throws this season.
 
EUROSTEP...ERIKSTRUP 
Grand Canyon’s graduate student guard Sydney Erikstrup was electric for the Lopes as she had a career week in helping Grand Canyon go 2-0, scoring 37 points and recording six rebounds with six made 3-pointers. Erikstrup averaged 18.5 points in total over Abilene Christian and Tarleton State. She scored a career-high 21 points against Tarleton State, while her twin sister Laura Erikstrup recorded 11 points and four rebounds. The twins combined for 40% of the team’s scoring on Saturday to give Grand Canyon its best start in the program’s D1 era with a 14-3 record.
 
DON’T COUNT OUT THE MAVS    
UT Arlington has been on an impressive seven game winning streak after starting the 2023-24 campaign 0-5. The Mavs have climbed to fourth place in the WAC standings and in the WAC Résumé Seeding System rankings with -0.20 points. The Mavs have been on a winning streak since Dec. 16, securing wins over Sam Houston, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, Tarleton State, Stephen F. Austin and Utah Valley. Taliyah Clark leads UT Arlington in scoring with 13.1 points per game, while Avery Brittingham averages a team-high 8.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
 
GO OFF O’KEEFE
UTRGV’s sophomore forward Charlotte O’Keefe had a career-night in the Vaqueros 84-77 win over Seattle U on Jan. 11. O’Keefe led UTRGV with a career-high in both points (15) and rebounds (21), she shot 60% from the field and added two blocks. Her 21 rebounds are the third most rebounds in a single game in program history and the most by a Vaquero since 2015.