2023-24 WAC WBB Release - Week Seventeen 

YAY, WELCOME TO #WACVEGAS 
Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington and Utah Tech officially clinched a spot in the 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament joining Grand Canyon and California Baptist. Stephen F. Austin is third in the WAC standings and Résumé Seeding System rankings with a WAC record of 12-4 (18-9 overall). UT Arlington (10-7, 14-13 overall) earned a spot with 10 conference wins as they defeated Southern Utah 78-70 on Feb. 21, while Utah Tech earned a WAC record of 10-6 (16-11 overall) with a 88-69 win over UT Arlington on Feb. 24.
 
BACK AND FORTH BATTLE
California Baptist took back the lead in the latest WAC Résumé Seeding System rankings compiled on Feb. 25 with 5.46 points. Grand Canyon is close behind with 5.43 points. Stephen F. Austin (1.47) is the only other team with a positive point value. UT Arlington is in fourth place with -0.97 points, while Utah Tech sits at fifth with -1.16 in the most recent seeding system rankings.
 
GOOD NEWS, WAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WILL BE ON TV!
The final game of the WAC women’s basketball championship will be shown live on ESPNU at 10:30 a.m. PT on March 16. The 2024 women’s championship contest will mark the first WAC women’s title game to be carried live on linear TV since 2016.
 
BREAUNNA, YOU’RE GILLIANT
Utah Tech’s fifth year guard Breaunna Gillen earned WAC Player of the Week honors after scoring a career-high 38 points, while adding 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block. She hit on 13-of-21 from the floor with a career-best four 3-pointers (4-of-6). Her 38 points were not only the most scored by a player in the WAC this season, but they were also the most scored by a Trailblazer in the program’s brief NCAA Division I era, and the third-most in Utah Tech’s four-year history. Gillen (1,517 points) also surpassed the 1,500-point plateau, becoming the first player, both male or female, in school history to do so.
 
A WALKING BUCKET   
UT Arlington’s junior guard Gia Adams became the first player in league history to win four consecutive WAC women’s basketball weekly award honors. Adams has been astronomical to the Mavs success as she averaged 18.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals last week. She recorded 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals against Southern Utah. Adams then tallied 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a win over Utah Tech.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK OR THEY’LL STEAL IT     
In the latest NCAA Division I national statistics report on Feb. 27, four WAC players who all lead the conference in steals per game were ranked in the top 50. Stephen F, Austin’s Kyla Deck ranked 18th with 2.82, California Baptist’s Chloe Webb checked in 21st with 2.76, Stephen F. Austin’s Destini Lombard was tied for 35th (2.52) and California Baptist’s Filipa Barros ranked 49th (2.35).
 
TUNE INTO ESPN+   
Stephen F. Austin will host the top two WAC teams with California Baptist on the docket first on Feb. 28, then Grand Canyon on Mar. 2. Abilene Christian looks to start a winning streak as the Wildcats head to Southern Utah on Feb. 28. Southern Utah and Tarleton State are still battling for a 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament spot as the Thunderbirds and the Texans go head-to-head on Mar. 2.