WBB: Halfway Home as Teams Fight for Tourney Seeding, Byes
There is 40 days left in the regular season with the home stretch looming large.
Halfway week has come and gone with some big performances, and some surprises around the league.
GCU lost at home to create chaos at the top and two last second wins on Saturday, courtesy of missed shots, capped off a busy weekend.
Now, with 40 days left until the end of the regular season, things are about to ramp up. Eight teams make it to WAC Vegas, meaning three teams will not get to participate in the postseason.
Right now, UTRGV, Tarleton and Seattle U are on the outside looking in. But, UTRGV trails Utah Valley because the Wolverines have the head to head tiebreaker. And SUU has a slightly better overall winning percentage. UTRGV hosts the T-Birds on Saturday.
There is still a lot to be decided as well as a lot to play for over the next five and a half weeks.
Let’s take a look at the storylines.
Race for the Regular Season Championship
Thursday night’s Stephen F. Austin at GCU game was a battle of programs experiencing firsts.
For the first time in program history the Lopes were selected as conference favorites for a regular season title.
After a coaching change in Nacogdoches when Mark Kellogg moved to West Virginia, the Ladyjacks weren’t picked atop a preseason poll for the first time in several years.
Both programs feature well regarded defenses that showed up in a big way on Thursday, with neither team shooting over 40 percent.
A late SFA third quarter run gave them an 8-point lead after 30 minutes.
GCU made a fourth quarter run and had opportunities to go ahead.
However, the Ladyjacks, picked 5th in the coaches poll and 8th by our preseason vote, escaped 59-54 and knocked GCU from the undefeated plateau.
On Saturday, CBU reintroduced itself as a contender in that regular season title race after an overtime loss to Abilene Christian earlier in January.
Three Lancers had over 20 points in a 97-75 blowout win over the Ladyjacks.
Check out my game story below but CBU made some history in that win, their third straight over Stephen F. Austin.
GCU and CBU will play their first matchup in Riverside in a little more than two weeks time, on Feb. 17 at the Fowler Events Center.
GCU is at Seattle on Thursday and hosts Utah Valley on Saturday.
CBU has a Thursday bye before visiting Seattle on Saturday while SFA is at Utah Valley on Thursday and hosts Tarleton on Saturday.
Utah Tech Sweeps the week, Plays Itself Into the Bye Conversation
This week in WAC play, home teams were an unblemished 5-0 on Saturday after splitting their Thursday games.
Two of those wins belong to Utah Tech who defeated Abilene Christian, 78-69, and then Tarleton, 75-48, to move to 5-4 in WAC play, tied for fourth place with UT Arlington.
That’s a big spot for the Trailblazers because the three and four seeds get Wednesday off from WAC tournament play, beginning their postseasons on Thursday.
Maddie Warren averaged 19.5 points per game in the two wins while pulling down 5.5 rebounds a contest and shooting 7-13 from beyond the arc.
The Trailblazers are at UTRGV on Thursday and UT Arlington on Saturday.
Home Teams Win Two 1-Score Games This Week
Southern Utah and Utah Valley, both fighting to keep themselves in the race for the eighth and final spot for WAC Vegas, found ways to win 1-score games in the final seconds on Saturday.
In Cedar City, Abilene Christian kept fighting back from deficits behind 27 points from Payton Hull, another career day from Meredith Mayes with 18 points, and 12 from Aspen Thornton.
But Southern Utah had their best shooting day from 3-point distance, going 10-21 to defeat the Wildcats, 82-80. The game came down to one final Wildcat 3-point attempt from Thornton, which was blocked by Samantha Johnston as time expired.
Ava Uhrich had 25 points and 12 rebounds for another career day while Johnston added 17 points and four assists while hitting five shots from beyond the arc to lead SUU. It was a season-high in points and shots made for the T-Birds. Daylani Ballena and Alexa Lord combined to score 26 more points.
Meanwhile in Orem, Utah Valley (8-10, 3-6) defeated Seattle (1-17, 1-8), 59-56, despite shooting just 33 percent from the field.
Seattle had an opportunity to force overtime but Aannah Interrante’s 3-point attempt from the corner rolled halfway down then out as time expired.
Halle Nelson had 16 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Wolverines while Tessa Chaney added a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Jenna Dick was also 3-8 from beyond the arc for Utah Valley.
Peyton Howard and Interrante each led Seattle with 14 points.
Power Rankings
With a 2-0 week including an impressive win over SFA, it’s CBU that returns to the top of our WAC Hoops Power Rankings. Utah Tech had another 2-0 week and the Trailblazers moved all the way up to fourth.
A couple of games to watch are that GCU at Seattle game on Thursday and Utah Tech at UT Arlington on Saturday.
GCU narrowly squeaked out a double OT win against the Redhawks in their first meeting while Utah Tech and UT Arlington are both 5-4 and fighting for a tournament bye.
Weekly Awards:
Southern Utah’s Ava Uhrich earned her first Newcomer of the Week award after averaging a double-double with 20.5 points and 12 rebounds per contest in wins over Tarleton and Abilene Christian.
Meanwhile, CBU’s Filipa Barros makes her debut as a Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in wins over UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin.