WBB: Lancers Clinch Share with Win, Five Teams, Two Spots in Race for WAC Vegas
WBB: Lancers Clinch Share with Win, Five Teams, Two Spots in Race for WAC Vegas
SFA came up with a big win in the Sawmill to create chaos in the regular season title race while Tarleton swept their final homestand to make themselves a player in the race for eighth.
Just one week remains in the regular season and there’s a lot to play for up and down the WAC standings.
Two teams are battling for the WAC regular season title after a chaotic ball game in Nacogdoches on Saturday.
Five teams are battling for the final two spots at WAC Vegas and there are multiple games between those five teams in the final two games of the regular season. So, it is not out of the realm of possibility the final spots for WAC Vegas could be determined on the final day of the regular season.
It has been a wild, WACky season, and the finish is going to be just as crazy.
Now, let’s get to the WAC Hoops women’s basketball newsletter.
CBU Clinches At Least a Share of Title with Win While GCU is Cheering for the Lady Mavs
After a disappointing overtime loss to CBU on Thursday, SFA’s women’s basketball team took the floor Saturday looking to play spoiler in GCU’s regular season title hopes.
And after a comeback from a 15-point deficit, that’s exactly what the Ladyjacks did, prevailing 85-77 at The Sawmill on Senior Day.
Kurstyn Harden was huge for the Ladyjacks in her home finale with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Now, the Lopes are on scoreboard watch, with eyes on Thursday night’s UT Arlington at CBU game.
A Lancer win means CBU clinches no worse than a share of the regular season title. GCU would still have an opportunity to grab a share with a win on Saturday afternoon when the Lancers come to town in the regular season finale.
If UT Arlington can do what no other team that has visited Fowler Events Center this year has done, and go home with a win, it creates a winner-take-all matchup on Saturday in Phoenix for the regular season championship and top seed at next week’s WAC Tournament.
CBU is undefeated at home this year with a 14.2-point average margin of victory in 13 home contests. Eight of those 13 games have been by greater than 10 points with four wins by 20 or more points.
CBU got to a point where they can clinch no worse than a share of the regular season title with a Texas sweep. CBU slowly but steadily pulled away from UTRGV in a 72-58 win behind 19 points and six rebounds from Player of the Year Candidate Chloe Webb.
Thursday is key for CBU. With a win, the Lancers clinch their second WAC regular season title in five years. Along with the the title, the Lancers can also clinch the top seed at next week’s WAC Tournament.
Race for Final Two Spots
Our race for eighth is as good as any race for the final conference tournament spot in the country.
Tarleton, at 6-12 in conference play, is a game in front of UTRGV, Southern Utah, and a surging Seattle side. Utah Valley is two games behind the Texans and one back of the group of three.
Bill Brock’s Texans defeated Southern Utah 69-63 on Senior Day to sweep their final homestand behind 16 points from Elise Turrubiates along with 14 points and six rebounds from Faith Acker.
Acker, a freshman who has really impressed in the post this year, played only 17 minutes due to early foul trouble.
Three of this week’s games involve teams in the fight for that final spot…
Weekly Awards
After leading Stephen F. Austin to a split last week against the conference’s regular season title contenders, Kurstyn Harden earned her third Player of the Week award of this season.
In two games, Harden averaged 26 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists while shooting nearly 62 percent.
Tarleton’s Faith Acker earned Newcomer of the Week honors for a second time this season after she averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest in wins over Utah Tech and Southern Utah.
Bracketology
ESPN’s Charlie Creme has CBU as a 14 seed in Corvalis and playing Oregon State. Meanwhile, College Sports Madness has the Lancers as a 15 seed and playing Texas. Her Hoop Stats will do their Bracketology update on Thursday morning.
Postseason Primer
With the addition of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament there are now four possible postseason tournaments in women’s college basketball.
The NCAA Tournament is where everyone wants to get to and only our WAC tournament winner in Las Vegas will get to enjoy that experience.
New to the slate this year is the WBIT, operated by the NCAA and created as a result of a report commissioned to look at gender equity in 2021. This will be a field of 32 teams (the first four out are automatically in this tournament and seeded one through four). Whoever wins the regular season championship between CBU and GCU will earn the WAC automatic spot to this tournament should that team not earn an NCAA tournament bid.
Like the WNIT, teams can submit bids to host first, second and quarterfinal games. This tournament’s Final Four will be held at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. ESPN+ will broadcast those first three rounds with linear ESPN properties in ESPN2 and ESPNU taking over for the semifinals and finals. Transition teams are not eligible for this event.
For a 26th straight year the WNIT, owned by Triple Crown, also gives teams an opportunity for postseason play. This is a now 48 team event which awards an automatic bid to all 32 conferences plus 16 at-large bids. That automatic bid goes to the highest finishing team in each conference who did not qualify for either the NCAA or WBIT tournaments. Transition institutions are eligible for this event.
This year’s WBI tournament will be held in Daytona Beach, Florida. It’s a field of eight teams that will play three games in three days. CBU is the defending champion after defeating New Mexico State in Kentucky.