Newsletter: Surprise Teams, CBU Wins Again, Trailblazer ACL Issues
Newsletter: Surprise Teams, CBU Wins Again, Trailblazer ACL Issues
Welcome to Multi-Team Event season. Yep, the weekend before Thanksgiving begins a busy time in college basketball. Four men’s teams will compete in their first MTE games on Friday. And the majority of WAC teams will begin at some point this weekend.
Cayman Islands, St. Augustine, Florida, Virgin Islands, and more. It should be a grand old time.
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Now, let’s get to the newsletter for this busy Friday.
Surprise Teams
Women: Tarleton State
New head coach. New roster. There aren’t a ton of expectations around the WAC for the Texans. However, Bill Brock’s crew has actually played well early on.
Yes, the Texans are 1-2. But, in two road games at Texas Tech and at New Mexico, the Texans hung strong, staying within striking distance in a 7-point loss at Texas Tech and a 9-point loss at New Mexico.
Think about this: UTRGV played that same Texas Tech team in Lubbock and lost by 42.
Teresa Da Silva is her usual self, averaging 15 points per game. Elise Turrubiates and Andjela Bigovic are both in double figures at 11.3 and 10 points, respectively.
The Texans are off until Nov. 22 when they host Eastern Washington. Tarleton was supposed to play at Northwestern State on Thursday but the game was postponed due to Covid issues within the Lady Demon program.
Men: UT Arlington
I spent Saturday at College Park Center where I watched the Mavericks dismantle a non-Division I team. At the time I was starting to write-up this newsletter, the Mavericks were heading to Albuquerque to take on New Mexico in The Pit.
Little did I know their performance on Thursday night would be even more reason to write them in this segment.
A win over Oral Roberts to start the season under new head coach KT Turner. Sure, Oral Roberts is a much different team than the 30-win team that wen to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23. However, it was one of KenPom’s top games on Opening Night.
DaJuan Gordon and Co. did their thing in the comeback 75-71 win over ORU. Five nights later, the dismantling of a non-Division I opponent took place.
On Thursday, at The Pit, Shemar Wilson had a monster game with 29 points and 11 rebounds. And, UT Arlington hung close the entire game, even tying the ball game at 80 with five seconds to play.
Unfortunately, it was heartbreak in the Land of Enchantment as Donovan Dent went the entire length of the floor to knock down the game-winner for the Lobos.
The Mavs are showing they can score. Can they defend? That is a question for another day. Right now, though, KT Turner has this team believing with a different vibe in Arlington.
Lancer Women Win Again
Read that header again…and again…and again.
The most under-the-radar team in the WAC just continues to win. Following a double-digit win over Long Beach State on Wednesday, the California Baptist women’s basketball team is now 3-0.
Back-to-back double digit wins, a road win over San Diego State. It’s been a pretty good start for the Lancers.
Thing is, winning isn’t new in Riverside. Since joining the Division I ranks in 2019, the CBU women’s team has won 16, 26, 23, and 22 games. In 2020-21, the Lancers were a perfect 22-0 overall and 14-0 in WAC play before the WAC Tournament. Two wins later and a WAC Tournament title led to a trip to the NIT where they won two more games before losing to Rice. Do the math…26-1 overall. One of the best teams in the country.
But, winning has been the way under head coach Jarrod Olson. The Lancers have won 73.3 percent under Olson. And with that being said, NEVER had a losing season.
Now, Chloe Webb, Grace Schmidt and the rest of the Lancers are looking to have another winning season.
So far, so good. And the crazy thing is, the Lancers aren’t fully healthy.
Keep an eye on this team that nobody seems to talk about much.
Utah Tech Has ACL Issues
If you have paid attention to the Utah Tech women’s basketball program, you know what that header means.
In 2022-23, Macie and Madie Warren suffered season-ending ACL injuries. Crazy thing is these twin sisters suffered the torn ACL in the same knee.
Well, bad news came for the Trailblazers this week as sharpshooter Emily Isaacson announced that she had torn her ACL and would miss the entire 2023-24 season.
The redshirt senior out of Brigham City, Utah has been a mainstay for the Trailblazers and JD Gustin. Isaacson started 29 games two years ago and all 31 games in 2022-23. Isaacson shoots nearly 40 percent from 3-point range and averaged 11.7 points last season after averaging 13.0 points two seasons ago.
When I was in St. George in late October to watch a practice, it was interesting to see at least five players with braces on their knee. If I remember right, it was the right knee for four of the players and left knee for Maggie McCord.
Is there something in the water or climate in St. George? Pretty wild. But WAC Hoops Nation is wishing Isaacson and anyone else dealing with a season-ending injury a speedy and healthy recovery.