WBB: Lopes and Lady Mavs remain on collision course for first place showdown
One leg of a rivalry closed this weekend while UT Arlington, Tarleton State, and ACU had perfect 2-0 weeks and GCU came back from their second bye to get a key win...
Comebacks, blowouts, career-highs…this week across the WAC saw a little bit of everything as the march to #WACVegas continued.
GCU nearly set a record for largest win in the history of their Division I matchups with CBU as the curtain closed on their matchups in Phoenix.
ACU got back on track with a pair of wins at Moody Coliseum to complete their three game homestand.
Meanwhile, UT Arlington and Tarleton State needed big time second half rallies to defeat Utah Valley last weekend.
Let’s take a look at the week that was in our WAC Hoops Women’s Basketball Rewind…
Lopes push their streak to 20, the country’s second longest with impressive win over CBU:
Since CBU made their move to Division I the Lopes and Lancers have met 15 times, with nine of those games being a single-digit margin of victory for the winner.
Saturday afternoon’s first game of the 2024-2025 season was not one of those games. In fact, GCU’s 29 point margin of victory was the second largest in history. It trails only a 43 point Lancer win just shy of six years ago when GCU was led by now former UC Riverside coach Nicole Powell.
Tiarra Brown scored a season-high 22 points, even adding to GCU’s total of 11 made 3-pointers with a pair herself, and five assists.
Laura Erikstrup added her fourth double-double in conference play with a 15 point and 13 rebound effort.
Meanwhile, Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, who is now on record watch for most made 3-pointers in a WAC season, hit four shots from beyond the arc and needs just 32 to pass Becky Hammon’s mark of 114. Hammon, who set that record while playing for Colorado State in 1998-1999, currently coaches the Las Vegas Aces.
The current record for made 3-pointers when looking at WAC play only is 61 and that was set by Southern Utah’s Samantha Johnston last year in a 20 game schedule.
GCU received a vote in this week’s AP poll for the first time in program history.
Clark’s big week keeps Lady Mavs a game behind GCU headed into West Coast trip:
When the week started UT Arlington was on a four game winning streak.
Thanks to a second half rally against Utah Valley at the College Park Center and a convincing win over last place Seattle U that streak is six, with the Lady Mavs heading west to CBU and GCU this week.
Taliyah Clark averaged 21 points per game to lead the charge for UT Arlington, including tying her season high with 24 points on Thursday night against UVU. Clark hit nine of her team high 38 3-pointers in the two wins.
Against Utah Valley the Lady Mavs only led for 7:38 and trailed by 14 at one point, taking the lead one last time on Zoe Nelson’s layup with 49 seconds left.
To finish the week they led from cover to cover against Seattle U in a 26 point win.
Wildcats finish homestand with sweep of Utah schools:
Defending home floor is paramount to success in the WAC this year. In fact, during conference play home teams are 25-17 playing in their own buildings.
Last week, after a tough 87-84 loss to CBU, the Wildcats bounced back with a pair of wins over Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
Those wins gave ACU a two game lead over Southern Utah and three over the TBirds in the race to avoid a play-in game on March 11 at Burns Arena.
After playing a very top-heavy schedule to start WAC play, the Wildcats continue a stretch of five games against the WAC’s bottom three teams with a three game road trip which includes stops in Seattle (Thursday), Cedar City (a week from Wednesday), and St. George on February 22. ACU also takes their final bye of the year in that stretch on Saturday.
Emma Troxell scored a career-high 19 points in Thursday’s win over Utah Tech, hitting five 3-pointers in 25 minutes of work. Meredith Mayes also added a second double-double in WAC play with 14 points and 12 rebounds. ACU set a season high in assists with 25 on 31 made field goals. Bella Earle recorded seven of that total to go along with 17 points while Erin Woodson added another dozen points.
On Saturday against Southern Utah, Earle and Mayes combined for 34 points along with 18 rebounds, both missing double-doubles by a lone rebound. Woodson and Breanna Davis were also in double-digit scoring for the Wildcats.
Texans push winning streak to five after rally against Utah Valley on Saturday:
In talking with Tarleton State radio play-by-play announcer Clayton Neville last week we talked about how the Texans lacked a late fourth quarter win despite several opportunities this season.
Saturday afternoon the Texans finally got their elusive win in that category, 68-61 against Utah Valley at Wisdom Gym, after falling behind by double-digits early along with seeing Faith Acker and Arieona Rosborough getting into early foul trouble.
It was Tarleton State’s 11th win at home this season, the final for Wisdom Gym, with two more home dates remaining.
Jakoriah Long led the way with 25 points, finishing the week with 11 made 3-pointers after six in Saturday’s win. Kyriana Jones, who set a minutes played high against a Division I opponent with 17 in the win, chipped in another 10 points and broke a four-game scoreless streak.
Long had a number of Texan firsts in the Division I era which include back-to-back games with six or more 3-pointers, being the first to hit seven from 3-point range in a game, and the first to score 25 points or more in consecutive games.
Tarleton State visits both GCU and Seattle this week.
Odds and Ends:
Utah Valley’s Tahlia White has caught fire over the last two weeks, scoring 20 or more points in three of the Wolverines last four games. That includes a career-high 34 points in Thursday’s loss against UT Arlington. White has been in double-digit scoring 10 out of UVU’s last 11 games.
Congratulations to Tarleton State’s Arieona Rosborough on crossing the 1,500 point career scoring threshold.
Best wishes to ACU’s Mia Rivers who underwent reconstructive ACL surgery on Friday and was on the bench for ACU’s win against Southern Utah. Payton Hull, who has not played since the loss to GCU and is battling a wrist injury, is hopeful to return before season’s end according to ACU TV play-by-play analyst Andy Penney.
By the Numbers:
20: GCU’s winning streak after Saturday’s 84-55 win over CBU. The two sides will meet for a final time in regular season play on February 22 at Fowler Events Center. It’s the second longest in the country.
17: Number of 3-pointers hit by Tarleton State’s Jakoriah Long in her last three games.
16: Number of 3-pointers hit by ACU in Thursday’s win over Utah Tech, a season high.
6: Number of wins by Utah Valley this year in games decided by ten points or less.
3: Number of games in a row UT Arlington has scored 80 or more points.
The week ahead:
All games on ESPN+…
Thursday, February 13:
Abilene Christian at Seattle U 6 P.M. PT
UT Arlington at California Baptist 6 P.M. PT
Tarleton State at Grand Canyon 6 P.M. MT
Southern Utah at Utah Tech 7 P.M. MT
Idle: Utah Valley
Saturday, February 15:
Tarleton State at Seattle U 1 P.M. PT
Southern Utah at Utah Valley 2 P.M. MT
California Baptist at Utah Tech 2 P.M. MT
UT Arlington at GCU 2 P.M. MT
Idle: ACU