WBB: Midseason Grades
With half the regular season gone let's take a look back at the first month of conference play and hand out both Midseason Grades and Awards...
It seems like the season just tipped off and yet here we are starting February.
GCU is atop the pyramid on a record setting streak. Will they finish with a 27 game winning streak on March 8 when the curtain closes on regular season play?
UT Arlington is in hot pursuit and has a two game lead on Tarleton State and Utah Valley for second place. The winner of that race will end up with a day off in WAC tournament play along with our regular season champion.
We have just over four weeks until opening round games in the WAC tournament tip off from Burns Arena in St. George and those questions are answered.
But for now let’s take a look at what has transpired thus far with midseason grades and awards.
Midseason Grades:
GCU: 21-2 overall, 8-0 WAC (A+)
By every metric in this final WAC campaign GCU is not only meeting but exceeding expectations. After another rally from an early deficit on Saturday the Lopes winning streak is up to a program best 19 games, with an average margin of victory against Division I opponents of 19.1 points per game. As of Sunday morning the Lopes are sixth nationally in field goal percentage at 49.3%. They’re also ranked 22nd in assists per game at 18.0 with Trinity San Antonio ranked 22nd in individual assists per game at 5.4. GCU’s defense is 89th in field goal percentage defense at just under 39% and 20th in turnovers forced at just under 22 per game.
Laura Erikstrup, Trinity San Antonio, and Tiarra Brown are playing some of the best basketball of their careers in this final go around.
These next two and a half weeks will give us a lot of the answer in terms of whether or not GCU cuts down nets with regards to a regular season title. They’ll play CBU and UT Arlington twice in 14 and 12 day spans respectively along with finishing out the series against Tarleton State.
UT Arlington: 12-7 overall, 7-1 WAC (B+)
After a 2-5 start Shereka Wright’s team has gone 10-2 (nine Division I wins) to sit comfortably in second place after their final trip to Utah.
Koi Love has burst onto the WAC scene this year and leads the conference in Newcomer of the Week selections with six, which also included five out of six at one point. Avery Brittingham leads the conference in double-doubles with 10, including four straight after that loss in Orem to Utah Valley.
The biggest question mark has been the Lady Mavs guard line but they’re starting to show better form heading into the stretch run.
Aspen Thornton is averaging just under 11 points along with about three assists per game in her last three games. Nya Threatt has been in double-digit scoring four times in seven games, averaging 14 points per game along with just over three assists in that span.
UT Arlington leads the WAC in free throw attempts which is making up for their struggles from beyond the arc. The Lady Mavs have made just 78 shots from 3-point distance this year and are ranked 327th in percentage nationally at 25.3%.
Currently in second place by a pair of games over Utah Valley and Tarleton State the Lady Mavs finish season series against the Wolverines and Seattle U this week. Next week starts a stretch where they’ll play CBU twice in 16 days and GCU twice in 12 days.
Utah Valley: 13-7 overall, 5-3 WAC (A)
No team has exceeded preseason expectations more than the Utah Valley women so far.
Picked to finish eighth by the coaches, Dan Nielson’s team currently finds themselves in a tie for third with a win over UT Arlington and that double overtime win over ACU. They’ve also given GCU two of their four toughest games in WAC play thus far.
With the second half of WAC play left, Utah Valley is four wins away from their highest win total since 2021-2022. That team won 16 games, ten in WAC regular season play, and won a game in #WACVegas before falling against SFA.
Tahlia White is averaging 15.4 points per game in conference play to lead a balanced UVU offense. In terms of turnover margin the Wolverines are -51 at the halfway point (+6.38 per game), second place in that category. They’re also fourth in scoring offense and third in scoring defense.
Tarleton State: 14-9 overall, 5-3 WAC (A)
A year ago the Tarleton State women needed a last day win at Seattle U to get into #WACVegas. Thanks to a much improved offense (third at just under 71 points per game) the Texans are in a really good spot to skip that play-in game and start WAC tournament play in Las Vegas.
About the only thing missing from Tarleton State’s resume thus far is a close win. They’ve had their chances though from the opening day loss to UTEP, to a one point loss at CBU, and giving GCU perhaps their biggest scare on the Lopes 19 game winning streak in a four point loss at Wisdom Gym.
Arieona Rosbourgh has made the quite seamless transition from Division III to Division I, leading Tarleton State in scoring at just under 13 points and six rebounds per game. Niki Van Wyk has also made an impact out of the portal, shooting 13-29 from 3-point range in her last six games and adding nearly two assists per game.
CBU: 7-14 overall, 4-3 WAC (C)
It’s been an interesting season for our defending champions, who have battled injuries from the jump.
Khloe Lemon missed all of non-conference before returning for the WAC opener at Seattle. Filippa Barros played in the Lancers opening two games against Oregon and Liberty before getting injured…she’s elected to use a medical redshirt. Grace Schmidt missed four games with an injury while Anayiah Tu’ua missed another three.
On the floor CBU started 0-9 before winning six of their next eight to start conference play at 3-0. Then the Lancers lost three straight games by a combined 26 points, including a buzzer-beating loss to Southern Utah after leading by 10 with three minutes left.
CBU got on track with an 87-84 win at ACU last Thursday. They’ve reached the meat and potatoes in this year’s schedule with two games against GCU in 14 days, along with games against UT Arlington and Utah Tech. On Thursday they’ll visit Cedar City to complete the series against Southern Utah.
Lemon is averaging almost 20 points per game and shooting a remarkable 47.8% from 3-point range so far, sparked by the 11 makes and 39 points she had against Utah Valley in their first game. Nhug Bosch Duran is averaging 13 points per game.
Abilene Christian: 13-9 overall, 2-5 WAC (C)
ACU had a nine game winning streak in non-conference play (seven wins against Division I opponents including two against Sacramento State and beating UNM in the Pit).
In WAC play they started out 2-2, leading GCU for three and a half quarters before falling and defeating CBU in Riverside. However, the Wildcats have lost three straight by a combined 47 points.
Payton Hull and Mia Rivers were injured in the GCU loss and have missed four straight games.
Emma Troxell and Meredith Mayes have attempted to pick up some of the scoring, combining to average 30 points per game in the streak. Mayes had a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds in the win at CBU. Bella Earle failed to reach double-digit scoring in losses against UT Arlington and Tarleton State but picked up 18 points in the narrow loss against CBU.
ACU will have opportunities to play their way out of that opening round game at Burns Arena. They still have two with Utah Tech (currently eighth place) over a 16 day stretch, two with Southern Utah in an 11 day span, along with 1 each against Seattle U, Tarleton State, Utah Valley, GCU, and UT Arlington.
If they can get healthy I wouldn’t be surprised to see a late season surge. Right now they’re just two games in the loss column out of third place and UT Arlington, who has one loss, still has all four games with CBU and GCU left.
Southern Utah: 4-17 overall, 2-6 WAC (D)
Tracy Mason’s team battled injuries to qualify for the WAC tournament a year ago with a win against UTRGV on that final day of regular season play.
In 2024-2025 the Thunderbirds find themselves in a similar position after a 2-6 start to WAC play, which included a buzzer-beating win against CBU. The big difference this year is that all nine institutions qualify for tournament play. Regular season results just determine if you start at Burns Arena for the play-in round or go straight to Orleans Arena.
It’s been an unexpected struggle for the TBirds to score early on, averaging just 56.4 points per game in WAC play on 40% field goal shooting. And that’s despite returning Daylani Ballena (16.4 points per game last year), Ava Uhrich (13.9 points per game in 2023-2024), and Samantha Johnston (11.6 points per game).
Ballena was an all WAC preseason selection this year while Uhrich earned all-freshman honors last year. Mason also went and added Sydney Gandy from Loyola Marymount and Jaeden Brown made her debut after missing last year.
The good news is that I don’t think we’ve seen Southern Utah’s best 40 minutes of basketball yet.
Could that win in Riverside over CBU be the difference between starting in Las Vegas or making a stop in St. George to start #WACVegas? We’ll find out in about three weeks.
Utah Tech: 5-15 overall, 1-6 WAC (D)
Don’t let that 1-6 WAC record fool you.
The Trailblazers have kept up with teams for three quarters or so but haven’t yet able to put together a complete 40 minutes.
Maddie and Macie Warren are out as they use their medical redshirts in the wake of ACL tears late last season.
However, Utah Tech still has enough to compete in WAC play with Emily Isaacson back and newcomers like Ellie Taylor, Aaliyah Ybarra, and Chardonay Hartley.
They currently are in that eighth spot going into a Thursday night trip to Moody Coliseum and a shorthanded ACU side.
Seattle U: 3-17 overall, 0-7 WAC (D)
Seattle got their two Division I wins against East Texas A&M in a highly entertaining game during a tournament at GCU over Thanksgiving Break and against CSU Bakersfield.
However, since that point it’s been a struggle for the Redhawks who have dropped seven straight to start WAC play by an average of 20.3 points per game. That includes consecutive 30 or more point losses to GCU and Utah Valley and a stretch of four out of six games where they’ve turned it over 25 or more times with a season-high of 36 at Utah Valley.
This is a position Skyler Young’s team found themselves in just one year ago where the Redhawks rallied to finish with six wins in WAC action but came up a game short of tournament play.
If they’re going to climb the mountain and get out of this hole it has to start over the next nine days with two games against Tarleton State. In total they’ll finish with five of their final eight games at home.
Midseason Player of the Year:
Trinity San Antonio, GCU
Coming off an Olympic games appearance San Antonio has put up impressive numbers in her senior season, averaging 3.5 points per game more than last year and matching last year’s assist total of 122 on February 1. She’s done whatever is asked of her on a given night whether that’s scoring or running offense and getting others involved. Defensively, she’s as good a defender as the Lopes have, responsible for 56 steals and 81 defensive rebounds so far.
Midseason Newcomer of the Year:
Koi Love, UT Arlington
Love’s impact on the Lady Mavs offense has been immediate and steady, earning seven Newcomer of the Week selections along with a Player of the Week award. She’s tied for fifth in total rebounding and currently second in scoring while shooting an impressive 53% which is also second in field goal percentage.
Midseason Freshman of the Year:
Ellie Taylor, Utah Tech
In conference play Taylor is averaging 12.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 43.5% total field goal shooting (50% from 3-point range). She’s reached double-figure scoring in five of Utah Tech’s last six games including a career-high 22 points at Tarleton State in a nine point loss three weeks ago. If Utah Tech is going to play their way out of the eighth spot and into a position where they start the WAC tournament in Las Vegas Taylor will be a big reason why.
Midseason Coach of the Year:
Molly Miller, GCU
With the preseason coaches poll picking GCU as regular season champion it was thought that the Lopes were going to do some good things again this year. But to go 3-0 against the Arizona DI’s and win 19 straight games by an average of 18.6 points per game in their Division I games has been nothing short of impressive. GCU is going to see what they’re made of in the next few weeks as they play CBU and UT Arlington in short order, already up one on the Lady Mavs and three on the Lancers.
Tarleton State and ACU also get one more shot at the Lopes over the course of that run to the finish.
Midseason All-WAC First Team:
Avery Brittingham, UT Arlington
Laura Erikstrup, GCU
Trinity San Antonio, GCU
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, GCU
Koi Love, UT Arlington
Midseason All-WAC Second Team:
Khloe Lemon, CBU
Tiarra Brown, GCU
Grace Schmidt, CBU
Bella Earle, ACU
Tahlia White, UVU
Midseason All-Newcomer Team:
Koi Love, UT Arlington
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, GCU
Chardonay Hartley, Utah Tech
Arieona Rosborough, Tarleton State
Erin Woodson, ACU
Midseason All-Freshman Team:
Ellie Taylor, Utah Tech
Cece Legaspi, CBU
Candy Edokpaigbe, Seattle U
Cambree Blackham, Utah Valley
Paige Cofer, Utah Tech