WBB: Quarterfinal Session #2 recap/Semifinal Preview
Day 2 of #WACVegas saw a team tie a season high in made 3-pointers and a team that struggled down the stretch survive a late surge from the defending champions to move to Friday's semifinals...
It was raining 3-pointers on Thursday afternoon for one team at the Orleans Arena.
Meanwhile, a team that went on a five game second-half losing streak got their second win over the defending champions in five days.
Let’s take a look back at Thursday’s quarterfinal session and preview Friday’s semifinals in this Rapid Recap…
No. 5 Utah Valley 75 No. 4 Abilene Christian 65:
What’s the best gift a basketball coach with a birthday in the month of March can get? A postseason win.
Behind career-high scoring days from Amanda Barcello and Tahlia White that’s exactly what Utah Valley’s (18-11) women’s basketball team gave head coach Dan Nielson on Thursday afternoon at the Orleans Arena in their return to WAC tournament play.
Barcello finished with 24 points on 6-8 shooting from 3-point range, which included a trio over the final 80 seconds of second quarter action as Utah Valley took an 18 point lead to half. That last 3-pointer of the half actually resulted in a four point play.
White finished with 26 points on 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc. She had Utah Valley’s 11th and final 3-pointer with 3:17 left which pushed the Wolverines back out to a 13 point lead.
With the win Utah Valley sets a record for wins in their Division I era, dating back to 2003-2004.
“We knew ACU would fight back and every time they did we were able to weather the storm and come away with a win against a really good ACU team,” Nielson said. “Two years ago we were in a really rough spot with regards to transfers and injuries and I’m so proud of everyone who stuck around and worked to get us to this point.”
It wasn’t an easy win by any means. Utah Valley led by as many as 21 points just 24 seconds into the third quarter. ACU (20-12) was persistent and cut the deficit to eight a pair of times but could never get closer.
Emma Troxell led the Wildcats with 20 points on 4-7 shooting from 3-point distance while Payton Hull played for the first time since January 16 and had 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists. In total 47 of ACU’s 65 points came from underclassmen, which bodes well for the future.
Bella Earle played in her 114th and final game for the Wildcats, finishing with seven points in addition to five rebounds and three assists.
“We were undefeated in December and then January came and then it felt like we just got hit in the face with injuries and sickness but this group refused to take no for an answer and still managed to have a really good year,” Troxell said. “It’s not the ending we wanted but losing today doesn’t define our season.”
Utah Valley advances to play No. 1 seed Grand Canyon in tomorrow’s first semifinal at noon local time tomorrow.
No. 3 UT Arlington 72 No. 6 California Baptist University 66:
At the ten game mark of WAC regular season play UT Arlington was at 9-1 and in second place in the conference standings.
Then came a five game losing streak.
However, once the calendar turned to March the Lady Mavs righted their ship with a regular season ending win against CBU last Saturday.
It was their first win over the Lancers since becoming WAC members in 2022-2023.
Thursday afternoon at Orleans Arena the Lady Mavs (16-12) made it two in a row against CBU, jumping out to a 15 point lead and then surviving a late Lancer rally for their second straight win.
Avery Brittingham had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead the Lady Mavs. UT Arlington also got 18 points and five rebounds from Koi Love in addition to 16 points from Taliyah Clark and 10 from Aspen Thornton.
“That’s a CBU team that is a lot better than their record shows and we knew a run was coming. It was just a matter of how we handled it and having the experience we do was huge for us down the stretch today,” UT Arlington coach Shereka Wright said.
CBU had an early 11-6 lead after Grace Schmidt’s 3-pointer with 5:03 left in the first quarter. UT Arlington responded with a 16-0 run over 3:47 covering the end of first quarter and beginning of second quarter play to take a 22-11 lead.
Clark’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds to the half restored a double-digit Lady Mavs lead at intermission.
The Lancers rallied and cut their deficit to two points on a Grace Schmidt layup with 3:15 left and then a Nhug Bosch Duran 3-pointer with 23 seconds to go but got no closer.
Schmidt finished with 23 points and nine rebounds while Khloe Lemon and Anayiah Tu’ua combined to score 21 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Lancers.
“Today was kind of a microcosm of our season but I was pretty proud of the way that our team fought until the end,” Lancers head coach Jarrod Olson said. “It’s definitely a pretty disappointing loss but give UT Arlington credit for the way they played both last Saturday and this afternoon.”
The loss ends Olson’s first losing season since taking over the CBU women in 2012.
UT Arlington advances to play No. 2 seed Tarleton State in tomorrow’s second semifinal at 2:30 P.M. local time.
Tomorrow:
No. 1 Grand Canyon v No. 5 Utah Valley 12 P.M. Pacific:
GCU won both matchups by 12 points but in very different ways.
At Global Credit Union Arena in January the Lopes used a 25-10 first quarter to grab an early lead en route to a win.
In that meeting it was Laura Erikstrup’s time to shine, leading GCU with 22 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Trinity San Antonio added 19 points as the duo went 18-26 from the field.
Meanwhile, in Orem at Lockhart Arena to begin February the Lopes fell behind after a quarter but rallied for a double-digit win.
San Antonio had 21 points and nine assists to lead GCU while Tiarra Brown, Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, and Erikstrup also were in double-digit scoring.
A couple of things to watch…
1. Can the Wolverines sustain that type of 3-point shooting and how effective will the 1-3-1 zone trap be with it being the third time these teams have played?
2. How does GCU come out after having the day off on Thursday? In past years this would’ve been their first game on the floor but this year it’s their second after having played on Wednesday.
No. 2 Tarleton State v No. 3 UT Arlington 2:30 P.M. Pacific:
The two sides split their regular season matchups with home teams winning each time.
At the College Park Center UT Arlington ran out to an 18 point lead and survived a Tarleton State run to win by eight points.
Meanwhile, at Wisdom Gym the Texans used a 19-9 second quarter to take a seven point lead at intermission. Then they had to answer several UT Arlington rallies for a big win that was key in their eventual quest that resulted in them earning a No. 2 seed and Thursday bye.
Things to Watch For…
1. Can the Texans get off to a better offensive start than they did on Wednesday against Southern Utah?
2. How does the rebounding battle go? Tarleton State was +11 in their win at Wisdom Gym a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, the Texans were +1 in their loss to start conference play.