WBB: Rapid Recap Quarterfinal Session 1
The top seeds take care of business in convincing fashion, earning a day off until Friday afternoon
LAS VEGAS—The WAC’s road to a NCAA women’s basketball tournament berth tipped off on Wednesday afternoon at Orleans Arena with both top seeds advancing to Friday’s semifinals.
We recap the day along with taking a look at tomorrow’s matchups in this Rapid Recap.
No. 1 Grand Canyon 71 No. 8 Utah Tech 47:
It took a little while for the GCU women’s basketball team to get going on Wednesday afternoon at Orleans Arena. But when they did the Lopes ran towards a 28th consecutive win, defeating Utah Tech 71-47 to sweep the Trailblazers and win all three meetings by 20 or more points.
“Reaching 30 wins means that we have some really good kids that are not only bought into a system but each other,” GCU head coach Molly Miller said. “It’s not like wins just appear. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to get us there.”
GCU (30-2) shot 41.2 percent in the opening stanza but turned over the ball six times. Utah Tech’s Makelli Ika hit a 3-pointer while Ellie Taylor, an all-freshman team selection, converted a layup with 36 seconds left to keep the Trailblazers within three points with a quarter gone.
Unfortunately for Utah Tech (6-25), GCU found their footing in those second and third quarters…outscoring the Trailblazers 46-24 on their way to a 17th straight win over WAC competition.
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas hit a 3-pointer to break Becky Hammon’s mark for made 3-pointers in a season as time expired in the first half.
“Breaking the record is cool but leaving here with a ring would be even better,” Durazo-Frescas said about leaving her name in the WAC record book on Wednesday.
Trinity San Antonio cleared the 20 point mark for a fifth time in nine games with 25 points, which led all scorers. Laura Erikstrup added 14 points with eight rebounds while Tiarra Brown chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. GCU had a +30 advantage in the paint.
Taylor finished with 11 points to lead Utah Tech while Chardonay Hartley had 11 assists, missing a program record for single-season assists by a trio. Meanwhile, Emily Isaacson completed her storied career in a Trailblazer uniform with nine points and was 3-8 from beyond the arc.
No. 2 Tarleton State 59 No. 7 Southern Utah 40:
Both sides got off to a slow offensive start in the second game of Wednesday’s quarterfinal session, combining to score 37 first half points and shoot 13 for 48 (27.1 percent).
However, behind 16 points each from Faith Acker and Miannah Little, Tarleton State (20-12) pulled away for a 59-40 win and advanced to Friday’s second semifinal. They’ll play the winner of No. 3 UT Arlington and No. 2 CBU on Friday afternoon at 2:30 P.M.
“Offensively for us it was like two different games but I told them after the game I’d rather be off on that side of the ball because defense travels,” Texans coach Bill Brock said. “They worked extremely hard the last couple of days on getting over screens, not getting hit, and being there on 3-point closeouts and it really showed today.”
Southern Utah (9-21) scored the final five points of third quarter action, cutting an 11 point Texan lead to six on back-to-back layups from Denver Anderson and Daylani Ballena.
However, Little’s second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter and an Arieona Rosborough layup gave the Texans a 17 point lead with 4:45 left.
Little was 4-4 from beyond the arc after intermission and Tarleton State’s offense shot 48.4 percent to pull away for the win.
It was the second time in three WAC tournament games at Orleans Arena that Tarleton State’s defense held a first round opponent to 45 or fewer points with two single-digit quarters. They also accomplished the feat last year against Abilene Christian in an opening day win.
Tomorrow:
No 4. Abilene Christian v No. 5 Utah Valley 12 P.M. Pacific:
These two teams have played a pair of entertaining games with the road team winning both times.
On January 4, the opening day of WAC play, at Moody Coliseum it took double-overtime for Utah Valley to get by the Wildcats. Danja Stafford-Collins had the game tying putback with just under a second left in regulation to force overtime. Then Tessa Chaney converted a 3-point play with a minute left in the first overtime to force a second overtime. Stafford-Collins hit a floater from just below the free throw line with five seconds left that eventually sent the Wolverines home victorious.
Meanwhile, last Thursday in Orem the Wildcats fell behind 9-1 but rallied and tied things up at halftime. Utah Valley led 51-47 after three quarters thanks to a pair of late baskets from Kylee Mabry and Cambree Blackham. However, ACU outscored Utah Valley 18-5 over the last seven minutes to prevail. Bella Earle had 26 points and 11 rebounds in the win to lead ACU. Erin Woodson and Breanna Davis combined to score another 29 points in the win.
This game is a battle of two teams ranked in the top 15 for turnovers forced nationally. Utah Valley is eighth in that category at 23.7 while ACU ranks 14th at 21.6.
It features four of the conference’s top 20 scorers in Earle, Meredith Mayes, and Emma Troxell of ACU along with Utah Valley’s Tahlia White.
What makes this matchup so intriguing is the complimentary pieces around each team.
Amanda Barcello, Halle Nelson, Ally Criddle, Cambree Blackham have all had moments for Utah Valley. Meanwhile, when Payton Hull and Mia Rivers were forced out of the lineup due to injuries Erin Woodson and Breanna Davis have stepped in and filled roles admirably.
No. 3 UT Arlington v No. 6 CBU 2:30 P.M. Pacific:
Another matchup where both teams split the regular season series with home teams winning each encounter.
CBU won 90-79 on February 13 at Fowler Events Center to start a six game losing streak for the Lady Mavs. On that evening the Lancers shot 13-23 from 3-point range with Khloe Lemon and Nhug Bosch Duran combining to shoot 9-15.
However, the Lancers, who reeled off six wins in an eight game span to get into that race for a two seed last week come to Vegas after losing two straight.
Last Saturday’s loss at College Park Center was the first time UT Arlington has beaten CBU since becoming a WAC member. The Lancers were doomed by a 29-11 second quarter on that day. Koi Love went off for a near triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Meanwhile, last Thursday at Wisdom Gym the Texans of Tarleton State defeated CBU by 31 behind 26 points and a 7-10 performance by Jakoriah Long from 3-point range.
It was also the first time that Tarleton State has beaten CBU since joining the WAC.
Lemon, Bosch Duran, Grace Schmidt, and Anaiyah Tu’ua will need to have big games for CBU. For UT Arlington the story is how Koi Love, Avery Brittingham, and Taliyah Clark go the Lady Mavs go offensively.