WBB: Round 1 Thoughts
A third of the way through conference play let's ponder what's transpired and some questions going forward...
At the one-third mark of WAC play ACU and CBU find themselves tied for first with four teams separated by a game in the race for third place.
Let’s take a look at what has happened, and what is to come over the next several weeks.
Remember that regular season finish determines how many byes, if any, teams get when they get to WACVegas in March.
Wildcats press on…to the top of the WAC standings:
For a second straight year the Abilene Christian women’s basketball team appears to be down a starter for at least a portion of conference play as Meredith Mayes was at Saturday’s 28-point win over Southern Utah sitting behind the bench with a knee brace on.
Mayes, third in the country for field goal percentage while averaging 15.2 points per game and on track for an all-WAC type of year, has missed three straight games after suffering a knee injury late in a January 8 win over Tarleton State at Moody Coliseum and is listed as day-to-day going forward.
Yet, the Wildcats have kept stacking wins in rather impressive fashion like last week’s pair of wins over CBU and Southern Utah. At CBU, the Wildcats built a 21-point lead then had to hang on as the Lancers cut it to a two-possession game before prevailing. Meanwhile, on a short prep after flying home from Riverside, the Wildcats defeated Southern Utah by 28…despite trailing after a quarter.
“This was a really pivotal week for us and our players did just a phenomenal job of preparing for two really talented basketball teams and coming out with two big wins…particularly getting CBU on the road.” ACU coach Julie Goodenough said after Saturday afternoon’s win
Natalia Chavez has stepped into the starting lineup and filled in nicely, averaging 15.7 points per game on 56.3% shooting from beyond the arc.
Emma Troxell has stepped into the five spot and is averaging 10 points and eight rebounds over the last trio of games.
ACU has won four straight since a tough loss at Utah Valley on January 3 with a combined scoring margin of +48, +43 in the three complete games that Mayes has missed.
Can Southern Utah right the ship?
Southern Utah was the surprise of WAC play at 3-0 going into their first of three matchups against CBU at the America First Events Center on January 10.
That loss, in overtime to the then undefeated Lancers, along with an 0-2 trip to Texas last week with losses at Tarleton State and ACU has the TBirds at 3-3. They’d currently have the No. 4 seed if WACVegas were to begin today.
It’s not unexpected that they lost two games on that trip, especially looking at the success that home teams have had so far this year. But what has to be disappointing for Tracy Mason and her staff is that the TBirds offense, No. 1 for scoring at the start of the week in conference play at 76 points per game, was held to 54.5 on 36.2% field goal shooting (8-37 from 3-point range) in two blowout losses this past week.
Ava Uhrich, who had reached double-digit scoring in seven straight games with five double-doubles, averaged just seven points per game on 6-26 field goal shooting without a made 3-pointer on the trip. She did spend much of Saturday’s loss at Moody Coliseum on the bench, saddled by early foul trouble.
Sierra Chambers also had a six game double-digit scoring streak snapped on the trip, being held to single-digit field goal attempts by two of the conference’s top three scoring defenses.
Brooklyn Fely’s 18 point, eight rebound effort at Moody Coliseum in an 82-54 loss Saturday was the TBirds offensive bright spot for the week.
Southern Utah is just two games out of first place going into a Thursday trip to Utah Valley and a Saturday home game against Utah Tech…two games they desperately need to win to stay in contact with the league’s co-leaders in ACU and CBU.
Home Sweet Home:
With one-third of the slate gone home teams are an impressive 16-5. They’ve won those games by an average margin of 13.9 points per game.
CBU has two of the five road wins. Road teams have won their games by 11.6 points per game, including an overtime game between CBU and Southern Utah on January 10.
Is this a trend that will continue over the next nearly two months of conference play or will it begin to even out?
Here are the road slates remaining for each team in standings order…
ACU» @ Utah Tech x2, @ Southern Utah x2, @ UT Arlington x2, (Total: 6)
CBU» @ Utah Tech x1, @ Utah Valley x1, @ ACU x2, @ UT Arlington x1, @ Tarleton State x2 (Total: 7)
Southern Utah» @ Utah Valley x2, @ Utah Tech x1, @ Tarleton State x1, @ CBU x2, (Total: 6)
Tarleton State» @ ACU x1, @ Utah Valley x1, @ Utah Tech x2, @ UT Arlington x1, @ Southern Utah x1, (Total: 6)
Utah Valley» @ ACU x2, @ UT Arlington x1, @ CBU x1, @ Tarleton State x1 (Total: 5)
UT Arlington» @ Tarleton State x1, @ Southern Utah x2, @ CBU x1, @ Utah Tech x1, @ Utah Valley x1 (Total: 6)
Utah Valley» @ ACU x2, @ UT Arlington x1, @ CBU x1, @ Tarleton State x1, (Total: 5)
How high can UT Arlington finish despite the slow start?
There’s no denying that UT Arlington got off to a disappointing start at 0-4 in WAC play.
However, after sweeping last week’s homestand against Utah Tech and Utah Valley the Lady Mavs are now a game out of a tie for third. And two games out of a tie for first, with both teams in that tie still having visits to College Park Center (ACU x2 and CBU x1).
Everything comes in threes for the Lady Mavs from here to the end, starting with a three-game trip that includes visits to Tarleton State, Southern Utah, and CBU. UT Arlington lost their initial matchups to those three teams by a combined 33 points, although they were without Nya Threatt due to injury in those games.
Then they have an early February homestand with Utah Tech, Utah Valley, and ACU.
The final regular season road trip is a Utah trip with visits to Southern Utah, Utah Tech, and Utah Valley.
To close the regular season they’ll host CBU, Tarelton State, and ACU.