WBB: WACVegas Preview and Storylines
One last regular season of WAC Women's Basketball has come and gone with CBU cutting down the nets as champions by two games. Now it's survive and advance...
Six games in three days to determine the final Western Athletic Conference women’s basketball representative to next week’s NCAA tournament. That’s the road that will begin on Wednesday afternoon from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Let’s take a look at the bracket and some storylines for each team.
Chris Mycoskie and Brandie Poole will have the call for all games through Friday’s semifinals with Krista Blunk and Layshia Clarendon jumping in for the championship game.
G1: UT Arlington v Utah Tech, Wednesday, 3 P.M. Pacific (ESPN+)
All three games in the season series were decided by ten points or less, including a double-overtime thriller on February 5 at the College Park Center.
Scoring Offense: Trailblazers 6th (63.21 PPG), Lady Mavs 7th (60.77 PPG)
Scoring Defense: Trailblazers 6th (67.32 PPG), Lady Mavs 7th (67.57 PPG)
FG% Defense: Trailblazers 2nd (38.0%), Lady Mavs 4th (39.4%)
3-point% Defense: Lady Mavs 1st (27.5%), Trailblazers 2nd (30.3%)
For Utah Tech, the big question is who will support Kaylee Borden as a second or third scoring option? Borden, a Nevada transfer, has been on a tear over the last eight games…averaging 19.1 points per game. That includes a 29-point outburst on February 18 in a 60-58 win over the Lady Mavs.
Brie Crittendon has reached double-digit scoring in eight of the last nine games but was held to just six points on February 18, when Utah Tech and UT Arlington last met. Paige Cofer has four straight games in double-digits but scored just five points in that last matchup with the Lady Mavs.
That night, at Burns Arena, Borden was 10-19 FG’s while the rest of the team was 9-34.
The second question is can Utah Tech be more competitive on the glass? On February 18 the Trailblazers were a -16 in total rebounding but scored 23 points off 22 UT Arlington turnovers to prevail 60-58.
One has to wonder if Utah Tech would be in this game for a second straight year with a fully healthy side? Maddie and Macie Warren along with all-freshman team selection Ellie Taylor have been out for all or portions of the season with season ending injuries. That’s roughly 40 points per game missing from a Trailblazer side averaging 63.21 points a contest.
For UT Arlington the first question has to be about ball security and offense.
The Lady Mavs have turned it over 20+ times in four of their last five regular season contests, including 27 against Utah Valley and 22 against ACU. On Saturday, in the regular season finale, 22 giveaways led to 38 Wildcat points…which included a 12-0 ACU run to start the game.
They were last in the conference in scoring offense during WAC play…failing to reach 60 points in half of their regular season contests and recording just one win in those games.
Then, can they defend well enough to advance?
During this seven-game losing streak the Lady Mavs have allowed opponents to shoot 175-399 (43.9%) and 48-136 (35.3%) from 3-point range while scoring 71.0 points per game.
Utah Tech shot 24-79 (30.4%) from 3-point range in the three regular-season matchups and 62-168 (36.9%) in total.
G2: Utah Valley v Tarleton State, Thursday, 12 P.M. Pacific, (ESPN+)
Scoring Offense: Texans 5th (65.14 PPG), Wolverines 6th (63.83 PPG)
Scoring Defense: Wolverines 2nd (60.59 PPG), Texans 3rd (65.07 PPG)
FG% Defense: Texans 3rd (39.3%), Wolverines 6th (41.7%)
3-pt% Defense: Texans 5th (32.4%), Wolverines 7th (34.9%)
Utah Valley swept the season series and has won five of the last six games, dating back to March 2024.
Only one of the three games this year was an under 10-point margin of victory, a 70-67 Wolverine victory at Lockhart Arena on January 29.
It starts with ball security for the Texans, who recorded 20+ turnovers against UVU in all three regular-season matchups. Those giveaways led to a total of 75 Wolverine points across the series.
Amanda Barcello has had an all-WAC caliber year for UVU so far, averaging 14.1 points per game while shooting just under 42% from 3-point range. Who will the Wolverines X-Factor be in this matchup? Cambree Blackham’s offensive game has gotten much better, reaching double-digit scoring in seven of the final nine games in regular season play. Kaylee Headrick has been in double-digit scoring three times down the stretch and Halle Nelson has also had a pair of double-digit performances in scoring.
Good news for the Wolverines as Tessa Chaney returned last week after missing a month and a half due to injury. Gracie Sorenson has filled in quite capably for Chaney, with four games of eight or more points.
UVU’s turnovers forced numbers have tapered off a bit down the stretch, as they haven’t had a game with 20+ forced giveaways in about a month. If the Texans can handle Utah Valley’s myriad defensive pressures and keep turnovers to a minimum they’ll have a chance to win this game.
After a slow start to the season, Jakoriah Long has found her stride offensively…with nine out of 10 games in double-digit scoring. That includes four games of 20+ points.
Can the Texans get Long, Gia Adams, and Elodie Lutbert or Shadasia Brackens with solid offensive performances on the same day is the question?
Adams closed with consecutive games in double-digit scoring while Lutbert had a double-double in the senior night loss against CBU.
The other question for Tarleton State is how they handle the seven days off since the Texans had that bye on the final day of regular season play?
Storylines for the Top-3 seeds:
1. CBU: Can the Lancers remain perfect in WAC play away from Fowler Events Center and in the process earn a third tournament title?
When the year started if you were going to say that anyone would run the table in conference road games I’m not sure if I’d have believed it.
That’s exactly what CBU did during the regular season, winning their nine road games by an average of 7.3 points per game…which included a 2-0 mark in overtime games.
With a double-bye in hand, the Lancers will begin their tournament quest on Friday afternoon against either Utah Valley or Tarleton State.
The Lancers went 3-0 against Tarleton State with wins by 12, 10, and nine points. CBU won in Orem by 10 points in their lone visit with Shawnee Nordstrom connecting on seven 3-pointers. In Riverside, the Lancers won by 31 and then lost by two in mid-February as a late rally came up short.
In the Orleans Arena, CBU is 7-3 over five tournament appearances.
There are three players on the current roster with ties to the 2024 championship team that defeated SFA in Filipa Barros, Khloe Lemon, and Grace Schmidt. Barros and Schmidt did not play in that game due to injuries while Lemon connected on a 3-pointer and logged 14 minutes of playing time.
In the 2023 final (a loss to Southern Utah) Schmidt scored 10 points with a pair of rebounds in 17 minutes of work. Barros was scoreless in 25 minutes of playing time.
CBU has access to postseason basketball next week through either the NCAA tournament (with two more wins) or the WBIT (as regular season champion).
2. ACU: Can the Wildcats get past the Vegas curse?
It’s been one and done for the Wildcats these last three years at WACVegas.
In 2023, the Wildcats had a double-digit lead and then fell by a point to Sam Houston State at Michelob Arena.
In 2024, Tarleton State’s defense held the Wildcats to 41 points in a 13-point loss at Orleans Arena, also in the quarterfinal round.
And a year ago, Amanda Barcello and Tahlia White combined to go 10-13 from 3-point range as Utah Valley defeated ACU 85-75 in a quarterfinal matchup.
Payton Hull, Emma Troxell, and Breanna Davis were part of both of those losses while Natalia Chavez and Erin Woodson played on last year’s side that lost to UVU in their opening game.
If that weren’t motivation enough, ACU had regular-season champion CBU on the ropes twice at Moody Coliseum…only to fall on a late Khloe Lemon 3-pointer in the first home game and a Filipa Barros 3-point barrage in overtime on Senior Night.
You can bet the Wildcats would love nothing more than to earn another shot at CBU on Saturday afternoon.
In order to do that, they’ll have to get by either UT Arlington, Utah Tech, or Southern Utah. ACU swept UT Arlington and Utah Tech (although their last couple of games against the Trailblazers were games decided by ten points or less). Southern Utah took two of three games in Cedar City, both by ten points or less.
As the No. 2 seed ACU would only need to win two games to get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019. The Wildcats do have access to postseason basketball, either as the WAC’s NCAA tournament representative (by winning this week in Las Vegas) or in the WNIT as an automatic selection.
3. SUU: Can the TBirds get back on track defensively after a three game losing streak to end the regular season?
The finish to regular season play wasn’t at all what Tracy Mason and company were looking for with a shot at the regular season title in their hands.
Southern Utah went 0-3 on the final road trip, dropping games at Utah Tech, CBU, and Utah Valley by an average of 18 points a game.
Defense has been the issue for Southern Utah. Opponents are shooting a combined 96-204 (47.1%) from the field in their last three games, which includes 22-63 (34.9%) from 3-point range.
If they can get right on that end of the floor, the TBirds have shown that they have the ability to keep up with the WAC’s top offenses.
Sierra Chambers and Ava Uhrich are having the best years of their careers to-date and Brooklyn Fely has made enough of a splash that she should garner some Newcomer of the Year votes.
Devyn Kiernan, Morgan Triguero, and Kortney Doman have been excellent from 3-point range…combining to make 103 shots from beyond the arc.
Southern Utah would have to win three games in three days to earn a second NCAA tournament berth in four years.
With 16 wins against Division I opponents, Southern Utah can petition for WNIT at-large entry status if they do not prevail this week in Las Vegas. Their NET is outside the 120 mark that is listed on the criteria but we’ll see what Triple Crown officials decided to do if SUU chooses to file.