WBB: Week 2 News and Notes
Two weeks are gone in the 2025-2026 regular season and the WAC has had some big wins and big individual performances....let's take a look at what has transpired thus far
Two weeks in and still a month and a half until the opening night of conference play but still a lot has transpired from newcomers making an early impact to teams coming through with big wins. Let’s open up the WAC Hoops Nation Women’s Basketball Notebook on a Friday afternoon.
ACU ranked in National Mid-Major Poll:
Preseason favorite ACU was ranked 13th and 11th in the most recent collegeinsider.com women’s basketball mid-major polls. UT Arlington received votes in the initial poll but was dropped out after losses against Houston and Missouri State.
Johansson leading country in blocks:
As of Friday morning CBU’s Emma Johansson is tied for the lead in total blocks with 14. She’s also tied for first in per game blocks at 4.67 (also first in the WAC). Kira Reynolds of UT Arlington and Utah Tech’s Lauren Crocker are also in the national top-20 for shot blocking.
Team Notes:
Southern Utah (3-0) Southern Utah did exactly what they were supposed to do in a opening night non DI win over Park University. But their win over Washington State on Nov. 8 might be the program’s biggest non-conference victory in recent history. Brooklyn Fely showed that she’ll be in that Newcomer of the Year conversation come March and one doesn’t have to watch too much tape to see Sierra Chambers and Kortney Doman playing with a newfound confidence. Ava Uhrich was quiet on opening weekend but expect her to get going as the year goes on. Tracy Mason has emphasized playing with a faster tempo this year and if the pace against Washington State is what we’ll see going forward their matchups against ACU, CBU, and Utah Tech will be shootouts.
ACU (3-0) The preseason favorites have done what they’re supposed to early on, with a pair of relatively stress free wins over DI opponents in UIW and UTRGV. Natalia Chavez had a breakout performance in the win over the Vaqueros with 20 points on 6-9 3-point shooting. As expected the Wildcat defense is picking up right where they left off, forcing 87 turnovers so far in three games. Erin Woodson, Payton Hull, Meredith Mayes, and Emma Troxell all also picked up where they left off offensively last year. ACU leads the WAC in steals and turnovers forced as of Friday morning.
CBU (3-0) Emma Johansson is amongst the country’s leaders in shot blocking and rebounds early on and Filippa Barros hasn’t missed a beat. What’s been really impressive to watch so far are the Lancers newcomers. Lauren Olsen had 27 points in a comeback win at Pacific on Saturday and followed it up with 15 more in a Wednesday night victory at Long Beach State. Chance Bucher made a splash in her debut with 22 points and after a tough Saturday at Pacific added 15 more against Long Beach State. And Khloe Lemon very quickly got back up to speed after missing CBU’s season-opener against UC Riverside with a 17 point outing on Wednesday. Jarrod Olson’s offseason emphasis on defense has paid dividends early, with the Lancers holding all three opponents below 60 points. They are second in the WAC in scoring defense along with first in field goal percentage defense and second in 3-point percentage defense as of Friday.
Utah Tech (2-0) JD Gustin may have found a star in Nevada transfer Kaylee Borden, averaging nearly 17 points a game so far in wins over Northern Arizona and Omaha. Maddie Warren has had a pair of 11 point outings, coming through with big shots late to propel the Trailblazers in wins. And Calyn Dallas is coming through big while handling an increased workload at the early part of the year.
Utah Valley (2-1) Dan Nielsen’s team looked impressive in an opening night win at Cal State Bakersfield and had to rally from a deficit at LMU to start 2-0. They trailed Utah by 13 after three quarters before things got away. Amanda Barcello, Tessa Chaney, and Halle Nelson have all picked up where they left off offensively from last year. The Wolverines have also gotten a nice contribution from Colorado State transfer Kaylee Headrick (10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest).
Tarleton State (2-2) The Texans have 12 newcomers, seventh most in the country, and have been competitive from the outset. One could realistically say that they are a minute or so away from a 3-1 mark so far, with a couple of late free throw misses against Arkansas State the difference between a win and overtime loss. Gia Adams and Shadasia Brackens (12.3 points per game each) are a formidable 1/2 punch offensively and Kyriana Jones has more than taken advantage of her promotion into the starting lineup thus far (12.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game). They’ve taken the pressure off all-WAC preseason selection Jakoriah Long offensively thus far. Elodie Lutbert and Tessa Engelmann have traded starts in the post as Brock and company figure out who will start in place of Faith Acker, who went to Oklahoma State during the offseason.
UT Arlington (1-2) The Lady Mavs made their 2025-2026 home debut with a solid win against Wyoming, a WBIT qualifier last year and Mountain West tournament championship runner-up. Kira Reynolds has stepped up in a big way for the Lady Mavs, averaging 13.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game so far. She is one of five freshman to average a double-double at this point. In fact, a pair of newcomers lead UT Arlington’s offense as Jadyn Atchison (Old Dominion/Colorado) is second in scoring at 10.3 points per game.
The Week Ahead:
Friday, November 14
5pm Central: Tennessee State at UT Arlington
5pm Pacific: San Jose State at CBU
5:30pm CT: ACU at SFA
6pm MT: Pepperdine at Utah Valley
Saturday, November 15
2pm MT: Utah Tech at Weber State
2pm PT: Southern Utah at Idaho
Sunday, November 16
2pm CT: UT Arlington at Lamar
2pm CT: McNeese State at Tarleton State
Monday, November 17
6pm MT: Benedictine at Utah Valley
Tuesday, November 18
6pm MT: Benedictine at Southern Utah
Wednesday, November 19
11am CT: ACU at North Texas
6pm PT: CSUN at CBU
Thursday, November 20
6pm MT: Weber State at Utah Valley
6:30pm CT: Tarleton State at TCU
Friday, November 21
6pm PT: Southern Utah at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Saturday, November 22
4pm HST: UT Arlington v Colorado (in Hawaii)
7pm MT: Portland State at Utah Tech