WBB: Week 3 Rewind
GCU and Utah Valley sweep the week, Southern Utah gets their first win over a Division I opponent of the year and a look at the week by the numbers...

When the week started, three undefeated teams were in WAC women’s basketball.
However, after three weeks of conference play, there is just one. Let’s take a look at the week that was in this Week 3 Rewind.
Lopes and Wolverines with undefeated weeks in completely opposite manners:
This week GCU and Utah Valley showed us that there is more than one way to reach the goal of an undefeated week.
In West Texas, GCU trailed for 59:07 out of a possible 80 minutes of action against Abilene Christian and Tarleton State. However, the Lopes stayed perfect in WAC play with a pair of fourth quarter comebacks.
Thursday night at Moody Coliseum the Lopes closed on a 16-1 run and held ACU without a field goal for the final 5:16 in an 81-67 win. The Wildcats’ last lead was 66-65 with 5:16 left after a Breanna Davis layup as ACU led for 29:28.
Trinity San Antonio, Laura Erikstrup, and Alyssa Durazo-Frescas combined to score 41 of GCU’s 49 second half points and 62 of 81 total points in that win. Bella Earle and Payton Hull fought valiantly to give ACU a chance, combining to record 46 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists but on this night it wasn’t enough.
Meanwhile, on Saturday night at Wisdom Gym against Tarleton State, the Lopes trailed by as many as 11 points and for 29:39 but prevailed in a defensive slugfest to complete the trip undefeated.
Laura Erikstrup was 10 for 14 at the free throw line, recording 16 points after intermission in the win. GCU, ninth nationally in field goal percentage, shot just 35.3% and failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time all year. The Lopes turned 19 Texan turnovers into 15 points.

Meanwhile, Utah Valley led for 69:31 out of a possible 80 minutes in wins over UT Arlington and Utah Tech.
Sisters Cambree Blackham and Ally Criddle both had career nights against the Lady Mavs in UVU’s 86-75 win. Blackham scored a career-high 23 points along with recording six assists. She also hit five of Utah Valley’s nine 3-pointers. Her older sister Criddle also set a new career-high in scoring with 18 points while recording eight assists.

Utah Valley’s 47.6% field goal shooting percentage on Thursday was the second highest output of the year.
On Saturday at Burns Arena in the Old Hammer Rivalry, except for one brief second quarter Trailblazer run, Utah Valley had a comfortable lead throughout a 62-46 win.
It was Tahlia White’s turn to shine, recording 18 points, five assists and three steals in the win. Danja Stafford-Collins added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds while Amanda Barcello chipped in 10 points.
Pair of career performances push ACU to bounce-back win in Riverside:
This week it was ACU’s turn to have a split schedule, playing Thursday at Moody Coliseum before boarding a flight Friday morning to Ontario for Saturday’s game against defending champion CBU.
Both squads were playing down two starters as Payton Hull and Mia Rivers were inactive for ACU while Grace Schmidt and Anayiah Tu’ua sat out for the Lancers.
On this day ACU jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, leading for 38:44 in a 71-56 win over the defending champions.
Meredith Mayes and Erin Woodson turned in career performances for the Wildcats in a bounce-back win. Mayes finished with 24 points and nine rebounds while Woodson, a transfer from Purdue-Fort Wayne recorded 13 points along with five steals.

“Mayes was the best player on the floor today and they simply kicked our butts in the paint,” CBU coach Jarrod Olson said. “To come here and put on that kind of performance just a day after a tough loss against GCU says something not only about the character of their team but the job Julie and her staff did in getting them to move on from Thursday .”
Khloe Lemon attempted to keep CBU in the game with her second 20 point performance in four games since returning from a foot injury but it wasn’t enough as the Lancers shot just 35% from the field.
“Khloe’s played well since coming back and has injected our team with a competitiveness we were missing while she was out,” Olson added. “We’re certainly glad to have her back.”
Southern Utah gets first win over a Division I opponent:
In Cedar City the Thunderbirds got not only their first win of WAC play but their first win over a Division I opponent with a 61-57 victory over Seattle U on Saturday.
Neither side shot the ball particularly well, finishing under 40% from the field in a game that featured two teams ranked second to last and last in scoring offense.

“It’s a different game if we don’t give up so many offensive rebounds but I’m so happy for them to get this win,” Thunderbirds coach Tracy Mason said in her postgame presser. “We needed to see this happen to know what we were capable of but there’s also a lot of stuff to work on moving forward.”
Tamia Stricklin’s 3-pointer with 4:04 left tied the game at 50. However, Southern Utah scored seven of the next nine points behind Samantha Johnston’s second 3-pointer of the game to take a 57-52 lead that ended up being enough down the stretch.
Ava Uhrich had 15 points, six rebounds and dished out a career-high six assists for the Thunderbirds. Meanwhile, Johnston added 12 points with six rebounds. Southern Utah also recorded 20 assists on 23 made shots.
Week 3 By the Numbers:
1: Number of undefeated teams left in the WAC
5: Number of steals recorded by Erin Woodson of Abilene Christian in Saturday’s 71-56 win at CBU.
10: Number of blocked shots by CBU’s Emma Johansson, the WAC’s leader in blocked shots so far this year, last week. She has 38 in total.
13: Number of assists recorded by Utah Tech’s Chardonay Hartley in Thursday’s win over Seattle U, tying a Trailblazer NCAA era record.
15: Number of games in a row that GCU’s Laura Erikstrup has been in double-digit scoring, matching the length of their winning streak.
20: Number of assists that Southern Utah recorded in total against Seattle U in Saturday’s win.
Fans Corner:
Have a question or comment you’d like addressed in next week’s rewind? Look for the tweet to post your question or just tag me on Twitter during the slate @derryl_golfer.
At this point I think this is the year GCU gets it done.
Tarleton and ACU gave away golden opportunities to create some chaos in the race this week. The Lopes have demonstrated they can win whatever kind of game you ask them to play thus far.
However, that’s two games in a row though that the Lopes have gotten off to slow starts and you have to think that at some point that will catch up with them.
This is a good question…
UT Arlington certainly has the size with Koi Love and Avery Brittingham to match Erikstrup and Brown when they get together in February. I think they’ll need to shoot the ball from 3-point range a little bit better to give themselves a chance in that game.
CBU and ACU both need to get healthy. They’ll also need to get some scoring help from their benches.
So far Tarleton State has done some nice things to start WAC play, putting scares into defending champion CBU and preseason favorite GCU, and winning a shootout against Utah Tech. Can the Texans close a close one out is the question?
If Utah Valley can kick their offense into a gear like Thursday’s 86 point outburst against UT Arlington I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Wolverines in that fight for a top four finish. The 86 points was a high against a Division I opponent this year.
Utah Tech, Southern Utah and Seattle U will likely be fighting to stay out of that play-in round in WAC tournament play.