WBB: Week Four Rewind
GCU continues the streak while UT Arlington and Utah Valley stay in hot pursuit, Southern Utah wins a thriller in Riverside, while Tarleton State enjoyed a bye with a bounce back win...
Week four saw a little bit of everything across the WAC women’s basketball landscape…
GCU kept the streak alive with a couple of convincing wins in Phoenix.
Utah Valley’s offense caught fire in a Saturday afternoon win at the UCCU Center.
And let’s not forget Southern Utah’s dramatic victory in Riverside over defending champion CBU.
Let’s take a look at the week that was and the week ahead in this edition of the Weekly Rewind.
Lopes set the Division I era record for longest winning streak as they embark on road trip:
GCU, after needing a pair of fourth quarter comebacks in West Texas last week to keep their winning streak alive, swept the week in a little less stressful manner and pushed their winning streak to 17.
Thursday night against Southern Utah, the Thunderbirds hung around for a little more than a quarter, trailing 29-23 after a Samantha Johnston 3-pointer. However, the Lopes closed on a 17-5 run, taking an 18 point lead to halftime and running to a comfortable 79-51 win.
Trinity San Antonio sparked the GCU offense with 21 points, four rebounds, and three assists in 22 minutes of work. Tiarra Brown added 17 points along with five rebounds and five assists. After going 0-14 from 3-point range against Tarleton State the Lopes went 8-14 from beyond the arc with Anna Ostlie going 3-5.

Saturday afternoon against Utah Tech, the Lopes used a 29-5 second quarter to run to a 78-43 win which pushed the streak to 17. It matches streaks from the 2006-2007 and 2010-2011 seasons where GCU competed as a member of the PacWest.
Ostlie added six more 3-pointers to her weekly tally and led GCU with 18 points, a career high as a Lope in her third straight start while Alyssa Durazo-Frescas recovers from injury. According to the Arizona Republic’s Richard Obert, Durazo-Frescas is expected back for next week’s road trip to Seattle U and Utah Valley.
Meanwhile, Laura Erikstrup recorded her sixth double-double of the year and third of WAC play with a 17 point and 11 rebound performance to finish the week.
Lady Mavs and Wolverines stay in hot pursuit of the Lopes:
Only two other teams at this point have less than three WAC losses in UT Arlington and Utah Valley.
UT Arlington needed a pair of fourth quarter pushes to get by Seattle on the road and a shorthanded Abilene Christian team at the College Park Center.
After three quarters at the Redhawk Center on Thursday the Lady Mavs led 45-43. Seattle U’s Julianna Walker and Sydnie Rodriguez hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 47 seconds to give them a chance in that fourth quarter. Olivia Moore’s 3-pointer with 7:07 left cut UT Arlington’s lead to 54-48 but a 9-2 Lady Mavs run put the game out of reach. Koi Love hit a 3-pointer and Avery Brittingham’s jumper finished the run.
Love finished with 22 points and eight rebounds while Brittingham chalked up another double-double with 10 points in addition to 10 rebounds and four assists. Nya Threatt and Alexsyah Goudeau were also in double-digit scoring.
Saturday’s win over Abilene Christian saw a short-handed Wildcats side hang around with UT Arlington before the Lady Mavs pulled away for a 71-52 win.
Meredith Mayes’ layup with 6:03 left in the third quarter cut UT Arlington’s lead to 39-37. However, a 10-2 Lady Mavs run capped by a Kendal Robinson layup restored a double-digit lead and UT Arlington held ACU at bay.
After Koi Love joined the 1,000 point club in their January 16 loss at Utah Valley it was Taliyah Clark hitting that mark on Saturday. Clark had 24 points with five 3-pointers in the win. She’s 8-21 from beyond the arc in her last three games.
Aspen Thornton had 14 points with eight assists against her old team while Koi Love and Avery Brittingham each had 12 points. Brittingham completed a second straight double-double with 10 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Utah Valley got a pair of wins over CBU and Seattle U in very different ways at home this week.
On Thursday it was their defense that got the job done in a 59-50 win over CBU. Utah Valley held the Lancers to just 26.8 percent field goal shooting. A 17-0 run took the Wolverines from down seven points to up by eight early in the fourth quarter. Nhug Bosch Duran’s 3-pointer with 4:14 left cut the Utah Valley lead to 48-46 but CBU couldn’t get back in front.
Tahlia White had 17 points and five rebounds to lead the way. Utah Valley also got a double-double from Halle Nelson of 10 points with 14 rebounds while Ally Criddle added 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Saturday afternoon the Wolverines offense caught fire in a 99-55 win over Seattle U, the largest margin of victory in conference play so far this year.

White scared a quadruple-double with 23 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals in the win. Amanda Barcello tied the program record for steals with eight in addition to a 17 point night which included four 3-pointers. Cambree Blackham added 14 points while Danja Stafford-Collins, Saige Gibb and Kylee Mabry each added 11 points.
The Wolverines set a high for 3-pointers made against a Division I opponent this year with 11 and for the fourth time in seven games shot better than 40 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, after forcing 36 Seattle U turnovers on Saturday, the Wolverines are ranked eighth in that category nationally as of Sunday morning. They’re also third in steals per game after adding 25 steals in the win. It’s the second highest steal total in program history.
Utah Valley has won four straight going into their Thursday bye and they’ll host GCU on Saturday.
Thunderbirds squeak by CBU on Ballena’s game winner in Riverside:
With 3:24 left on Saturday afternoon in Riverside things weren’t looking good for Southern Utah, trailing 62-52 at defending champion CBU and staring a 1-5 start to WAC play in the face.
However, the Thunderbirds held CBU without a field goal for the duration and behind a 12-1 closing run prevailed 64-63 on Daylani Ballena’s layup with three seconds left. The Thunderbirds had to dodge one last shot from CBU’s Anayiah Tu’ua, who previously hit a game-winner just before Christmas against Cal State Northridge, before celebrating.

Ballena finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Sydney Gandy, whose 3-pointer ignited the final TBirds push, finished with 14 points and connected on four shots from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Lexi Bull added a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Southern Utah has won two out of their last three games and will be in the AFEC for three straight starting Thursday with UT Arlington.
They’re tied with ACU at 2-4 in conference play. CBU color analyst Taylor Kilgore mentioned on the broadcast that it’s the kind of win that can spark a team going forward. We’ll see if they can carry that momentum into the rest of WAC play.
Texans enjoy the bye with big win in I-20 rivalry:
After a couple of disappointing losses last week Tarleton State hosted round one of the I-20 rivalry and used a 23-8 second quarter to defeat Abilene Christian 79-54.
Miannah Little had a career-high 24 points and hit six 3-pointers while adding five assists to lead the Texans. Tarleton State also got 14 points from Elise Turrubiates, 13 from Faith Acker and 12 points with six rebounds from Jakoriah Long. Areiona Rosborough scared a triple-double with 10 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.

It’s the third time in four games that Tarleton State has scored more than 70 points. In that stretch they are 2-1.
The Texans had Saturday’s bye before embarking on a stretch where they’ll play four of their next six games away from Wisdom Gym.
After a seventh place finish a year ago the Texans are currently tied for fourth with both games against Seattle U and both games with Utah Valley in the finishing stretch.
Week Four By the Numbers:
4: Number of wins by Tarleton State this year when the Texans score 70 or more points.
6: Number of wins by home teams this week…
17: Number of consecutive wins by GCU, who has not lost since November 18.
25: Number of steals recorded by the Utah Valley defense in Saturday’s win over Seattle U.
47: Number of turnovers forced by UT Arlington in wins over Seattle U and Abilene Christian.
The Week Ahead:
Note: All games on ESPN+
Thursday, January 30:
Grand Canyon at Seattle U 11:30 A.M. PT
California Baptist at Abilene Christian 6:00 P.M. CT
UT Arlington at Southern Utah 6:30 P.M. MT
Tarleton State at Utah Tech 7:00 P.M. MT
Idle: Utah Valley
Saturday, February 1:
UT Arlington at Utah Tech 1 P.M. MT
Tarleton State at Southern Utah 2 P.M. MT
Grand Canyon at Utah Valley 2 P.M. MT
Idle: CBU, ACU, and Seattle U