WBB: Wildcats Defend Moody, Lady Mavs Sweep SFA and More
Abilene Christian gave themselves a little bit of separation in the race to #WACVegas and the Lady Mavs give Avery Brittingham a win in her return to Nacogdoches
It was quite the busy week across the WAC as the second half of conference play began with some impressive results.
Race for the Regular Season Title
Stephen F. Austin started the week a game behind GCU and CBU in the loss column. However, the Ladyjacks had a tough week with losses in Edinburg to UTRGV and at home to UT Arlington in Avery Brittingham’s return.
The Ladyjacks shot a combined 37.6 percent in their two losses and hit 12 of 37 shots from beyond the arc (32.4 percent). SFA is now three games behind the Lancers and Lopes and have a one-game lead over Utah Tech for fourth place.
After needing a buzzer-beater from Chloe Webb to get by UT Arlington on Thursday at the College Park Center, CBU returned home to host Utah Tech.
No such late game heroics were needed on Saturday as the Lancers pulled away for a 73-65 win over the Trailblazers.
Webb led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Kinsley Barrington added 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Meanwhile, in Cedar City, four Lopes finished in double-digit scoring led by Naudia Evans’ 16 points to pace GCU to a 77-61 win.
Both GCU and CBU return to the Beehive State on Thursday for games with Utah Tech and Utah Valley, respectively, before their much anticipated matchup on Saturday in Riverside.
Wildcats Impressive at Home, Return to .500 in WAC play
Abilene Christian posted home wins over Seattle and Tarleton this week to break free of the pack of teams fighting for that eighth and final bid into this year’s WAC tournament.
Bella Earle averaged 17 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game in leading the Wildcats while shooting just under 50 percent from the field (33 percent from beyond the arc).
ACU finishes a four-game homestand by hosting UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin this week.
Redhawks Get Young His Second Win
Seattle got rookie head coach Skyler Young his first win on November 29th against Utah Valley at the Redhawk Center.
Nearly two and a half months later in Stephenville, against a Tarleton side fighting for WAC tournament eligibility, the Young and the Redhawks got win number two.
Julianna Walker led the Redhawks with 20 points, connecting on an impressive six 3-pointers as they prevailed 61-57.
The Redhawks welcome Southern Utah and Utah Tech this week.
Weekly Awards
It’s deja vu with the weekly awards as Chloe Webb and Gia Adams repeat as WAC Player and Newcomer of the Week.
Webb earns the Player of the Week honors for a fifth time this year while Adams earns Newcomer accolades for a second time.
Bracketology:
Both Her Hoop Stats and ESPN bracketology have GCU facing Southern California as a 14-seed in their most recent updates from Thursday night.
The projection is made with GCU in first place because they’ve played one more game in conference play.
Mailbag Questions:
We’ve got a few questions for the mailbag this week…
I think there are a few teams to watch out for that one could classify as underdogs.
For me, ACU leads the pack. Look at some of the Wildcats results this year…beating CBU in Moody in overtime (the rematch is in a week and a half in Riverside), and pushing SFA to overtime in Moody before falling in a game they should’ve won in regulation.
Julie Goodenough’s team has all the scoring weapons you could possibly need to compete in a tournament format from Addison Martin and Meredith Mayes in the paint to Bella Earle and Payton Hull at the guard spots.
Aspen Thornton announced she is leaving the program on Monday, which will make the Wildcats road a bit tougher.
The biggest question is can they get enough stops? Teams are shooting at a 42 percent clip in total field goal percentage and just under 31 percent from 3-point range but they are +4.9 rebounding so far.
UT Arlington also has impressed recently, taking CBU to the wire before falling on a Chloe Webb buzzer-beater last week and sweeping the season series with SFA.
It took a while but the Lady Mavs have put things together, and I think they have enough to do some damage in Vegas.
Adela Valkova and Avery Brittingham are a formidable duo in the post. Gia Adams and Taliyah Clark have developed into one of the better guard tandems in the conference.
Although Utah Tech has been without Emily Issacson this year and now will be without Macie Warren the rest of the season, the Trailblazers can do some damage as well.
Preseason Player of the Year Breaunna Gillen, Maddie Warren and Maggie McCord will all have to be bigger scoring threats than they already are.
With the tournament requiring four games in four days if you don’t have a bye, watch the minutes played for these top three, who all nearly see 30 minutes or more per game.
This is a really good question.
Utah Tech has eight wins with seven games left. If they split weeks to the end, they’ll finish at 11-9.
Anyone chasing will likely have to get to 11 wins minimum and see what happens with the WAC Resume Seeding math.
UT Arlington is finished with SFA and GCU, they have one left with CBU and start the week at seven wins. They’ll have the best chance to pass Utah Tech.
A lot of where ACU finishes in the regular season race depends on how they handle a three-game stretch starting Saturday of SFA, CBU and GCU…all of which are on the road.