MONMOUTH, Ore.—After going 4-0 to start the season, the Western Oregon University women's basketball team will open conference play at home this week by hosting Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific.
TICKETS: Single game tickets for WOU basketball games are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and students... WOU students receive free entry to all regular-season WOU athletic events with a student ID... Contact the WOU box office at 503-838-8917 for information regarding season tickets >>>
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ABOUT SAINT MARTIN'S (4-3): The Saints had a four-game winning streak snapped on Nov. 25 with an 89-73 setback versus Valdosta State… After a 5-23 record a year ago, SMU was picked to finish in 11th place according to the GNAC Coaches' Preseason Poll… Elin Johansson leads the GNAC with 19.0 points per game and is followed by 12.7 ppg from Saniah Simpson-Patu…Johansson has led the team in scoring in six of the team's seven games, including posting a season high 27 points against the Academy of Art on Nov. 24… SMU averages 68.7 points and has allowed 65.7 points per game this season.
ABOUT SEATTLE PACIFIC (5-0): The Falcons were picked as league runner-ups in the GNAC Coaches' Preseason Poll… SPU tallied two first-place votes in the poll… SPU has opened the season with five wins despite playing just one contest at home… The Falcons holds a scoring margin of +14.2 points per game and a rebounding margin of +8.4, good for second in the league… Jordan McPhee leads the team and is ranked No. 3in the GNAC with 16.6 points per game… Teammate Courtney Hollander adds 11.4 points and a team best 8.6 rebounds per contest… Lindsay Lee, the team's sharpshooter, has connected on 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from 3-point range and averages 9.8 points per game.
ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (4-0): The Wolves enter the week tied for fourth in the GNAC by scoring 74.0 points per game and No. 5 defensively by holding its opponents to 61.0 points per game… The Wolves are 10th out of 11 teams in the GNAC in percentage from 3-point range (31.4 percent) but are second best in the league by holding the opposition to a paltry 23.7 percent rate from deep… The Wolves lead the GNAC with a +10.2 rebounding margin.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Following the 4-0 start, Western Oregon broke into the top 10 in the NCAA DII SIDA West Region Media Poll on Nov. 27… The Wolves tallied five points in the poll to come in at No. 10… Alaska Anchorage earned 60 points and all six first-place votes for the top spot and was followed by Seattle Pacific (53 pts) and Azusa Pacific (49)… Six of the top 10 spots were representatives of the GNAC… Along with WOU and the top two squads from UAA and SPU, Simon Fraser (5th), Montana State Billings (6th) and Northwest Nazarene (9th) also cracked the top 10.
FAST STARTS: The Wolves 4-0 start to the season is the third best in program history (since 1976-77) and the best since the program transitioned to NCAA DII (2000)… WOU got off to a school record 6-0 start to open the 1983-84 season while the 1986-87 team went 5-0.
WINNING STREAKS: The 1980-81 team won 18 straight contests following a season-opening loss to Portland State while the 1995-96 team won a school record 20 contests en route to winning the NAIA DII National Championship… WOU's longest winning streak during the NCAA era reached nine games during the 2001-02 season.
BALANCED ATTACK: Through four games, five different Wolves are averaging at least 10 points per game…
Shelby Snook leads the crew with 14.0 points per game and is followed by Sydney Azoor at 11.3 ppg… Keyonna Jones (11.0 ppg),
Maddy Pape (10.3 ppg) and
Savannah Heugly (10.0 ppg) have also averaged double figures for the Wolves.
BOSCHMA ON THE BOARDS: Helping the team lead the GNAC with a +10.2 rebounding margin,
Kaylie Boschma leads the team and is ranked No. 4 in the conference with 8.8 rebounds per game… Boschma has either led or shared for the team lead in all four games this season for the Wolves, including a season-best 10 rebounds against Notre Dame de Namur (Nov. 17).
FREE THROW LEADERS: WOU leads the GNAC and is ranked No. 20 in the NCAA DII with an 80.4 percent rate at the free throw line… The Wolves have converted 82-of-102 attempts from the charity stripe.
CALI TRIP: The Wolves played their first road game of the season at Notre Dame de Namur on Nov. 17, coming away with an 8-1-62 win over the Argonauts…
Maddy Pape scored a game high 18 points coming off the bench while
Shelby Snook added 16 points… The Wolves outrebounded NDNU 48-to-32 with
Kaylie Boschma grabbing a game-high 10 boards.
HAMPTON INN RECAP: The Wolves went 2-0 to start the year for the second straight season with an 81-70 win over Dixie State in the season opener followed by a 70-50 victory against Cal State San Bernardino while hosting the Hampton Inn DII Shootout on Nov. 11-12…
Sydney Azorr led the team with 13.- points per game in the opening weekend and was immediately followed by
Shelby Snook (12.5 ppg).. Snook also grabbed 8.0 rebounds per game over the weekend while
Kaylie Boschma posted an even 8.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the two contests… The Wolves were steady at the free throw line in the opening weekend, hitting 48-of-58 for an 82.8 percent conversion rate.
SEVEN RE-UP: The Wolves top seven scorers from the 2016-17 season all return to the club this year with
Shelby Snook (13.6 ppg) and
Sydney Azorr (10.0) averaging double figures… Snook's average was good for No. 8 in the GNAC listings… Overall, WOU returns 1,438 of the 1,660 points (86.6 percent) from last year's team.
HIGH SCORERS: Six different players led the team or tied for the team lead in points in games last season…
Shelby Snook led the team with 13 games where she led the team in scoring and was followed by
Kaylie Boschma (5),
Jasmine Miller (5),
Savannah Heugly (3),
Sydney Azorr (3) and
Ali Nelke (2).
FOR STARTERS: Of the 135 starting spots from last year over the course of the team's 27 games, 128 are returning this season (94.9 percent)… The lone senior last season, guard
Launia Davis, started seven contests and averaged 3.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game… Four players started at least 20 games a year ago:
Shelby Snook (24),
Kaylie Boschma (23),
Jasmine Miller (22) and
Ali Nelke (22) while
Sydney Azorr was called on for 19 starts.
SNOOK GOES FOR 30: Shelby Snook recorded 31 points against Saint Martin's on Dec. 3, 2016 for a WOU single-game high a year ago… The total tied for the fourth most in a single game by a GNAC player last season… Snook connected on 10-of-17 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the 70-56 win over the Saints... Snook reached the mark again with 30 points at MSU Billings on Jan. 14 where she converted 8-of-15 attempts from deep… Her eight makes from beyond the 3-point line was a GNAC single-game high… Snook was one of only four players in the GNAC to record multiple 30-point games last season.
AZORR FOR THREE: Sydney Azorr made at least two 3-pointers in 10 separate games a year ago, including at least four makes on three occasions… Azorr hit a season-best five 3-point attempts at home against Concordia on Feb. 7.
PRESEASON ALL-GNAC: Senior guard
Sydney Azorr was one of 15 players selected to the 2017-18 Preseason All-GNAC Team... Nine guards were chosen out of the top 15 players in the league with all but three honorees entering their senior season.
2017-18 GNAC PRESEASON POLL: The Wolves were picked to finish in ninth place according to the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll… Picking up six first-place votes, Alaska Anchorage was chosen to repeat as conference champions after going 30-2 overall and 20-0 in GNAC play a year ago… Also picking up first-place votes were: Seattle Pacific (2), Central Washington (2) and Northwest Nazarene (1).
2016-17 REVIEW: The Wolves ended last year with an 8-19 overall record and a 4-16 record in GNAC play to place 10th in the league standings… were ranked ninth in the GNAC after scoring 61.5 points per game while also ranked ninth by allowing 69.9 points per contest.
