STEPHENVILLE, Tex. - Seattle U women's basketball will wrap up the 2022-23 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular season this week, taking on Abilene Christian and Tarleton. The Redhawks open the road stretch with the Texans on Tuesday at 4 p.m. pacific time before traveling to Abilene, Tex., to face off with the Wildcats on Thursday also at 4 p.m. pacific time.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
- Tuesday, February 28 at 4 p.m. pacific time
- Seattle U (5-21, 5-11 WAC) at Tarleton (7-21, 1-16 WAC)
- Stephenville, Texas
- Live Stats
- ESPN+
- Thursday, March 2 at 4 p.m. pacific time
- Seattle U at Abilene Christian (13-14, 7-9 WAC)
- Abilene, Texas
- Live Stats
- ESPN+
VIVA LAS VEGAS
Seattle U clinched a berth to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament next week in Las Vegas, Nevada, after Tarleton was mathematically eliminated on Wednesday night. The Redhawks currently rank 11th in the WAC Resume Seeding standings, placing them in a first round matchup with UT Arlington if the tournament started today. The Redhawks have gone to the WAC Tournament in all seven seasons under Head Coach Suzy Barcomb.
DYNAMIC DUO
The junior duo of Peyton Howard and Irena Korolenko combined for 40 points in SU's last victory over Utah Valley on Saturday. The pairing combined to shot 13-for-20 from the field and 8-for-13 from three-point range to push the Redhawks over the Wolverines.
Korolenko's 24 points marked a new-career high as well as knocking down six three-pointers. Howard scored 16 points on the afternoon and tied her career-high in rebounds with eight.
CLARK FROM DOWNTOWN
Sophomore Taliyah Clark is playing some of her best basketball, leading the team in scoring in four of the last nine games. The 5-11 guard was on fire from three-point range against Utah Valley, finishing the evening 7-for-8 from distance to tie Seattle U's DI record for made threes in a single game. Clark's seven threes also ties for the single best three-point performance in the WAC this season.
The native of Lynnwood, Wash., didn't slow down against Utah Tech, knocking down another four three-pointers in a 17 point afternoon. Clark would finish that weekend 11-for-18 from long range for a superb 61%. During this span, Clark has set new career-highs in points (25), rebounds (nine) and steals (six).
SCORING CAREER-HIGHS
10 different Redhawks have recorded new career-highs in scoring this season, with sophomore Taliyah Clark's 25 against Utah Valley in Orem leading the group. Junior Irena Korolenko poured in six threes for 24 points against Utah Valley last week, while fellow junior Peyton Howard scored 21 in the final game of nonconference at UC San Diego.
Sophomore Julianna Walker and freshman Mya Moore both logged 18 against Portland State and Eastern Washington, respectively, while freshman Noemie Bariteau (12), Asta Blauenfeldt (13), Sheridan Liggett (10), Lisa Michaelsen (11) and Makayla Moore (13) have all recorded double-digit games of their own.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Seattle U's matchup with Tarleton will mark the Texans final game of the season after being eliminated from the WAC Tournament last week. The Texans fell in both their matchups last week, opening with an eight point loss to UTRGV on Wednesday and narrowing losing to Southern Utah (78-80) on Saturday. Tarleton currently holds a record of 7-21 overall with a 1-16 record in WAC play.
Tarleton rarely assists on made baskets and struggle to rebound, averaging the second lowest number of assists at 11.79 and the least amount of rebounds at 33.14 in the conference. The Texans do a good job of winning the turnover battle, holding the fifth best turnover margin at 2.00 per game. The Redhawks are 3-1 all-time against the Texans, taking the matchup earlier this season, 62-49.
If the tournament started today, Abilene Chrisitan would be the ninth seed with -3.52 resume seeding points, holding an overall record of 13-14 with a 7-9 record in WAC play. The Wildcats won their sole matchup last week, taking down Southern Utah, 89-83, in overtime. Maleeah Langstaff was the star player of the night, scoring 34 points on 14-for-21 from the field to go along with eight rebounds.
The Wildcats are one of the better shooting teams in the conference, ranking third in field goal (43.3%) and three-point percentage (32.1%). They rank 10th in the conference in steals per game (7.81) and free throw percentage (68.7%). The Redhawks took the only previous contest between the two schools, winning 75-61 in Seattle last season.
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