It was a short week that covered the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. But impressive single-game performances from Azusa Pacific, Dominican's Keyonee Neal and Academy of Art's Lucia Revenga were definitely noteworthy and award worthy.
2023-24 Standings
2023-24 Statistics
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Dominican's Keyonee Neal, G, Soph., 5-10, Rohnert Park, Calif.
Dominican's Keyonee Neal filled the stat sheet during her teams 61-41 win over Westmont on Saturday (Dec. 30). The sophomore guard helped the Penguins improve to 10-3 with a double-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. The 2022-23 PacWest Freshman of the Year converted 7-of-14 shots from the field in an all-around efficient night. It was the first double-double of the season for Neal and her second highest point total of the year.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Academy of Art's Lucia Revenga, G, Fr., 5-9, Madrid, Spain
Academy of Art's Lucia Revenga took matters into her own hands late in the Urban Knight's 55-44 win over Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday (Jan. 2). But the freshman did it on the defensive end of the court with seven steals against the Sharks, with five of them coming in the fourth quarter. Trailing 30-28 at the half, the Urban Knights shut down the Sharks on the defensive end, allowing just seven points in each quarter--with Revenga taking away opportunities before they could develop. Overall, the Spain native added seven rebounds and had 13 points, nailing eight of her nine free throw attempts.
BREAK DOESN'T COOL COUGARS; The PacWest Team of the Week is
Azusa Pacific. The Cougars ended the 2023 calendar year with an impressive 75-56 win over Concordia to improved to 10-3 on the season and a PacWest-leading 4-0 record in league play. APU has now won six games in a row. In this contest on the road, the Cougars scored 48 first half points, including 29 in the second quarter to salt the victory away early. As usual, a balanced attack dotted the scoresheet with
Amayah Kirkman and
Molly Whitmore leading the way with 13 points each.
TyLee Manuel added 12 points and five rebounds, while
Paige Uyehara paced the defense with five steals.
REGIONAL WATCH: The PacWest has two teams in the top four and three squads in the top eight in the last D2CIDA West Region Women's Basketball Poll. The Cougars checked in at No. 3, with Dominican at No. 4 and Fresno Pacific 8. The poll comes out each Tuesday (Dec. 19), with the next poll scheduled for Jan. 9. Here is the last list, with records through Dec. 18. (1) Montana State Billings 10-3, (2) Western Washington 8-2,
(3) Azusa Pacific 8-3, (4) Dominican 9-2 , (5) CS San Marcos 6-3, (6) Central Washington 9-3, (7) Sonoma State 7-2,
(8) Fresno Pacific 8-2, (9) Stanislaus State 9-5, (10) CS Los Angeles 5-4. RV--Cal Poly Pomona,
Point Loma.
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Freshman
Hannah Golan of Point Loma flirted with a triple-double during the Sea Lions' 77-53 win over Chaminade on Saturday (Dec. 30). The 5-11 guard had nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in just 22 minutes of action off the bench,
Tavia Rowell had 17 points and six boards in the same game...If Academy of Art's
Lucia Revenga didn't win the Defender of the Week, it could easily have been the Urban Knights'
Yasmine Sifaoui. The 6-2 center had 14 rebounds in their win over Hawai`i Pacific, 10 of them on the defensive side of the court...OR, it could have been the Sharks'
Megan Jones, who like Golan flirted with a triple-double with eight points, nine rebounds and EIGHT blocked shots. The eight swats equals the second highest total in PacWest history...In Dominican's win over Westmont, DUC's
Alaiyah San Juan had 16 points and six assists. Westmont's
Sage Kramer just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds...Hawai`i Hilo had a big road win at Biola with a 74-67 victory over the Eagles.
Keirstyn Agonias had 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting to key the win.
Jordan Rabe had a double-double for Biola with 14-10...Biola bounced back after the new year with a 72-53 victory over Chaminade. The Eagles had four players in double figures, while the Silverswords were led by
Sameera Elmasri's 18 points...Concordia wrapped up the week with a 62-55 win over Hilo, pulling away from the Vulcans last in the fourth quarter.
Kailee Cruz had 16 for UHH.
Camryn Kiernan led the Golden Eagles with 14 points.
THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: The PacWest schedule this week, in terms of the weekly awards, is a short one with January 3-6 as the evaluation period, That starts with today's big contest in San Diego between Fresno Pacific and Point Loma. Thursday features Chaminade at Concordia, Hawai`i Hilo at Azusa Pacific, and Hawai`i Pacific at Dominican. Friday's games are Academy of Art at Westmont and Fresno Pacific at Biola, with Saturday's games to wrap the week are Hilo at Point Loma and Chaminade at Azusa Pacific. To see the complete schedule and results,
click here.