Gonzaga women move up to 16th in AP poll; Brynna Maxwell wins WCC Player of the Week

Winning is its own reward, but Brynna Maxwell and the Gonzaga women picked some other prizes on Monday.

Two days after a big win at Portland that put them alone in first place in the West Coast Conference, the Zags moved up four spots, to 16th, in the Associated Press poll announced Monday.

An hour later, Maxwell was named WCC Player of the Week despite playing just one game last week. But Maxwell made the most of it, setting a personal record by making six of seven shots from long range in the 73-66 win over the Pilots.

That performance not only kept Maxwell atop the Division 1 charts for 3-point shooting percentage but put her far ahead of the pack.

Through 19 games, Maxwell has made 56 of 103 long-range shots, good for 54.37%. No other Division 1 player is above 50%, with Lou Lopez Senecal of UConn almost five percentage points behind, at 49.45% (45 for 91).

Moreover, Maxwell is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in the country; her 56 makes are good for fifth place. Maxwell also leads the nation in free-throw percentage at 98.08%. Erin Houpt of Mercer is second at 96.83%.

As a team, Gonzaga continues to lead the nation in free-throw percentage. The Zags are hitting 233 out of 291, or 80.07%.

The win over Portland leaves the Zags at 17-2 overall and a game ahead of the WCC field at 7-0 in conference play.

Their move up the national rankings was boosted by Top 25 results elsewhere. Iowa State fell three spots, to 18th; Arizona dropped five spots, to 19th after a one-point loss to No. 8 Utah; and North Carolina State plummeted nine spots, to 20th, after dropping two games last week.

The Zags are ranked 36th in the NCAA’s NET rankings and 18th by RealTimeRPI.com.

Gonzaga is back on the road this week at Pacific on Thursday and Saint Mary’s on Saturday.