WAC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Techs Ayana Walker has been named the Western Athletic Conference womens basketball Player of the Week.
Walker, a senior forward from Houston, Texas (Westbury HS), led the Lady Techsters to an 81-66 win over No. 17 Michigan. Walker had a career-high 32 points and added 11 rebounds in No. 5 Louisiana Techs season opener.
The WAC Preseason Player of the Year dominated the second half, scoring 20 of her 32 points in the second period. Walker also recorded three blocked shots which moved her into third place all-time in the Lady Techsters record book with 191 blocked shots.
ith the win, Louisiana Tech moves to 24-4 in season openers and 164-77 against ranked opponents.
OTHERS NOMINATED Fresno State's Aritta Lane had an outstanding Fresno State debut, coming off the bench for a game-high 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs past Delaware State 71-49. The Aiea, Hawaii, native also had two assists and was 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Hawai`i's Christen Roper was named Most Outstanding Player of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic by averaging 18.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. She also added 4.5 blocks in the two Wahine wins. Nevada's Katie Golomb led the Wolf Pack to a 1-1 start scoring 36 points in two games. In their win against Memphis, Golomb had 21 points and eight rebounds. She also had 15 points and five rebounds in the loss to No. 13 Baylor. Rice's Kara Liggett scored 15 points in the Owls win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. She scored 13 of 15 in the second half to lead the Owls. UTEP's Danielle Brown had 14 points and seven rebounds in UTEP's loss to Southwest Texas State. Brown returned to the court for the first time since tearing her ACL on Dec. 30, 2001. Tulsa's Alyssa Shrive, a transfer from Iowa State, averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two losses. She also averaged 5.5 blocks per game.
LOUISIANA TECH DEFEATS NO. 17 MICHIGAN, 81-66
Louisiana Tech senior Ayana Walker showed why she is the most valuable player for Louisiana Tech.
The 6-foot-3-inch senior scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the sixth-ranked Lady Techsters (1-0) to an 81-65 win over No. 17 Michigan (0-1) in the Thomas Assembly Center.
However, Walker didn't start the night out as strong as she finished it. Although the Houston, Texas, native scored 12 first half points, her effort wasn't what it should have been, according to Tech Head Coach Leon Barmore With Tech trailing 30-25 with 4:19 remaining in the first half, Walker led Tech on a 16-5 run scoring eight points as the Lady Techsters entered the halftime locker room leading 41-35.
The Tech perimeter players struggled offensively in the first half, hitting only six of 23 shots, including only three of nine from the three-point line. However, Smith, Obaze and the entire Tech defense forced Michigan into 15 first half turnovers which offset the Wolverines 52 percent field goal percentage in the first half.
Tech began the second half where it left off last in the first as the Lady Techsters built a 60-44 lead thanks to a 19-9 run. Michigan was unable to cut the Tech lead to any less than 12 the rest of the way.
Senior guard Essence Perry added 11 points and six rebounds while Smith added 11 points, three assists and three steals in her collegiate debut.
Center LeeAnn Bies led Michigan with 23 points, while guard Alayne Ingram added 13.
WAC EXPANDS TO 10 After just one year as a nine-team league, the WAC expanded to 10 for the 2001-02 season. The Boise State Broncos and Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters joined the conference July 1, 2001, while TCU departed for Conference USA.
PLAYER ACCOLADES In four preseason publications (Athlon, Basketball News, Lindys and Street & Smiths), Louisiana Tech senior center Ayana Walker was mentioned on the preseason All-America teams. Street & Smiths named Walker as one of the Terrific 10, one of the top players in the country. Walker was named a Basketball News second team All-American, while earning third team honors with the other two publications. Walker was also voted WAC preseason Player of the Year by the league coaches. Last season, the Texas native was an honorable mention All-America.
LOUISIANA TECH TRADITION Louisiana Tech enters the WAC for its first season and its 28th season of women's basketball as one of the elite programs in the history of the sport. The Lady Techsters have recorded 768 wins and only 128 losses during the previous 27 seasons, one of only two programs to win 750 or more games. Tech has participated in all 20 NCAA Tournaments (one of only two programs) while advancing to 13 Final Fours, playing in eight national title games and claiming three national championships.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONOREES
SMU's Kaci Alexander and Tyesha Glover were selected to the Boston University Womens Basketball Invitational All-Tournament team. Tulsa senior Carla Morrow and transfer Alyssa Shriver also earned all-tournament honors at the Bertha Teague Classic.
Hawai`i's Christen Roper was named Most Outstanding Player of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic. Joining Roper on the all-tournament team were junior forward Natasja Allen and senior point guard Janka Gabrielova
RETURNING ALL-WAC PLAYERS Several of the WACs top performers return. The first team All-WAC players that return include Fresno States Lindsay Logan and Nevadas Kate Smith. Returning second team All-WAC performers include Tulsas Leela Farr and Fresno States Omelogo Udeze. Two of the five players that made the All-Newcomer Team are back as well, including Rices Daneesh McIntosh and Fresno States Tiffany Simon, while four of the five members of the All-Newcomer team return, including Hawai`is April Atuaia, the WAC Freshman of the Year, Tulsas Candice Brewer, SMUs Andrea Cossey and Hawai`is Janka Gabrielova.
AROUND THE LEAGUE Boise State started the season 0-2 after losses to Weber State and BYU at home. This week the Broncos look to rebound with a home game against Idaho on November 23.
Fresno State returns all three of its All-WAC players this year. Lindsay Logan, a first-team selection, Omelogo Udeze, a member of the second team, and Tiffany Simon, an All-WAC defensive team pick, come back for their junior seasons in 2001-02. They comprised to make up the only threesome in the conference who averaged more than 12 points per game.
Hawai`i won the 2001 Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic with a 68-55 win over Portland State in the championship game. UH won its 13th-straight season opener with a 65-50 win over Washington State.
Louisiana Tech improved to 24-4 all-time in season openers with its 81-66 win over No. 17 Michigan in Ruston ... With her 32 point performance, Ayana Walker moves into 26th place in career scoring at La. Tech with 1,095 points ... With three three-pointers against the Wolverines, senior guard Essence Perry moves into a tie for ninth in career three pointers with 36.
Nevada was led by senior Katie Golomb in its 82-65 win over Memphis. Golomb had 21 points and eight rebounds in the win. The senior had 36 points (17-32) in the Wolf Pack's first two games.
Rice head coach Cristy McKinney becomes the all-time winningest basketball coach (men or women) at Rice with 135 wins after the Owls season-opener win. She surpasses former Rice womens coach Linda Tucker, who finished her 11 year (1978-89) Rice career 134-164. McKinney is now 135-98 and is in her ninth season with the Lady Owls ... Junior point guard Kim Lawson got off to a quick start dishing out six assists, while finishing second on the team in scoring with 11 points.
SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola needs five victories to eclipse the 200-career win mark. The Mustangs open the home portion of its season Saturday night against powerhouse Utah. SMU is 7-3 in home openers under Rompola.
UTEP takes on UT-Pan American this week. The Miners lead the series 11-3. But UT-Pan American took both games in the series last season, breaking UTEPs 10-game winning streak over the Lady Broncs. UTEP has a 5-1 record over UTPA in El Paso, is 5-1 in Edinburg and the series is tied 1-1 at neutral sites.
TULSA senior Carla Morrow averaged 14.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in TUs first two games. She was named to the Bertha Teague Classic All-Tournament team. She led all scorers with 18 points against Oklahoma State. With 776 career points, Morrow moved into third-place among TUs career scoring leaders. She also moved into third-place on the schools career rebounding list with 474.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN TULSA For the second-straight season, The University of Tulsa will serve as the host for the Mens and Womens 2002 WAC Williams Basketball Tournament. All games will be played at the 8,335-seat Donald W. Reynolds Arena. The seven, eight, nine and 10 seeded teams will play on Tuesday, March 5. The remaining eight teams will all play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 6, with the top seed competing versus the winner of the Tuesday eight-nine game, the No. 2 seed vs. the winner of the seven-10 game, the No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday. The site for the 2003 WAC Tournament has yet to be determined.