TCU WINS WILLIAMS WAC TOURNAMENT TCU won the 2001 Williams WAC Tournament title, claiming the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs, the top-seeded team, defeated ninth-seeded San Jose State, 74-53, fifth-seeded Rice, 76-58 in the semifinals and second-seeded Hawai`i, 66-58 to claim the title. In the championship game, junior forward Trisha Payne scored a game-high 26 points. TCU opened up with a 16-7 advantage at the 10:33 mark by going on an 11-0 run and ended the half with a 34-18 lead. The Frogs held the Wahine to a 15.2 percent (5-for-33) in the first stanza, while the Frogs made 14-of-38 attempts (36.8 percent). The Wahine cut the lead to 10 midway through the second half, but the Frogs made four-straight shots, including a three-pointer by Amy Porter, to push the lead up to 19. Hawai`i came back and got as close as five points at 61-56, but TCU made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM TCU and Hawai`i each placed two players, while one SMU player was named to the WAC All-Tournament team selected by the media. TCU's Tricia Payne won the Most Valuable Player honor while teammate Amy Porter received all-tournament accolades. Kylie Galloway and Dainora Puida of Hawai`i and D-dra Rucker of SMU rounded out the team.
RECORDS SET Several records were broken at last week's WAC Tournament. Individually, Hawai`i's Dainora Puida broke the record for most rebounds in a tournament with 38. San Jose State's Danada Smith tied the single-game tournament record for three-pointers attempted with 14. The record is also held by TCU's Jill Sutton, set during the 1998 tournament. TCU set a new tournament team record for three-pointers made (27) and three-pointers attempted (66). Rice set the single game record for most field goals attempted (83), while TCU tied the record for most three-pointers made in a game with 12. Fresno State set the single game record for the most rebounds with 58, while the Hawai`i/SMU contest set the record for most combined points in a game with 185. Finally, this year's WAC Tournament had the first overtime
games in tournament history (Rice/Nevada and Hawai`i/SMU).
TCU WINS WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE For the first time in school history, TCU won the WAC regular-season title. The Horned Frogs clinched the title by defeating San Jose State, 66-54 on Feb. 27 in Fort Worth. TCU recorded its first 20-win season in school history and has been very balanced in scoring as seven different players have led the team in scoring and eight have led the team in rebounding. The Horned Frogs are led by junior Kati Safaritova (12.0 ppg), junior Tricia Payne (11.9 ppg) and seniors Janice Thomas (9.3 ppg), Amy Porter (9.0 ppg) and Jill Sutton (8.6 ppg). Thomas also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.9 per game.
HAWAI`I CLINCHES SECOND PLACE With a 77-56 victory over UTEP on March 1, Hawai`i clinched second place in the WAC for the second-straight season. Hawai`i has three players averaging in double figures this season, including Crystal Lee (16.1 ppg), Kylie Galloway (15.2 ppg) and Dainora Puida (11.2 ppg). Puida also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 8.3 boards per contest.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC owns an all-time record of 14-31 (.3111) in NCAA Tournament games. The nine teams currently in the WAC own a 7-16 (.304) record, 3-5 (.375) as WAC members. Last season, SMU and Rice each recorded upset victories in the first round. The Mustangs defeated North Carolina State, 64-63 in Durham, N.C., and then lost to Old Dominion, 96-76 in second round action. Rice defeated UC Santa Barbara, 67-64 in Santa Barbara, and lost to North Carolina, 83-50 in the second round.
THE WAC IN THE WNIT The WAC owns an all-time record of 10-12 (.455) in WNIT games. The nine teams currently in the WAC own an 8-9 (.471) record in WNIT games, 4-6 (.400) as WAC members. Last season, Hawai`i lost in the first round to Saint Mary's, 75-60.
AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD TCU has a 1-3 (.250) combined record against teams participating in the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs' victory was over Stephen F. Austin, 67-56 at home, while their three losses were to Tennessee, 83-61 at home, Texas, 70-49 at home and Arkansas, 81-65 on the road.
NCAA OPPONENTS Here's a quick look at TCU's first round opponent: Penn State, currently ranked 22nd in the nation, is 19-9 overall and is the No. 6 seed in the East Region. The Lady Lions, an at-large selection out of the Big Ten, is making their 17th NCAA appearance. Penn State has four players averaging in double figures and are led by National Freshman of the Year, Kelly Mazzante. Mazzante is averaging 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and is shooting .374 from three-point range. Also averaging in double figures is senior guard Lisa Shepherd (14.5 ppg), senior forward Maren Walseth (13.2 ppg) and junior forward Rashana Barnes (11.5 ppg). Barnes also leads the team in rebounds,averaging 11.5 per game.
HAWAI`I IN THE WNITHawai`i is making its third appearance in the WNIT and its second-straight. The Rainbow Wahine will face Santa Clara in Honolulu on Thursday, March 15. If Hawai`i wins, it will face the winner of the Oregon State/Brigham Young contest. The second round game will take place on March 17 or19. The quarterfinals will be March 20-22, with the final four teams meeting for the semifinal game March 23-25 and the final on March 27-28. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine lost in the first round of the WNIT to Saint Mary's, 75-60. The Broncos and Rainbow Wahine have two common opponents this season. Santa Clara defeated San Jose State once, while Hawai`i defeated it twice. The Broncos defeated Pepperdine twice, while the Wahine defeated it once.
WNIT OPPONENTS Hawai`i owns a 3-0 record against teams participating in the WNIT. The Rainbow Wahine defeated Pepperdine, 68-46, Western Kentucky, 73-70, and Houston 85-74.
ABOUT SANTA CLARA; Santa Clara enters the WNIT with a 20-7 record. It is the second-straight season the Broncos have participated in the WNIT and their fourth-straight postseason appearance. Santa Clara has two players averaging in double figures, including senior center Annie Garrison and junior guard Caroline Gruening. Garrison is averaging a team-high 12.2 points and 7.6 rebounds, while Gruening is averaging 10.1 points per outing.
20 SOMETHING; Two WAC teams have recorded 20 wins this season. TCU notched its first-ever 20-win season, while Hawai`i notched its 12th in school history and its fifth in the past six seasons.
IN THE POLLS; In the USA Today/ESPN top 25, TCU received seven votes to rank 41st while Hawai`i received one vote to ranked tied for 49th. In the Associated Press top 25 poll TCU received 12 votes to rank 33rd.
NATIONAL ATTENDANCE; TCU is the only WAC school to rank among the national leaders in attendance. The Horned Frogs averaged 2,154, a mark that ranks 43rd nationally.
HOME SWEET HOME; WAC teams have combined for an 86-49 (.637) overall record on their home courts. Nevada has the best record at 12-2, followed by Hawai`i (15-4), Rice (10-3), TCU (13-4) and SMU (10-4).
ACADEMIC HONORS; UTEP's Heidi Walker, a sophomore forward/center was named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-District VI team with a 4.00 GPA in nursing. Walker ranks second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). To be eligible for the team, a student-athlete must be a starter or main reserve and must have at least a 3.2 GPA.
CAREER LEADERS; Four players are making their way up the WAC career list. Hawai`i's Kylie Galloway is tied for eighth all-time in three-point field goal percentage 117-for-295 (.397) and is fourth in free throw percentage, connecting on 276-of-331 (.834) attempts. Her teammate Crystal Lee ranks 10th in free throw percentage, connecting on 268-of-334 (.802) attempts. UTEP's Amy Pack ranks sixth all-time in scoring average (17.6 ppg; 968 points in 55 games). TCU's Jill Sutton has moved into third place all-time in the WAC with 288
three-pointers made and is eighth in three-point field goal percentage 288-for-727 (.396).
Sutton has also moved into sixth place on the WAC's all-time assists list with 440. She
needs nine more to move into fifth place ahead of San Diego State's Falisha Wright's 448
assists (1991-95). TCU's Tricia Payne ranks sixth in free throw percentage
281-for-339 (.829), SMU's Katie Remke ranks tied for ninth with 108 career blocks,
while her teammate D-dra Rucker ranks eighth in steals with 237.
SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS; Several WAC players are beginning to make their mark on the WAC's single-season list in all games. Hawai`i's Christen Roper has 78 blocks to rank third on the WAC's single-season blocks list. She needs seven more to move into second place ahead of BYU's Debbie Dimond (84 blocks - 1992-93). The all-time record is 87, held by San Diego State's Michelle Suman, a record she set during the 1994-95 season. UTEP's Amy Pack made 180 free throws this season to rank fourth. Tulsa's Leela Farr ranks tied for seventh with 152 free throws. Fresno State's Lindsay Logan is fourth with 89 three-pointers made, while her teammate Omelogo Udeze is seventh with 282 rebounds. In WAC games only, Pack has scored 319 points, to rank fourth and has made 105 free throws to rank second. She has also grabbed 146 rebounds, a total that ranks fifth. Nevada's Kate Smith has scored 310 points to rank sixth. Tulsa's Leela Farr has made 104 free throw to rank second, while Roper has 41 blocks in WAC contests, a total that rank second. Tulsa's Athena Pirpich had made 47 three-pointers to rank tied for fifth all-time in WAC games, while Fresno State's Omelogo Udeze has 174 rebounds, a total that ranks second. SMU's Katie Remke has 138 rebounds to rank eighth, while Logan ranks tied for ninth in assists with 99.
Finally, Rucker ranks tied for sixth with 49 steals.
IMPROVEMENTS FROM LAST SEASON; Four of the nine WAC teams have won as many games as they did last season: TCU, Hawai`i, UTEP and San Jose State. San Jose State has the biggest turnaround from last season as the Spartans won 13 games this season, their most since the 1993-94 season. Last season SJSU won three games, one in WAC play. TCU, has the second-biggest improvement from last season, winning eight more games than it did last season. Finally, Hawai`i and UTEP have each won three more games they did last season.
NATIONAL SUPERLATIVES; In the most recent NCAA statistics, TCU's Tricia Payne is tied for first in the nation in free throw percentage in a single-game, as she connected on 12-of-12 attempts against Georgia Southern on Nov. 29. In team highs, TCU is tied for sixth in three-pointers made in a game with 15 against Wichita State on Dec. 5. Nevada is tied for first in free throw percentage in a game, connecting on 17-of-17 attempts against Air Force on Dec. 21.
WAC AT NINE MEMBERS, EXPANDING IN 2001; After just one year as an eight team league, the WAC expanded to nine members, as the Nevada Wolf Pack joined the conference July 1, 2000. In basketball, all nine teams play each other twice, giving everyone a 16-game conference schedule. Next year, Boise State and Louisiana Tech will join the WAC while TCU leaves the conference. The WAC will have 10 teams after July 1, 2001. The schools will continue to play each other twice, giving everyone an 18-game conference schedule.