HAWAI`I LOSES IN WNIT SEMIFINALS Hawai`i's postseason run came to end with a 68-43 loss to New Mexico in the Women's National Invitation Tournament semifinals on March 24. A crowd of 11,090 watched the Lobos lead from wire to wire and never let the Wahine back in the game after taking a 20-point halftime lead. Hawai`i, which enjoyed its most successful postseason ever, finished its season at 26-8. The 26 wins are the second most in school history. The Wahine could never get into synch against a swarming Lobo defense as UH shot a season-low 27 percent from the field and scored a season-low 43 points. The Lobos dominated in the paint, out-scoring UH 34-14, and became the first team this season to shoot 50 percent against the Wahine. Crystal Lee led the Wahine with 15 points. The senior also added four rebounds and three steals in her final game as a Wahine. Dainora Puida, who also played in her last game for UH, was the only other Wahine in double figures with 11 points.
HAWAI`I DEFEATS OKLAHOMA STATE TO ADVANCE TO WNIT SEMIFINALS Hawai`i advanced to the Women's National Invitation Final Four after pulling off a 52-51 win over Oklahoma State on March 21 in Honolulu. A crowd of 4,279 watched Hawai`i and Oklahoma State battle toe-to-toe for most of the game until the Wahine went on an 8-1 run to close the game. After trailing 50-44 with 6:29 remaining, Hawai`i's Crystal Lee hit one of two foul shots and Janka Gabrielova followed with a three-pointer 20 seconds later to cut the OSU lead to 50-48. Christen Roper tied the score on a putback to break nearly four minutes of scoreless ball and when April Atuaia hit a pair of free throws, UH had a two-point lead with less than 80 second left in the game. OSU's lone point in the final 6:29 was a free throw by Trisha Skibbe with 50 seconds remaining. Hawai`i shot just 32 percent, while the Cowgirls shot 30 percent. Lee scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, while Gabrielova also added 12. Dainora Puida and Roper led the UH defense by combining for 10 blocks. In the second round of the WNIT, Hawai`i defeated Brigham Young 77-73 in overtime on March 19 in Honolulu. Gabrielova and Lee were a combined 20-of-20 from the line. Gabrielova tied her career-high with 24 points, including a crucial three-pointer in the final minute of regulation. Lee scored 12 points and added three rebounds. Roper finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and tied her career-high with six blocks. Puida recorded her fifth straight double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. In first round action, the Rainbow Wahine defeated Santa Clara, 73-57 on March 15 in Honolulu, recording their first-ever home post-season game. Lee finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Meanwhile, Puida recorded her fourth straight double-double and 10th of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also added three blocks.
TCU LOSES IN SECOND ROUND OF NCAA Eleventh-seeded TCU suffered a hard-fought 80-59 defeat at the hands of third-seeded and sixth-ranked Louisiana Tech in East Regional second-round action on March 19. TCU finished the season with a school-best 25-8 record, smashing the programs previous best win total by nine. TCU, who entered the game averaging more than seven three-pointers per game, connected on just 4-of-22 attempts (17.4 percent). The Frogs made just 23-of-67 field goals against the Techsters. However, TCU was able to outrebound Tech by a 43-37 mark. Jill Sutton led the team with 12 points and finished her career with 1,300 points, three points shy of becoming TCUs all-time leading scorer. Tricia Payne added 11 points for TCU and was followed closely by Janice Thomas and Kati Safaritova, who had 10 points apiece.
TCU UPSETS PENN STATE IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TCU survived with a thrilling 77-75 victory over sixth-seeded and 21st ranked Penn State in East Regional first-round action on March 17. TCU became the first team seeded higher than 10th to win in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. It also marked the third-straight season that a WAC team seeded 11th or higher has recorded an upset in the first round of the tournament. TCU led by as many as 19 in the first half at 39-20, but Penn State, closed the stanza with a 17-3 run over the last five minutes to trail 42-37 at the intermission. With just more than 13 minutes remaining in the game, Penn State took the lead at 57-54 on a three-pointer by Kelly Mazzante. It was the Lions' first lead since a 6-4 advantage. The rest of the game went back and forth. With the score 76-75 in favor of the Frogs, TCU's Tiffany Evans was fouled with five seconds left on the clock. The freshman sank the first free throw to give the Frogs a two-point advantage. Evans missed the second and Penn State grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up the court to Lisa Shepherd, who had 20 points. She launched a three-point attempt from 30 feet at the buzzer, but the shot caromed off the front of the rim. Safaritova led the Frogs with 21 points and was joined in double-figures by Payne (15), Sutton (12) and Evans (10).
REGIONAL ALL-AMERICANS NAMED Two of the six members of the District 7 All-American team hail from the WAC. SMU's D-dra Rucker and Nevada's Kate Smith were named to the team along with Utah's Lauren Beckman and Amy Ewert, UNLV's Linda Frohlich and Brigham Young's Erin Thorn.
HAWAI`I'S ROPER BREAKS WAC BLOCK RECORD Hawai`i sophomore center Christen Roper broke the WAC single-season record for blocks against Oklahoma State. Roper had 96 blocks this season, breaking the previous record of 87 held by San Diego State's Michelle Suman (1994-95).
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 this year'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 was very balanced in scoring as seven different players led the team in scoring and eight led the team in rebounding. The Horned Frogs were led by junior Kati Safaritova (12.2 ppg), junior Tricia Payne (11.2 ppg) and seniors Janice Thomas (9.3 ppg), Jill Sutton (8.8 ppg) and Amy Porter (8.5 ppg). Thomas also led the team in rebounding, averaging 7.8 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 had three players average in double figures this season, including Crystal Lee (16.0 ppg), Kylie Galloway (15.2 ppg) and Dainora Puida (11.1 ppg). Puida also led the team in rebounding, averaging 8.4 boards per contest.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC owns an all-time record of 15-32 (.319) in NCAA Tournament games. The nine teams currently in the WAC own an 8-17 (.320) record, 4-6 (.400) as WAC members.
THE WAC IN THE WNIT The WAC owns an all-time record of 13-12 (.520) in WNIT games. The nine teams currently in the WAC own an 11-9 (.550) record in WNIT games, 7-6 (.538) as WAC members.
IN THE POLLS In the final USA Today/ESPN top 25, TCU received 13 votes to rank 35th, while Hawai`i received three votes to rank tied for 43rd. In the Associated Press top 25 poll TCU received 12 votes to rank 33rd.
HOME SWEET HOME WAC teams combined for an 89-49 (.645) overall record on their home courts. Hawai`i had the most wins (18-4), followed by TCU (13-4), Nevada (12-2), Rice (10-3) and SMU (10-4).
NATIONAL ATTENDANCE TCU was the only WAC school to rank among the national leaders in attendance. The Horned Frogs averaged 2,441, a mark that ranked 41st nationally.
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 made their way up the WAC career list. Hawai`is 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 286-of-356 (.803) attempts. UTEP's Amy Pack ranks sixth all-time in scoring average (17.6 ppg; 968 points in 55 games). TCUs Jill Sutton moved into third place all-time in the WAC with 295 three-pointers made and is eighth in three-point field goal percentage 295-for-743 (.397). Sutton also moved into sixth place on the WAC's all-time assists list with 445. TCU's Tricia Payne ranks sixth in free throw percentage 285-for-344 (.828), SMU's Katie Remke ranks tied for ninth with 108 career blocks, while her teammate D-dra Rucker ranks eighth in steals with 237. Hawai`i's Christen Roper ranks seventh in blocks with 115.
IMPROVEMENTS FROM LAST SEASON Four of the nine WAC teams won more games than they did last season: TCU, Hawai`i, UTEP and San Jose State. San Jose State had 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, had the second-biggest improvement from last season, winning nine more games than it did last season. Finally, Hawai`i had won six more games than last season, while UTEP had won three more games.
SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
Three-Point Field Goals
1. 114 Becky Hammon, CSU, 1998-99
2. 103 Julie Krommenhoek, UU, 1996-97
3. 98 Julie Krommenhoek, UU, 1997-98
4. 89 Lindsay Logan, FS, 2000-01
Free Throws
1. 197 Amy Burnett, UW, 1993-94
2. 194 Amy Burnett, UW, 1994-95
3. 188 Becky Hammon, CSU, 1998-99
4. 180 Amy Pack, UTEP, 2000-01
5. 169 Raylene Howard, UH, 1998-99
6. 161 Crystal Lee, UH, 2000-01
7. 155 Lisa Rathbun, BYU, 1990-91
8. 152 Leela Farr, TU, 2000-01
152 Holly Russ, UTEP, 1990-91
Rebounds
1. 311 Tanya Zachary, UU, 1991-92
2. 304 Tanya Zachary, UU, 1990-91
3. 298 Amber McEwen, UU, 1995-96
4. 295 Kieishsha Garnes, SDSU, 1990-91
5. 287 Janee Young, FS, 1996-97
6. 286 Amy Burnett, UW, 1993-94
7. 282 Omelogo Udeze, FS, 2000-01
8. 281 Dainora Puida, UH, 2000-01
Blocks
1. 93 Christen Roper, UH, 2000-01
2. 87 Michelle Suman, SDSU, 1994-95
WAC AT NINE MEMBERS, EXPANDING IN 2001 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.