WAC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOKPLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsas Alyssa Shriver has been named the Western Athletic Conference womens basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 7-Jan. 13.
Shriver, a center from Salina, Kansas, set a school record with 10 straight-baskets in a win against UTEP. Shriver, who transferred from Iowa State, scored 22 points against the Miners with 10 rebounds for her second-straight double-double.
The center also led Tulsa to a win over Boise State, scoring a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds with three blocked shots. Her three blocks gave her 45 career blocks, tying her for first on the all-time Tulsa block list.
In two games, Shriver averaged 21.0 points with 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots, connecting on 18-27 field goal attempts.
With a 10-5 overall record and a perfect 5-0 conference mark, the Tulsa is off to the best start in school history. Tulsa is also in the midst of a school-record six-game winning streak.
OTHERS NOMINATED Fresno State's Lindsay Logan helped snap a three-game Bulldog losing streak with 24 points in a 68-56 win over Nevada. The junior guard tied a career-high by making six three-pointers. Logan leads the WAC in scoring with a 17.5 average.
Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford led the Lady Techsters to two road wins, recording a career-high 17 rebounds against Hawai`i. The junior also recorded a career-high 24 points against the Wahine. On the week, Ford averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Nevada's Laura Ingham led all Nevada scorers with 12 points in a loss to Fresno State. The Ohio State transfer added seven assists and three steals. Ingham shot 4-of-7 from the field.
Rice's Lindsey Maynard led the Owls to a win over UTEP by scoring a career-best 19 points. The sophomore guard shot 72.7 percent from the field. She also had a career-high four assists and six rebounds against the Miners.
San Jose State's Cricket Williams averaged 18.5 points with 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists as the Spartans went 1-1 last week. The sophomore guard scored a team-high 20 points in a loss to No. 10 Louisiana Tech and added 17 points in a win over SMU. She added a team-high seven assists against the Mustangs.
UTEP's Kimya Murray scored 24 points against Tulsa to lead the team. The guard added six rebounds and 14 points in a loss to Rice.
POWER RANKINGS Members of the media may subscribe to the Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report that is updated on a daily basis. In order to subscribe, you may obtain a password on the website address www.rpiratings.com. A second RPI report is computed by Jerry Palm and posted on the collegerpi.com website. Finally, the WBCA/Summerville has created an RPI that is posted at www.wbca.org/html/wbca.html.
Institution WBCA CollegeRpi.com Basketball News
WAC 10 12 11
Boise St. 215 208 208
Fresno St. 177 178 180
Hawai`i 47 40 40
La. Tech 30 30 29
Nevada 152 150 151
Rice 78 72 70
San Jose St. 150 139 137
SMU 168 169 166
UTEP 255 261 261
Tulsa 107 106 105
NATIONAL LEADERS Several WAC players are among the leaders in NCAA statistics. Through Jan. 7, Hawai`i's Christen Roper is fourth in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 3.8 blocks per game. Tulsa's Alyssa Shriver is sixth in the country in blocks, averaging 3.2 a game. Louisiana Tech is 12th in field goal percentage defense with opponents shooting only .350 against the Lady Techsters. La. Tech also places third in rebound margin with +12.7, while Hawai`i is ninth with +10.1.
LA. TECH'S LASSITER REMAINS PERFECT FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE Louisiana Tech guard Brooke Lassiter has now hit 36-straight free throws dating back to last season. This year, the senior leads the WAC in free throw percentage making all 30 that she has attempted. Last season, Lassiter led the nation in free throw percentage with a mark of .910 (111-122).
BOISE STATE AND NEVADA RENEW RIVALRY The Broncos and Wolf Pack will renew an old rivalry this week in Reno. The two teams have been conference rivals in four different leagues, dating back to 1987 when the teams met in the Mountain West Conference which later became the Big Sky Conference. In 1996-97 the teams met again as members of the Big West conference. The Broncos hold 17-4 advantage in the series.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 47-45 (.511) in non-conference games. The WAC is 2-10 against teams that have been ranked or are ranked in the top 25 - Hawai`i (0-2); Louisiana Tech (1-3); Nevada (0-2); Rice (1-1); SMU (0-1) and Tulsa (0-1).
LADY TECHSTERS MOVE BACK INTO THE TOP 10 Louisiana Tech remains the only WAC team ranked in both the Associated Press and the ESPN polls. This week, the Lady Techsters reclaimed their spot in the top 10, earning the No. 10 position both the USA Today/ESPN poll and the Associated Press poll. Hawai`i received a season-high 32 votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll despite its first conference loss of the season.
The Lady Techsters extended their overall winning streak to nine and have won all six of their WAC games this season.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC The WAC begins its fourth week of league play this week. The two remaining unbeaten teams, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa will both be in action. The Lady Techsters travel to SMU on Sunday, Jan. 20. The game will be televised by FOX Sports Net.
Tulsa will have two tough tests, hosting San Jose State on Jan. 17 and Hawai`i on Jan. 19. Rice, 4-1 in league play, will face Hawai`i and San Jose State in Houston.
AROUND THE LEAGUE Boise State looks to drop its seven-game losing streak this week at home against Fresno State and Nevada. This is the first meeting as conference rivals for Boise State and Fresno State although the overall series is tied, 2-2. Last season, the Broncos topped the Bulldogs, 77-62.
Fresno State has been tough at home this season. The Bulldogs have a 6-2 record in the North Gym and conclude a three-game homestand this week against Boise State and UTEP. Fresno State's home losses this season have come against a ranked team (Louisiana Tech) and a team that has received votes (Santa Clara). The Bulldogs average 68.3 points at home this season.
Hawai`i had its six-game winning streak stopped by Louisiana Tech last week. All three of the Wahine's losses have come against ranked teams: La. Tech, Stanford and Baylor. The Cardinal is currently ranked No. 4, while the Bears hold the No. 11 spot in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Louisiana Tech improved its winning streak to nine games after starting the season 2-3. Through six WAC games, Cheryl Ford is second in the league in scoring, averaging 19.2 points. Teammate Amber Obaze averages 14.5 points. Ford also leads the WAC in rebounding with 11.5 per game.
Nevada has several players among the leaders in the WAC. Kate Smith is fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 14.2 points. Smith's 26 points against SMU on Dec. 30 is second in the WAC in points in a conference game.
Rice had its best shooting game of the season in a 54-49 win over Boise State. In the first half, the Owls shot 52.2 percent from the field and finished the game shooting 43.8 percent.
San Jose State's 3-2 WAC start is the team's best since joining the league during the 1996-97 season. The Spartans have been led by senior forward Elea A'Giza. She recorded her third double-double of the season with 22 points and 16 rebounds against SMU. It was the second time this season that she has scored 20 or more points.
SMU's Kaci Alexander recorded her fifth double-double of the season against San Jose State. It has been eight games since her last double-double against Alabama on Dec. 21. The junior is currently third in the WAC in field goal percentage (51.8).
UTEP looks to get back on track after losses to three of the top teams in the league, Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and Rice. The Miners and the Wolf Pack both share 1-4 conference records and will meet on Jan. 17.
TULSA is off to its best start in school history with an 10-5 record. The overall start and the 5-0 league record are both school records. During its current six-game winning streak, the Hurricane has averaged 73.2 points and 41.3 rebounds.
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 seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th 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.
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS WAC teams have faced least 15 non-conference opponents that played in last years NCAA Tournament and 13 teams that participated in the 2001 postseason WNIT.
NCAA Opponents
Louisiana Tech 81, Michigan 66
Oklahoma 75, Tulsa 62
Tennessee 90, Louisiana Tech 75
SMU 49, Utah 48
Oral Roberts 63, Tulsa 61
Washington 99, Boise State 50
Duke 76, Louisiana Tech 64
Colorado State 84, Nevada 57
Arkansas 55, Tulsa 52
Oklahoma 91, SMU 70
Texas Tech 74, Rice 43
Connecticut 70, Louisiana Tech 54
Utah 72, Nevada 53
Tulsa 75, Oral Roberts 58
Idaho State 68, Boise State 52
LSU 72, Rice 47
Rice 72, Notre Dame 61