WAC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOKPLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Techs Amber Obaze has been named the Western Athletic Conference womens basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 21-Jan. 27.
The sophomore guard (Dallas, Texas) became the third different Lady Techster to earn the honor after leading Louisiana Tech to wins over second place Rice and Tulsa. Obaze joins forward Ayana Walker (Nov. 19) and center Cheryl Ford (Jan. 7) as honorees this season.
Obaze averaged 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games. For the season, she averages 13.5 points and 4.7 rebounds. Obaze was the leading scorer in both games, scoring a game-high 20 points with six rebounds in a 77-46 win over Tulsa. The guard had her first career double-double against Rice with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
With the wins, the Lady Techsters extend their winning streak to 12 games, including nine-straight WAC wins.
OTHERS NOMINATED Boise State's Mandy Welch led the Broncos to their second league win with a 64-53 win over UTEP. The sophomore guard had nine of her 16 points in the second half.
Fresno State's Aritta Lane averaged 9.5 points last week as the Bulldogs lost to San Jose State and Hawai`i. The freshman forward scored 12 points against Hawai`i in her first trip back to her home state.
Hawai`i's Karena Greeny averaged 14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds as the Wahine defeated Nevada and Fresno State. She scored 10 points with eight rebounds against the Wolf Pack. She added a career-high 18 points against Fresno State.
Nevada's Kate Smith became the third all-time scorer in Wolf Pack history. The junior scored 12 points in a loss to Hawai`i. She then scored 20 points against San Jose State.
San Jose State's Cricket Williams averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists as the Spartans defeated Fresno State and Nevada. The sophomore guard had 14 assists against the Wolf Pack.
Tulsa's Carla Morrow led the Hurricane to a 1-1 record with a win over SMU and a loss to Louisiana Tech. The senior averaged 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games.
NATIONAL LEADERS Several WAC players are among the leaders in NCAA statistics. Through Jan. 21, three WAC players are among the leaders in blocked shots per game. Hawai`i's Christen Roper is fifth in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 3.3 blocks per game. Tulsa's Alyssa Shriver is 11th in the country in blocks, averaging 2.8 a game. Rice's Johnetta Hayes is 18th with 2.6 blocks a game.
Nevada's Laura Ingham is among the leaders in two categories. Ingham's 17 assists against UTEP on Jan. 17 are tied for first in assists in a game this season. She is also 21st in the country in assists per game with 6.4 Fresno State's Lindsay Logan represents the WAC in three-point field goals made, averaging 3.1 (11th).
In the team categories, four WAC schools are among the country's leaders in field-goal percentage defense. Hawai`i moved up to second in the country behind No. 1 UConn with the opposition shooting 33.6 percent. Louisiana Tech jumped to 10th from 15th (34.7 percent), and Rice is 16th (35.2 percent). Tulsa is 38th with opponents shooting 37.2 percent.
The Lady Techsters also stand in second in rebound margin (+13.2), ninth in scoring offense (80.4) and 14th in scoring margin (16.4).
HAWAI`I'S GOO WINS 300TH CAREER GAME Hawai`i head coach Vince Goo earned his 300th career win after the Wahine defeated Fresno State, 69-53 on January 26. Goo joins Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore as the only coaches in the WAC with at least 300 wins. Barmore has 565 career wins. Goo has coached all 15 years at Hawai`i.
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).
CLIMBING UP THE LADDER Louisiana Tech moved up in both the Associated Press and the ESPN polls. This week, the Lady Techsters remained in the top 10 in both polls, earning the No. 7 position in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 6 in the Associated Press poll. This is the highest ranking for Louisiana Tech since the Lady Techsters took the No. 6 ranking in the Associated Press poll on December 3. The highest ranking the Lady Techsters have had this season is No. 5 in the Associated Press poll on Nov. 19. For the first time this season, Hawai`i earned votes in both polls. The Wahine garnered four votes in the Associated Press poll and took in nine votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
ON A ROLL - Louisiana Tech extended its WAC winning streak to nine games, winning all of its WAC games this season. The Lady Techsters' overall winning streak reached 12 games with wins over Tulsa on Jan. 24 and Rice on Jan. 26. The record for consecutive WAC wins is 14 by Colorado State (1998-99) and San Diego State (1994-95). Louisiana Tech has nine remaining WAC games before the WAC Tournament.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC The WAC begins its sixth week of league play this week. The only remaining undefeated team, Louisiana Tech, survived Tulsa and Rice. This week, the Lady Techsters travel to UTEP on January 31 and Boise State on February 2.
Rice looks to get back on track after suffering its second WAC loss of the season. The Owls face Nevada and Tulsa on the road. Second place Hawai`i and third place San Jose State will face each other in San Jose on February 2.
TULSA'S SHRIVER BREAKS WAC RECORD Tulsa junior Alyssa Shriver broke the Tulsa and WAC record for blocks in a single game, recording 14 against Louisiana Tech. The 14 rejections were the most by any player in the nation this season and one shy of the NCAA record set by Amy Lundquist of Loyola Marymount on Dec. 20, 1992. This season, Shriver has set school records for single-game (14), single-season (63) and career (94) records for blocked shots.
AROUND THE LEAGUE News and notes from around the WAC.
Boise State won its second WAC game of the season with a 64-53 win over UTEP. The Broncos have won two of their last three games, halting a seven-game losing streak. With the win, Boise State moved from 10th to eighth in the WAC standings.
Fresno State has knocked in 25 three-pointers in its last four games. The Bulldogs have now made a three-pointer in 77-straight games. The last time Fresno State went without scoring a three-pointer was March 1, 1999. The Bulldogs lead the WAC in three-pointers with a 6.3 per game average.
Hawai`i has recovered from its two-game losing streak. After falling to the top two teams in the league, Louisiana Tech and Rice, the Wahine have won three-straight games. In wins over Tulsa, Nevada and Fresno State, Hawai`i has won by at least 10 points.
Louisiana Tech had 41 offensive rebounds in a win against Tulsa. This was the second most in school history. In 1989, the Lady Techsters had 42 offensive rebounds against Louisiana-Lafayette. For the second time this season, La. Tech had three players record a double-double in one game. Against Tulsa, Amber Obaze, Ayana Walker and Takeisha Lewis had double-doubles.
Nevada went 0-2 on its recent road trip with losses at Hawai`i (73-53) and San Jose State (78-60). The Wolf Pack looks to get back on track this week at home against Rice and Tulsa. Nevada plays five of its next seven games at the friendly confines of the Lawlor Events Center.
Rice had its seven-game winning streak halted by Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters extended their winning streak to 12. The Owls had not lost since their 67-61 loss to Tulsa to open WAC play on Dec. 30. The Owls hold on to second place in the WAC with nine WAC games remaining.
San Jose State's six conference wins are the most since the 1993-94 squad that ended the season 9-9 in league play. The six wins is more than the previous three seasons combined.
SMU sophomore Andrea Cossey is closing in on the individual season record for three-point field goal attempts. She has attempted 120 through 16 games. She is on track to break her freshman record of 150 three-pointers attempted.
UTEP junior Dragana Zoric has recorded double-doubles in the past two games for the Miners. She had 10 points and 10 rebounds against Fresno State and 21 points and 13 rebounds against Boise State.
TULSA went 8-of-13 from three-point range against SMU and tied a school record for three-point field goal percentage in a single game with .615 percent. The Hurricane recorded the same shooting percentage against Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 7, 1996.
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 will also be Tulsa.
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS WAC teams have faced 15 non-conference opponents that played in last years NCAA Tournament and 13 teams that participated in the 2001 postseason WNIT. The results are as follows:
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