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Weekly Women's Basketball Notes.pdf
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsa's Allison Curtin has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 18-24. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior transfer.
Curtin, a guard from Taylorville, Ill., scored over 30 points in both of the Golden Hurricane's games last week. She scored 30 in a four-point loss to No. 22 and NCAA runner-up Oklahoma at the Bertha Teague Classic in Tulsa. She added another 30 points as Tulsa defeated instate rival Oklahoma State 75-55. Curtin has scored at least 30 points in three of Tulsa's four games this season. For her efforts, Curtin was named MVP of the tournament.
Against Oklahoma State, the senior shot 10-of-17 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. She also added eight rebounds and six assists with one block and two steals. Curtin helped hold the Cowgirls to a 17.6 percent (6-of-34) shooting percentage in the second half.
Curtin leads the Hurricane in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. She is also shooting 50 percent from the field.
OTHERS NOMINATED Hawaii's Christen Roper was named the MVP of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic. In the Rainbow Wahine's win over UCLA, Roper scored 14 points along with 11 rebounds for her seventh career double-double. The senior was 7-of-12 from the field.
San Jose State's Tatiana Taylor scored 15 points as the Spartans won their season opener against Cal State Northridge. The junior forward was 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She also added 15 rebounds in the win.
SMU's Kim Walter recorded her first double-double in an overtime win against Wake Forest. In two games, she scored 29 points with 18 rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a 2-0 start this season. For her efforts, Walter was named MVP of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic.
UTEP's Kia Dowell scored 20 points in a win over Denver and 22 in a road loss to Kansas. Dowell was 15-of-33 from the field with nine rebounds in two games for the Miners.
WEEK TWO This is the second full week of games with all 10 teams in action this Thanksgiving weekend. Nevada will pack the snow shoes and head north to Anchorage, Alaska for the Great Alaska Shootout Nov. 26-27. In another climate, Hawaii will host the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic. Rice will also be in Alaska for the Alaska-Fairbanks Tournament. UTEP, San Jose State and SMU will be on be on the road in tournament action.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 10-10 (.500) in non-conference games. The WAC 1-2 against teams that were ranked or are ranked in the top 25 - Louisiana Tech is 1-0 after defeating then-No. 7 Texas Tech, while Tulsa is 0-2 after falling to then-No. 24 Mississippi State and then No. 22 Oklahoma.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS Tulsa's Allison Curtin has scored 30 points in three of the Golden Hurricane's four games this season. She leads the team in scoring (27.8), rebounding (7.0), assists (4.3) and steals (3.8). Curtin is shooting 50-percent (38-76) from the field, 40-percent (10-25) from the three-point line and 76-percent (25-33) from the free-throw line.
In 102 career games, Allison Curtin has five games with 30+ points and has posted 20+ points in 35 contests. She is currently riding an 87-game scoring streak and has reached double figures in 81 career games. She has only had one game in her career where she has not scored, which was during her freshman season on 1998-99.
BACK FOR MORE Boise State's Abby Vaughan enters her senior season holding several Bronco records. The senior from Encinitas, California, enters her final campaign at Boise State owning the records for 3-point field goals made with 179, 3-point field goals attempted at 536, most 3-point attempts in a game with 13 (twice) and co-record holder for most 3-pointers in a game with seven.
PRESEASON RANKINGS Three preseason publications (Athlon, Lindys and Street & Smiths) ranked the top schools in the country. Street & Smiths picked Louisiana Tech No. 8 in the country behind Duke, Tennessee, LSU, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Georgia and Stanford. Lindys ranked the Lady Techsters No. 14 after a 25-5 finish last season. Athlon gave Louisiana Tech a No. 18 ranking for a team that returns only two starters.
WAC ROUNDUP Boise State head coach Jen Warden picked up her first victory with a 61-60 win over Weber State, the Big Sky preseason No. 1 pick. Two of the WAC's three new head coaches have already earned wins with their new teams, Warden and Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke.
Hawaii captured the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic with a 79-52 win over Sacramento State. UH defeated UCLA 70-66 on Saturday.
San Jose State head coach Janice Richard is 3-4 in season openers for the Spartans. It is the first time that San Jose State has won three consecutive openers since a six-season streak beginning in 1979 and ending the 1984-85 season. Eight different Spartan teams have started with three wins in their first five games for a combined 117-97 record. Of those eight teams, six recorded .500 or better seasons and five posted a winning record and have averaged a fourth place finish in their respective conferences.
SMU captured the SMU Hoops for the Cure title with wins over Stony Brook and Wake Forest. The Mustangs defeated the Demon Deacons in overtime. Junior Kim Walter was named MVP of the tournament for her play against both Stony Brook and Wake Forest. Freshman Sarah Davis had her first collegiate double-double against Wake Forest.
Tulsa's lone losses this season have been to nationally ranked teams, including No. 24 Mississippi State in the second round of the Preseason WNIT and No. 22 Oklahoma in the Bertha Teague Classic. Two of Tulsa's four games have been in front of school record crowds. The 3,186 fans in Springfield, Mo., was the largest to ever see a Tulsa women's basketball game, while the 3,166 against Oklahoma was the largest at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for a Tulsa women's basketball game.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS Hawaii , SMU and Tulsa all had players earn MVP honors at tournaments last week. Hawaii's Christen Roper was named MVP of the Wakiki Beach Marriott Classic. She led the Rainbow Wahine to wins over UCLA and Sacramento State. Jade Abele, Natajsa Allen and April Atuaia were also named to the all-tournament team
At the Bertha Teague Classic in Tulsa, Allison Curtin was named MVP, as the Golden Hurricane defeated Oklahoma State and lost to No. 22 Oklahoma. Alyssa Shriver was also named to the all-tournament team.
SMU's Kim Walter was named MVP of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic. Freshman Sarah Davis earned all-tournament honors at the SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament.
Tulsa's Curtin Recognized by USA Today as One of Nation's "Impact Newcomers" USA Today has tabbed Tulsa senior-transfer Allison Curtin as one of seven players from around the nation as "impact newcomers" for the 2002-03 season.
Curtin was listed along with Rutgers sophomore Cappy Pondexter, LSU freshman Seimone Augustus, Connecticut's freshmen duo of Ann Strother and Nicole Wolff and Tennessee's freshmen tandem of Tyesha Fluker and Shanna Zolman.
Although Curtin is a senior, she transferred to Tulsa from the University of Illinois prior to the 2001-02 campaign and will play just one season for the Golden Hurricane. In three seasons at Illinois, Curtin started 73 of 98 games played and led the Illini to two NCAA Tournament appearances and one postseason WNIT showing. She was a two-time All-Big Ten First-Team performer during her junior and sophomore seasons and was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team in 1998-99.
Curtin, a 2002-03 All-America candidate, enters her final season with career averages of 15.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals per game.