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12.31.PDF
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK UTEP's Romie DeAnda has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 23-29. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior. Her teammate Dragana Zoric earned the award the week of Dec. 9.
DeAnda a forward from El Paso, Texas, came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points, leading the Miners to a 83-75 win over Denver at home. The win evened UTEP's record at 5-5. UTEP opens the WAC season at the .500 mark for the first time since the 1997-98 season, when the Miners began the season 5-4.
The senior was 8-for-14 (.571) from the field against Denver, as the Miners defeated the Pioneers for the second time this season. DeAnda was 1-for-2 from three-point range and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. She also added six rebounds, two assists and a steal. For the season, she averages 7.3 points per game.
OTHERS NOMINATED Also nominated: Former WAC Player of the Week honorees Andrea Cossey, SMU and Allison Curtin, Tulsa were also nominated.
SMU's Cossey scored 31 points in two games last week, as the Mustangs went 1-1 with a win against UNC Greensboro and a loss to No. 20 Boston College. The junior guard was
10-of-23 from the field, adding 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Tulsa's Curtin led the Hurricane to a win over Manhattan, 68-60. The senior scored 24 points, going 5-of-15 from the field. Curtin added four rebounds, four steals, four assists and a blocked shot.
WEEK SEVEN As the calendar turns from 2002 to 2003, the WAC enters league play. This week all 10 teams begin WAC action. On Jan. 2, San Jose State, Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada will host WAC games. Last season's champion, Louisiana Tech, starts defending its title on Jan. 4 against SMU in Dallas.
SMU'S WALTER OUT FOR SEASON SMU junior Kim Walter was injured early in the Oklahoma game on Dec. 21, but her injury was not as severe as first diagnosed. Besides dislocating her knee, the junior post strained two knee ligaments, but tore her left ACL. Walter will undergo surgery in the near future, missing the remainder of the season.
TULSA'S CURTIN NAMED TO STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST Tulsa's Allison Curtin is one of 31 players from around the nation to be named to the Creamland Dairies Men's and Women's Collegiate Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year watch list. The nominees will be narrowed down to the final 10 by March 3, 2003, and the three finalists will be named during the NCAA tournaments. The 2002-03 award winner will be named on April 9, 2003, in Albuquerque, N.M.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 51-45 (.531) in non-conference games. The WAC is 3-10 against teams that were ranked or are ranked in the top 25. Louisiana Tech is 2-1 after defeating then-No. 7 Texas Tech and then-No. 25 New Mexico, but falling to No. 5 Tennessee. Tulsa is 0-4 after falling to then-No. 24 Mississippi State, then-No. 22 Oklahoma , No. 13 Arkansas and No. 1 Duke. SMU has a win over Oklahoma and a loss to Boston College.
UPWARD MOBILITY UTEP opens the WAC season at the .500 mark for the first time since the 1997-98 season, when the Miners began the season 5-4. UTEP has been at .500 or better six times (12 seasons) when opening league play. The Miners haven't finished a season at .500 or better since they were 16-11 in 1997-98. UTEP has been at .500 or better only seven times in 28 seasons. The Miners have finished over .500 in the WAC only twice, first in 1992-93 (8-6) and then in 1997-98 (10-6). Last season, the Miners ended the season with only three wins.