WAC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOKPLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsa's Leela Farr has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 4-Feb. 10.
The senior forward from Joplin, Mo., (Joplin HS) became the third Hurricane to earn the honor after center Alyssa Shriver and center Becky Heidotten earned player of the week earlier this season. This is Farr's first player of the week honor. The Hurricane are the first team this season to earn the honor three times.
Farr averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, as Tulsa defeated Boise State and UTEP to move to 10-3 in the WAC this season. The senior shot 54.1 percent (13-24) from the field and 93.0 percent (13-14) from the free throw line.
With the 10 WAC wins, the Hurricane set the Tulsa record for league wins in a season. Tulsa is also one win shy of the Hurricane single-season record for wins (16).
OTHERS NOMINATED Fresno State's Omelogo Odeze scored 14 points as the Bulldogs fell to Nevada, 72-54. The junior added a blocked shot to give her 55 career blocks, placing her in seventh place on the Fresno State all-time block list.
Hawaii's Chelsea Wagner averaged 15.6 points in three games as the Wahine went 2-1 with wins against SMU and UTEP and a loss to Louisiana Tech. The sophomore guard started in place of injured April Atuaia and scored in double figures in all three games, including a career-high 18 points against the No. 7 Lady Techsters. She also added a career-high six assists against the Miners.
Louisiana Tech's Ayana Walker averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds as the Lady Techsters defeated Hawaii and San Jose State at home. The senior scored 23 points with eight rebounds against the Spartans. With four blocked shots, Walker moved into second place in career blocks with 220.
Nevada's Kate Smith scored 21 points with nine rebounds as the Wolf Pack defeated Fresno State, 72-54. The junior shot 50 percent (9-18) from the field. Smith also added a steal, a block and an assist in the win.
Rice's LaToya Brown matched the Rice single-game record, shooting 7-for-7 from the field against Boise State. She scored a career-high 18 points in only 18 minutes on the floor. The senior guard also added a career high in assists with five against UTEP.
SMU's Andrea Cossey scored 33 points in two games as the Mustangs went 1-1 with a win over San Jose State and a loss to Hawaii. The sophomore guard set a personal season-high for three point field goals with 54.
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.
NATIONAL LEADERS Several WAC players are among the leaders in NCAA statistics. Through February 4, three WAC players are among the leaders in blocked shots per game. Hawaii's Christen Roper is fifth in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 3.1 blocks per game. Tulsa's Alyssa Shriver is sixth in the country in blocks, averaging 3.0 a game with 63 total blocks. Rice's Johnetta Hayes is 21st with 2.3 blocks a game.
Three WAC players are among the leaders in three point field goals per game. SMU's Andrea Cossey is 28th with 2.6 per game, while Fresno State's Lindsay Logan is tied for 29th, averaging 2.6 per game. UTEP's Kimya Murray is 32nd, averaging 2.6 three-pointers a game. The WAC's leading scorer, Cricket Williams from San Jose State, shows her versatility. She is 27th in steals per game (3.2).
CREAM OF THE CROP Louisiana Tech and Hawaii continue to rise to the top of the national rankings. This week, Lady Techsters continue to hold the second spot in rebound margin (15.2), just behind No. 1 Connecticut, while Hawaii is 14th (8.2). La. Tech also stands second in scoring margin (24.5) also behind the Huskies. In WAC games, the Lady Techsters have a scoring margin of 32.1 with second place Tulsa holding a scoring margin of 9.2. La. Tech is also fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 55.2 points per game
Four WAC school are among the leaders in field goal percentage defense. La . Tech jumped to second holding the opposition to a 33.4 field goal percentage. Hawaii holds the third spot in the country (33.6 percent) with Tulsa standing 23rd (36.5 percent) and Rice is 32nd (37.2 percent).
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 - Hawaii (0-2); Louisiana Tech (1-3); Nevada (0-2); Rice (1-1); SMU (0-1) and Tulsa (0-1).
THE WAC IN THE POLLS Louisiana Tech remained in the top 10 in both the Associated Press and the ESPN polls this week. The Lady Techsters remained in the No. 7 position in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 8 in the Associated Press poll. The highest ranking the Lady Techsters have had this season is No. 5 in the Associated Press poll on Nov. 19. Hawaii earned seven votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
RECORD WATCH Louisiana Tech extended its WAC winning streak to 13 games, winning all of its WAC games this season. The Lady Techsters' overall winning streak reached 16 games. The record for consecutive WAC wins is 14 by Colorado State (1998-99) and San Diego State (1994-95). Louisiana Tech is now one win away from tying the WAC record with five remaining WAC games before the WAC Tournament.
Tulsa center Alyssa Shriver is also nearing a WAC record. The junior is 11 blocks away from the single-season record for blocks in WAC games. Shriver has 36 and the record of 47 is held by BYU's Debbie Dimond during the 1992-93 season.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC The WAC begins its eighth week of league play with three weeks remaining before the WAC Tournament. Second place is at stake as Hawaii (9-3) takes on Rice (10-3) and Tulsa (10-3) at home this week. The Wahine face the Hurricane on Thursday, Feb. 14, while taking on the Owls on Sunday, Feb. 17.
While the battle for second place heats up, first place Louisiana Tech faces SMU on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Ruston.
LASSITER SHOOTS HER WAY TO NCAA RECORD Louisiana Tech's Brooke Lassiter became the NCAA all-time leader in free throw percentage against UTEP on January 31. Lassiter has now hit 252 of 276 career free throws (91.3 percent). The former record was held by Washington's Karen Murray (1981-84) with a percentage of 87.6. To qualify for the record, a player must make a minimum of 250 career free throws.
SHRIVER AND INGHAM SINGLE-GAME LEADERS Nevada guard Laura Ingham's 17 assists against UTEP on January 17 is tied for first in assists in a game in the nation this season. The junior is tied with Jess Cichowicz of James Madison who recorded 17 assists against Gardner-Webb.
Tulsa junior Alyssa Shriver is also a national leader this season. She broke the Tulsa and WAC record for blocks in a single game, recording 14 against Louisiana Tech on January 24. 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. Southern Mississippi's Sonja Brown is behind Shriver with 11 blocks
AROUND THE LEAGUE News and notes from around the WAC.
Boise State has been without leading scorer Christa Peterson for the past three games due to a knee injury. The Broncos have lost five of their last six games, including the last three without Peterson.
Fresno State's Lindsay Logan is looking to rewrite the Bulldog record book. The junior now has 197 career three pointers. She is only 26 away from moving into first place. Logan is also only the second Bulldog to record 1,000 points and 400 assists.
Hawaii set a new school record with 15 three pointers in a win against UTEP. The old record was 11 set last season against TCU.
Louisiana Tech has now won 76 straight games vs. conference opponents. The Lady Techsters have won 130 straight home games against unranked opponents with the last loss coming against New Orleans on Jan. 30, 1992.
La. Tech's 18-game home court winning streak ranks No. 5 nationally
Nevada senior Katie Golomb is nearing the 1,000 point plateau. She is 32 points shy of 1,000 points. She will be the sixth player in Wolf Pack history to have 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Rice senior Daneesh McIntosh recorded a career-high 15 points against UTEP to go along with 14 rebounds for her second-straight double-double. It was her fifth career double-double. The Owls had a season-high 21 assists in a win over Boise State.
San Jose State's Cricket Williams had a career-high 27 points and 15 assists in the Spartans loss to SMU. Her previous assist high was 14 against Nevada on January 26. Williams leads the WAC in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game.
SMU scored 48 points in the first half against San Jose State last week. It was the most points scored in a half by the Mustangs since March 8, 2000 when SMU score 55 first-half points against the Spartans in the WAC Tournament.
UTEP only has three victories, but the Miners have sunk a school-record 129 three-pointers this season. UTEP is the conference leader and is on pace to hit 172 three pointers. The previous school record was 98, which was set twice, first during the 1991-92 season then again in 1994-95.
TULSA is in the midst of its second five-game winning streak of the season. The Golden Hurricane began conference play with five-straight wins. Tulsa is also near another record. With its 15 wins, the Hurricane is one win away from tying the single-season record for wins in a season with 16 which was achieved by the 1983-84 squad.
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 OpponentsLouisiana 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