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WAC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOKLady Techsters Fall in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament Playing on the road for only the third time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Louisiana Tech fell to UC Santa Barbara 57-56 in Austin, Texas.
Louisiana Tech's hopes of its 14th final four appearance were stopped by UC Santa Barbara's Jess Hansen who hit a 17-footer with 1.1 seconds remaining to lift the Gauchos in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Hansen's heroics came after Tech's Cheryl Ford missed the front end of a one-and-one with 8.9 seconds left in the game and the Lady Techsters leading by one.
The game-winning shot completed a strong second half come back by UCSB who trailed by as many as 13 in the second half. Tech led 45-32 with 12:04 remaining but went cold from the field, hitting only four of its last 19 shots in the game while being outscored 25-11.
The loss by the Lady Techsters marked only the third time in the program's history a Tech team had not advanced past the first round.
RICE AND HAWAII FALL IN WNIT After strong seasons, both the Hawaii and Rice women's basketball teams fell in the first round of Women's National Invitational Tournament. Hawaii fell to Oregon State in Corvallis, while the Owls fell to the University of Houston in Houston.
Hawaii dug itself in a deep hole and couldnt quite recover, in falling to Oregon State, 62-50. Oregon State's Felicia Ragland scored 24 points and the Beavers blitzed the Rainbow Wahine with a 16-0 run in the first half to end UHs post-season title hopes.
Hawaii finished with a 23-8 overall record for its third-straight 20-win season and its sixth in the last seven seasons.
Despite strong performances from junior Kara Liggett and sophomore Johnetta Hayes, the Lady Owls' season came up short in a close 67-65 loss to Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Lady Owls end the 2001-02 season with a 21-9 record. It is their fourth season with at least 20 wins in the last five years.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC owns an all-time record of 15-33 (.313) in NCAA Tournament games. The nine teams from the 2000-01 season own an 8-17 (.320) record, 4-6 (.400) as WAC members. New WAC member Louisiana Tech is 61-19 (.763) in NCAA play. The WAC's other new member, Boise State is 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament.
THE WAC IN THE WNIT The WAC owns an all-time record of 13-14 (.481) in WNIT games. The 10 teams currently in the WAC own an 11-9 (.550) record in WNIT games, 7-6 (.538) as WAC members. Last season, Hawai`i advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT, falling to New Mexico.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Hawaii placed three players, while WAC Champion Louisiana Tech had two named to the Williams WAC Tournament All-Tournament team. Hawaii's Christen Roper, Janka Gabrielova and Kim Willoughby were named the all-tournament team. Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford earned all-tournament honors along with teammate Ayana Walker who earned MVP honors.
TWO LADY TECHSTERS NAMED TO ALL-DISTRICT TEAM Louisiana Tech had two players named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/Kodak All-District team for District Seven. Sophomore Amber Obaze and senior Ayana Walker earned the honor.
WAC IN THE POLLS Louisiana Tech finished the season in the top 20 in both the Associated Press and the ESPN poll. The Lady Techsters were No. 19 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.
ACADEMIC ALL-WAC TEAM To be eligible, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the teams contests.
Boise State
Camille Woodfield, SO, 3.72, Biology
Crista Peterson, SR, 3.65, Psychology
Amanda Welch, SO, 3.30, Graphic Design
Hawaii
Christa Brossman, SO, 3.93, Communications
Jade Abele, FR, 3.32, Pre-Education
Louisiana Tech
Brooke Lassiter, SR, 3.31, Business Admin.
Amber Obaze, SO, 3.23, Psychology
Nevada
Ashley Bastian, JR, 3.58, Education
Katheryn Smith, JR, 3.50, Speech Pathology
Rice
Lindsey Maynard, SO, 3.81, Social Sciences
Kimberly Lawson, SR, 3.75, Econ, Mgmt. Studies & Psychology
Jennifer Rigg, SR, 3.58, Econ, Mgmt. Studies & Policy Studies
Kara Liggett, JR, 3.23, English & Political Science
SMU
Andrea Cossey, SO, 3.26, Humanities
UTEP
Tiffney Touton, SO, 3.67, Kinesiology
Sunny Guild, JR, 3.52, Business
Tulsa
Alyssa Shriver, SR, 3.81, Communication
Becky Heidotten, SO, 4.00, Accounting
Leela Farr, SR, 3.72, Chem. Engineering
SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS Several WAC players made it into the single-season top 10 this season. Tulsa's Alyssa Shriver ended the season with 77 blocks good for fourth all-time in league history. Hawaii's Christen Roper was right behind Shriver with 75 blocks this season. The Hawaii junior holds the single-season record with 98 last season. Rice's Johnetta Hayes added to the total of four 2001-02 players that made a dent in the block records. Hayes finished seventh with 64 blocks, while Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford ended the season 12th with 52 blocks.
Tulsa's Becky Heidotten finished the season third in field goal percentage, shooting 64.0 percent. San Diego State's Michelle Suman holds the first two spots.
BOISE STATE AND FRESNO STATE NAME HEAD COACHES Jen Warden and Stacy Johnson, a former Louisiana Tech assistant coach, were named head coaches and Boise State and Fresno State, respectively.
Jen Warden spent the last 10 years as a member of the University of Colorado coaching staff where she recently helped guide the Buffaloes to the 2002 NCAA West Regional Final in Boise, Idaho. During her 10 years at Colorado the Buffaloes qualified to the NCAA tournament seven times including three trips to the Elite Eight. Warden has served as Colorados top assistant and recruiting coordinator since 1997 where she is credited with helping bring several highly regarded recruiting classes to Boulder.
Stacy Johnson was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech for the last two seasons, helping the Lady Techsters to two NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2001, Louisiana Tech advanced to the Elite Eight after setting a national record with six consecutive 30-win seasons. This past season, the Lady Techsters went 25-5, won the WAC regular season and tournament champions and were ranked No. 9 in the nation. Johnson was instrumental in securing a recruiting class that had four McDonald's All-Americans and was ranked third nationally.
LA TECH WINS WILLIAMS WAC TOURNAMENT The women's championship was decided in the final minute, as Louisiana Tech pulled out a win against Hawaii. The Lady Techsters defeated the Rainbow Wahine, 53-50. La Tech's Ayana Walker was named the tournament MVP.
In the championship game, MVP Walker scored 14 points in the close win. Cheryl Ford scored 15 points with 13 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Walker, Ford and Obaze were La. Tech's three leading scorers entering the game. They combined to score 45 of the Lady Techsters 53 points, including 15 of the final 16 points down the stretch. Ford finished the game with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and was named to the WAC All-Tournament team.
Hawaii had three players in double figures, Christen Roper (12 points), Janka Gabrielova (11 points) and Kim Willoughby (12) all of whom made the all-tournament team. Willoughby was also named to the WAC Volleyball All-Tournament team in November.
RECORDS SET Several records were broken at this year's WAC Tournament. Individually, UTEP's Kimya Murray tied the record for three point field goals made in a game with six against SMU in the first round. Murray also tied the record for three pointers attempted with 14 in the same game. As a team, the UTEP squad set the record for three-pointers attempted in a game with 29 against SMU.
Hawaii's defense was responsible for several records falling. The Wahine and Nevada set the record for fewest points in a game with 86 in the quarterfinals (UH 54, Nevada 41). In the semifinals, Hawaii kept Rice to 36 total points. The previous record was 38 set in 1993 when San Diego State kept Fresno State to 38 points. As a team, Hawaii also had the best free throw percentage shooting 81.0 percent (34-42) in three games.
NATIONAL LEADERS The WAC ended the season with players ranked among the leaders in NCAA statistics. In the final NCAA stats, three WAC players are among the leaders in blocked shots per game. Tulsa's Alyssa Shriver finished the season 12th in the country in blocks, averaging 2.6 a game. Hawaii's Christen Roper was tied for 15th, averaging 2.4 blocks per game. Rice's Johnetta Hayes moved up to 17th from 19th with 2.4 blocks a game.
Louisiana Tech ended the season second in the nation in rebounding margin (13.4) and scoring margin (22.8). Hawaii was 15th in rebound margin (7.4) and 54th in scoring margin (7.5).
Four WAC schools were among the leaders in field goal percentage defense. La. Tech was second holding the opposition to a 33.0 field goal percentage. Hawaii was seventh in the country (34.6 percent). Tulsa was 19th (36.7 percent), and Rice was 21st (36.8 percent).
LA. TECH CAPTURES FIRST WAC TITLE One game after being upset by Rice, No. 6 Louisiana Tech captured its 20th win and its first Western Athletic Conference regular season title with a 67-62 win over Tulsa on the road.
The title was the Lady Techsters 10th-straight conference title after winning nine-straight Sun Belt crowns. This is now the 25th time in 28 seasons that La. Tech has won 20 or more games.
Louisiana Tech had won 77- straight games against conference opponents before falling to Rice on Feb. 21. The loss also halted the Lady Techsters WAC-record conference winning streak at 14. Louisiana Tech has won 15 of 16 conference games this season.
In all, Tech has won 13 regular season conference titles - among the American South, Sun Belt and Western Athletic in only 15 years of league affiliation.
SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS WAC GAMESTotal Points
1. 380 Becky Hammon, CSU, 1996-97
2. 373 Becky Hammon, CSU, 1998-99
3. 333 Cricket Williams, SJSU, 2001-02
Field Goal Percentage
1. 67.9 Becky Heidotten, TU, 2001-02
2. 64.8 Michelle Suman, SJSU, 1991-92
3. 63.9 Amy Burnett, UW, 1992-93
Three-Point Field Goals
1. 56 Kimya Murray, UTEP, 2001-02
2. 55 Becky Hammon, CSU, 1998-99
3. 54 Julie Krommenhoek, UU, 1997-98
Total Blocks
1. 47 Debbie Dimond, BYU, 1992-93
2. 43 Alyssa Shriver, TU, 2001-02
3. 41 Christen Roper, UH, 2000-01
4. 40 Debbie Dimond, BYU, 1994-95
5. 39 Michelle Suman, SDSU, 1993-94
6. 37 Michelle Suman, SDSU, 1994-95
7. 36 Cheryl Ford, LT, 2001-02
8. 34 Johnetta Hayes, RU, 2001-02
Total Free Throws
1. 115 Amy Burnett, UW, 1994-95
2. 105 Amy Pack, UTEP, 2000-01
3. 104 Leela Farr, TU, 2000-01
4. 100 Leela Farr, TU, 2001-02
Total Steals
1. 67 Cricket Williams, SJSU, 2001-02
2. 64 Tomika Young, BYU, 1991-92
3. 58 Jodi Nowlin-Tres, SDSU, 1996-97
4. 57 Kasie Pittman, TU, 1997-98
5. 52 Janee Young, FS, 1997-98
6. 51 Laura Ingham, UN, 2001-02
Tamika Stukes, UNM, 1997-98
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HONOREES NAMED The 2001-02 all-Western Athletic Conference teams have been named, following a vote of the WAC's head coaches.
The first team has only one repeat performer from last year with Nevada's Kate Smith making her second appearance on the all-WAC squad. Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford and Ayana Walker as well as San Jose State's Cricket Williams join Smith on the first team. Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford was named player of the year as the Lady Techsters complete their first season in the WAC. Ford a junior center from Summerfield, La., had a strong conference season.
San Jose State's Janice Richard captured her first Coach of the Year honor, leading the Spartans to a 17-10 record, 12-6 in the league. In her third season as the Spartans head coach, Richard led the Spartans to a dramatic turnaround after a 13-16 season last year. The complete list follows.
2001-02 All-Western Athletic Conference TeamFirst Team all-WACCheryl Ford Louisiana Tech
Ayana Walker Louisiana Tech
Kate Smith Nevada
C. Williams San Jose State
Leela Farr Tulsa
Second Team all-WACLindsay Logan Fresno State
Janka Gabrielova Hawaii
Amber Obaze Louisiana Tech
Kimya Murray UTEP
Carla Morrow Tulsa
Player of the Year: Cheryl Ford, Louisiana Tech
Coach of the Year: Janice Richard, San Jose State
Co-Freshmen of the Year: Erica Smith, Louisiana Tech
Aritta Lane, Fresno State
IMPROVEMENTS FROM LAST SEASON Three of the 10 WAC teams won as many games as they had last season: Rice, San Jose State and Tulsa. Tulsa won nine more games than last season's 8-21 finish. The Hurricane's 17 wins is the most ever by Tulsa. The 1983-84 team won 16.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams were 47-49 (.505) in non-conference games. The WAC was 3-10 against teams that were ranked or are ranked in the top 25 - Hawaii (0-2); Louisiana Tech (1-3); Nevada (0-2); Rice (2-1); SMU (0-1) and Tulsa (0-1).
20 SOMETHING Three WAC teams recorded 20 wins this season. Louisiana Tech has recorded at least 20 wins in 25 of its 28 seasons. Rice reached 20 wins in its last regular season game with its win over Tulsa. Hawaii also reached the 20-win plateau with 23 wins. The Wahine have had at least 20 wins for three-straight seasons.
ATTENDANCE The womens basketball tournament was attended by a total of 9,643 fans during the five sessions. The women averaged 1,929 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa. These numbers were an increase from the 2000-01season when the tournament was also held in Tulsa. In 2001, 8,776 fans attended the five sessions for an average of 1,755.