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 Dec. 30-Jan. 5. This is the second WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior transfer this season. Curtin earned the first player of the week of the season on November 25.
Curtin, a guard from Taylorville, Ill., guided the Golden Hurricane to two tough WAC wins last week, as Tulsa defeated Nevada, 58-53, and Fresno State, 58-57. In both games, Curtin had a strong second half to lead the Hurricane to victory. Against Fresno State, the senior scored 18 second-half points and was nine-for-nine from the free throw line. She connected on a pair of free throws with 10-seconds remaining that were the game-winners. Against the Wolf Pack, she scored 14 second-half points and ended the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds. She was one assist shy of a triple-double.
For the week, Curtin averaged 19.5 points, nine rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Curtin also recorded her fourth double-double of the season to go along with five 30-point games and four 20-point contests.
OTHERS NOMINATED Also nominated: Omelogo Udeze, Fresno State; Christen Roper, Hawai'i; Trina Frierson, Louisiana Tech; Laura Ingham, Nevada; Cricket Williams, San Jose State and Andrea Cossey, SMU.
Fresno State's Udeze matched her career-high with 26 points in a win against Rice. The senior forward led the team in scoring against both Rice and Tulsa, as the Bulldogs went 1-1 to open WAC play. She posted her third double-double of the season in a win over Saint Mary's.
Hawaii's Roper averaged 16.5 points per game as the Rainbow Wahine defeated Boise State and UTEP. The senior center had 10 blocks in two games along with a season-high 17 points against Boise State.
Louisiana Tech's Frierson tied her career high with 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, as the Lady Techsters defeated SMU. Frierson hit 8-of-11 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws, while logging a career-high 37 minutes. The junior scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes of action.
Nevada's Ingham scored her first-ever triple double against Rice. Ingham scored 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, which ties her career high for rebounds. She was also in double digits against Tulsa, where she scored 13 points while grabbing five boards and five assists.
San Jose State's Williams averaged 12.3 points per game as the Spartans started the WAC season 2-0. Against Boise State, she 23 points to help erase a 13-point deficit. She also added her second double-double of the season.
SMU's Cossey scored 17 points in a 10-point loss to No. 12 Louisiana Tech. The junior guard has scored in double figures in SMU's last seven games. She recorded a career-high nine rebounds against Lousiana Tech.
WEEK EIGHT WAC play heats up in the eighth week of women's basketball action. Four teams look to uphold their undefeated WAC records, Hawaii, San Jose State, Tulsa and Louisiana Tech. The Spartans and the Lady Techsters meet head-to-head on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Lady Techsters then host Hawaii on Jan. 11. Tulsa will take on Rice (3-7, 1-1) at home in its only game of the week. UTEP and Boise State look for their first WAC wins of the season, facing Fresno State and Nevada on alternate days.
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.
ON A ROLL Louisiana Tech's current six-game winning streak is the longest this season in the WAC. The Lady Techsters have not lost since losing to No. 5 Tennessee 60-35 on Dec. 4. Nevada had a five-game winning streak earlier in the season. Four other squads had three-game winning streaks, Fresno State, SMU, Tulsa and Hawaii two times.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 51-45 (.531) in non-conference games. The WAC is 3-11 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.
CLOSE CALLS In what has become a season-long trend, 11 out of Fresno States first 12 games have been decided by 10 points or less. The lone exception came in the form of a 12-point loss to Michigan State in the season opener. The Bulldogs have posted a 7-4 record in such games, winning by an average of four points. In contrast, the Dogs were just 5-7 overall last season in games decided by 10 points or less. Five of Fresno States last six games have been decided by a mere five points or less, with three of those coming in the form of victories.
IN THE POLLS Louisiana Tech is the only WAC team ranked in both the Associated Press and the ESPN polls. This week, the Lady Techsters are ranked No. 12 in the AP poll which is its highest ranking since Nov. 25 when they were ranked No. 10 by both polls. Louisiana Tech earned a No. 13 ranking in the ESPN poll. Hawaii had one vote in the ESPN poll.
WAC ROUNDUP Boise State looks for its first WAC win this season. The Broncos have lost four-straight WAC games, dating back to last season. This week, Boise State hosts Fresno State and Nevada. Last season, the Broncos earned four of their six WAC wins against the Bulldogs and the Wolf Pack. They were 3-0 against Fresno State and 1-1 against Nevada. BSU also defeated Fresno State in the WAC Tournament.
Fresno State takes to the road for the first time in conference play with two games on the schedule. The Bulldogs face Boise State and UTEP. Fresno State began the 2002-03 WAC campaign with a 77-70 victory over Rice in its league opener at home on Jan. 2. The Bulldogs then had an opportunity to record back-to-back wins in WAC play for the first time since the 1997-98 season, but lost to Tulsa, 58-57, on Jan. 4. The defeat was the first for the Bulldogs at home this season, and the announced crowd of 2,119 was the largest ever to watch a womens basketball game in Fresno State history.
Hawaii held Boise State to 44 points and 23 percent shooting, both season lows for a Rainbow Wahine opponent. Hawaii heads for the road for the first time this season. The Rainbow Wahine travel to the mainland to face SMU on Jan. 9 and Louisiana Tech on Jan. 11. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine were 2-0 against the Mustangs and 0-3 against the Lady Techsters. Louisiana Tech defeated Hawaii, 53-50, in the WAC Championship game last season in Tulsa.
Louisiana Tech senior center Cheryl Ford recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 19 rebounds against SMU in the Lady Techsters' WAC opener. In the last two games, (road wins over New Mexico and SMU), Ford has recorded 37 rebounds. In Tech's three televised games of the year (Texas
Tech, New Mexico and SMU), Ford has pulled down 52 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Erica Smith tied her season high with 17 points in the win over SMU. Junior forward Trina Frierson has scored in double digits in seven-straight games.
Nevada played last week without starting junior Amber Young, who was out with a stress fracture in her right foot. It was the sixth game that Young missed. She was averaging 9.5 ppg. Against Rice, the Wolf Pack was also short starting sophomore April Bankston. Nevada will now look to find its first WAC win of the year. Nevada will first face UTEP on Thursday, Jan. 9 and then Boise State on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Rice junior Kate Beckler matched her career-high of three steals against No. 8 Texas Tech, then bested it three days later with four at Fresno State. Beckler also matched her career-high of five assists for the second time this season against the Bulldogs. Senior Kim Lawson had season highs of eight assists and eight rebounds at Nevada to go along with eight points. All of Lawsons offense came from the free throw line as she went a perfect 8-for-8 for the second- straight year at the Lawlor Event Center.
San Jose State currently has the longest conference winning streak among all WAC teams. The Spartans have rattled off eight consecutive conference wins, dating back to last season. The next longest streak is six games held by Hawaii. This week, the Spartans look to extend that winning streak on the road against Louisiana Tech and SMU. The Spartans are winless in two meetings with the Lady Techsters. Last season the Spartans lost by 30 points at home and 40 points on the road. San Jose State is 1-10 all-time against the Lady Mustangs. The teams split last years series with the Spartans earning their first win against SMU at home.
SMU guard Shanta Ramdhanny joins Andrea Cossey in scoring in double figures in the Mustangs' last seven games. Sophomore forward Alisa Wright made her first start of the season against No. 12 Louisiana Tech, where she posted a season-high eight rebounds in 17 minutes of play. Only three 20+ point games have been scored by an SMU player so far this season. Head coach Rhonda Rompola has gone with eight different starting lineups in 11 games.
UTEP hasn'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). The Miners have lost 18-straight WAC games, dating back to last season. Their last WAC win was a 76-73 win over SMU on Jan. 3, 2002. This week, UTEP looks to break the streak against Nevada on Jan. 9 and Fresno State on Jan. 11 at home.
Tulsa started the WAC season strong for the second straight season. Last year, Tulsa opened with a 2-0 record. In 2001-02, the Golden Hurricane set the school mark for the best WAC start with a 5-0 record. Tulsa wrapped a three-game road trip with a 3-0 record with wins at Manhattan, Nevada and Fresno State and tied the school record for consecutive road wins. Tulsa is 5-3 in road contests this season.
2003 WILLIAMS WAC TOURNAMENT The 2003 Williams WAC Tournament will be held March 11-15 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. Both the women and men compete during the same week. On the womens side, the seven, eight, nine and 10 seeded teams will play on Tuesday, March 11. The remaining eight teams will all play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 12. The top seed faces the winner of the Tuesday eight-nine game. The No. 2 seed faces the winner of the seven-10 game, the No. 3 seed meets the No. 6 seed, while No. 4 is against No. 5. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday afternoon.
WILLIAMS IS TOURNAMENT SPONSOR For the third year in a row, Williams will be the WACs tournament sponsor. Williams, through its subsidiaries, connects businesses to energy, delivering innovative, reliable products and services. Williams information is available at www.williams.com.