PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose States Cricket Williams has been named the Western Athletic Conference womens basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 24-Mar 2. This is the second career WAC Player of the Week honor for the junior, but her first this season.
Williams, a junior from New Orleans, La., led the Spartans to a 1-1 weekend. The guards 16 assists in an overtime win against Tulsa ties a single-game San Jose State record for assists, breaking the old record of 15 in conference and non-conference games. The 16 assists is second-best in the WAC ever behind Laura Ingham who had 17 during the 2001-02 season..
She also recorded 24 points for her second consecutive and eighth overall double-double of the season. Williams also scored 14 points and had 10 assists in a loss to Rice. For the week, Williams averaged 19.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 13.0 rpg.
OTHERS NOMINATED Also nominated: Tasha Crain, Louisiana Tech.
Crain averaged 10.0 points, 7.0 steals, 6.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds in Louisiana Tech's two
wins over UTEP and Boise State. The Kingsland, Ark., native shot 58.3 percent (7-12) from the field and 75 percent (6-8) from the free throw line for the week. Crain scored a career-high 14 points and recorded a career-high 10 steals to post her first career double double in the win over Boise State. The 10 steals fell just one shy of tying the Tech and WAC single-game record for steals.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NCAA FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS IN RUSTON The Thomas Assembly Center will once again play host to the NCAA Tournament as Louisiana Tech will be one of 16 sites for the 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball first and second rounds.
Louisiana Tech and Ruston will host the first and second rounds March 23 and 25. Four teams will compete at the Ruston site.
Tickets are already on sale for the two-day event that will feature three games, two first-round contests on March 23 and a single second-round game on March 25. This year marks the first time that ESPN will televise all 63 games of the women's tournament, including the three in Ruston.
Season ticket holders can currently purchase tickets for their regular seats for the first- and second-rounds. Only ticket packages for the entire event can be purchased (no single game tickets will be sold), adult ticket packages starting at $15 while college and high school students ticket packages are $12.
For more information or to purchase tickets for the first and second rounds, call the Louisiana Tech Ticket Office at 318- 257-3631.
MARQUEE MATCHUPS WAC Tournament seeds are at stake in the final week of regular season play. Louisiana Tech has secured the No. 1 seed and looks to be the first team since the 1998-99 Colorado State Rams to finish undefeated in WAC play. The Lady Techsters only have one game against SMU on March 6. Fresno State and Rice are tied for second and both look to secure the No. 2 seed. The teams will face each other head to head on March 8 when the Bulldogs travel to Houston. Fresno State also has to face fourth place Tulsa on the road. San Jose State and Hawaii look to gain ground on the road against Boise State and UTEP.
HAWAII'S ROPER BECOMES ALL-TIME BLOCK LEADER Senior Christen Roper reached a milestone when she broke the career blocks record Feb. 27 against Tulsa. Roper and Tulsa's Alyssa Shriver have been among the nation's best in blocks all season.
The record was held by BYU's Debbie Dimond (1991-95). Dimond had 268 career blocks. Roper started the season third in the WAC behind Dimond and San Diego State's Michelle Suman. Roper's 81 blocks this season propelled her into first place. She had five more blocks against Rice for a career total of 274.
HOME COOKIN' In last week's WAC games, the home teams were once again 6-3. For the season, WAC teams are 89-40 (.690) on their home courts this season. Louisiana Tech also has only one home loss this season (12-1) to No. 4 Tennessee. The Lady Techsters are the only WAC team to remain undefeated at home this season during league games. Tulsa and Rice both have one loss at home. Nine of the 10 WAC schools have at least a .500 record at home this season, only Nevada holds a home WAC record under .500.
LOUISIANA TECH'S FORD BREAKS WAC REBOUNDING RECORD With eight rebounds against UTEP on March 1, Louisiana Tech senior Cheryl Ford broke the WAC single-season record for total rebounds. The record was held by Utah's Tanya Zachary with 311 during the 1991-92 season. She currently has 328 rebounds. The 2001-02 WAC Player of the Year also broke her own record for rebounds in a WAC season. She currently has 229 league rebounds, breaking her record of 188 from last season. This season, Ford is averaging 12.1 rebounds which is among the best in the nation.
TULSA'S CURTIN SELECTED AS SEMIFINALIST FOR STUDENT ATHLETE AWARD Tulsa's Allison Curtin is one of 10 women's basketball players from around the nation to be selected as a semifinalist for the Creamland Dairies Women's Collegiate Basketball Student-Athletic of the Year award. She was initially named to a list of 31 players and was included among the 10 semifinalists announced on March 3. Three finalists will be named during the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The 2002-03 award winner will be named on April 9, 2003, in Albuquerque, N.M. Jimmy Dykes, College Basketball Analyst for ESPN, will emcee the events.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK WAC teams are 53-45 (.541) in non-conference games. The WAC is 3-11 against non-conference teams that are ranked or were 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.
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 remain No. 6 in the AP poll, the Lady Techsters highest ranking of the season. The Lady Techsters are also No. 6 in the ESPN poll. Louisiana Tech remains in the top 10 for the sixth-straight week.
WAC ROUNDUP Boise State ends the regular season at home against two 7-9 teams, Hawaii and San Jose State. With a 6-10 WAC record, the Broncos have already passed last season's record of 5-13. The Broncos need only one more win to tie last season's win total of 10 for first-year head coach Jen Warden.
Fresno State won its fourth in a row with a 77-65 win over Nevada on the road. This was the first time the team has accomplished the feat since the 1994-95 campaign. With the win, Fresno State improves to 16-10 overall and 10-6 in the WAC to remain in a tie with Rice for second place. A second- place finish would be the Bulldogs highest WAC finish ever. Last season, Fresno State finished ninth with a 4-14 WAC record and a 9-20 overall record. The six game difference in WAC games is the best turnaround in the league this season. Overall, both Fresno State and UTEP have won seven more games than last season.
Hawaii moved to 7-9 in league games this season, defeating Tulsa at home, but losing to Rice. The Rainbow Wahine are still in search of their first road win of the season, holding an 0-7 road record. This week, Hawaii looks to break that losing streak with road games against Boise State and UTEP. Hawaii did end its home season with the most wins at home with a 13-5 record at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Louisiana Tech will be looking for its 400th program win in Ruston when the Lady Techsters host SMU on March 6. Louisiana Tech was 84-6 in old Memorial Gym and is 315-18 in the Thomas Assembly Center for a Ruston record of 399-24. Junior forward Trina Frierson is averaging 21.8 points over her last five games while shooting 69 percent (44-64) from the field. Louisiana Tech will attempt to become only the third WAC team to ever go undefeated in the regular season when the Lady Techsters host SMU Thursday (San Diego State, 1993-94, and Colorado State, 1998-99).
Nevada finishes out the season on the road against Rice and Tulsa. The Wolf Pack lost to both the Lady Owls and the Golden Hurricane at home this season. Nevada has won three of its last six and looks to end the regular season on a high note. Nevada has only one win in league games on the road this season against on Feb. 15 against SMU.
Rice senior Kim Lawson secured the Rice all-time assists record outright with her first dish of the night at San Jose State. With her 11 assists last week, she brings her total to 463. At Hawaii, junior Kate Beckler came off the bench in the first half to cap off a 17-7 Rice run. In the final 2:13 of the period, Beckler scored eight points including a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lady Owls a 29-26 lead at halftime. Along with Beckler, the rest of the Rice reserves played key roles in the victory as the bench accounted for 32 of the Lady Owls' 56 points. Anne Peck came off the bench to lead the team with 11.
San Jose State looks to continue its recent road success after winning its first WAC game on the road, 77-52, at Nevada on Feb. 22. The Spartans had lost six-straight road games. After going 1-1 last week, San Jose State is in a two-way tie with Hawaii for sixth place in the WAC standings with two games remaining in the season. The Spartans hit the road for their last two games of the season. The Spartans face UTEP on March 6 and Boise State on March 8. Earlier this season, the Spartans defeated both the Broncos and the Miners at home.
SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola has gone with 12 different lineups this season. SMU shot .508 from the field against Boise State. It has been over three years (Jan. 22, 2000 at Fresno State - .540) since SMU shot over .500 in a single game. SMU has allowed at least one opponent double-double in 10 of its last 12 games. Freshman forward Sarah Davis recorded a team-high fifth double-double of the season against UTEP with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Every Mustang player who saw action vs. Boise State scored at least two points. In her last two games, sophomore forward Shonte Roberts is 11-of-13 from the field, averaging 11.5 points and six rebounds coming off the bench.
UTEP currently has three players inactive with Vaida Zagurskyte, Kia Dowell and Gabby Sutton. Zagurskyte injured her MCL in her right knee against Rice on Feb. 10. Zagurskyte is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Zagurskyte was seventh in the league in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game. Dowell injured her ACL in her left knee against SMU on March 1. Dowell had an MRI done on Monday, March 3, and the results will be known on March 7. She too is expected to missed the rest of the season. Sutton will remained sidelined as well. She last played against Rice on Feb. 10.
Tulsa senior Allison Curtin has played just one season in a Tulsa uniform, but she will leave a lasting legacy in the Golden Hurricane record books. Through 27 games this season, Curtin already owns four single-season records (points, points per game, field goals and free throws made) and ranks in the top five in five other categories. With her current averages, Curtin is on track to become Tulsa's single- season leader in a total of seven different records. In WAC games only, Curtin is only 22 points shy of passing CSU's Becky Hammon for the most points in one season with 373. She also needs just 17 free throw makes to become the WAC's singe-season leader in that category.
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.