PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 3-9. This is the third career WAC Player of the Week honor for the two-time WAC Player of the Year. This is the third Louisiana Tech player of the week this season.
The senior from Summerfield, La., led Louisiana Tech in a win against SMU that helped the Lady Techsters to a perfect 18-0 WAC season. It was the first perfect WAC season since Colorado State finished 14-0 during the 1998-99 season. The Lady Techsters defeated the Mustangs 89-56 and enter the WAC Tournament with a 24-game winning streak.
Ford set a new WAC record for rebounds in a game with 23 against SMU, surpassing the old mark of 21 set by three other players. The senior also scored a career-high 28 points in the win. Ford hit 12-of-23 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws, while also recording one block and one steal in the win.
For the season, she averages 15.3 points per game and a WAC-leading 12.5 rebounds per game.
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMENS BASKETBALL HONOREES NAMED The 2002-03 all-Western Athletic Conference teams have been named, following a vote of the WACs head coaches.
The first team has two repeat performers from last year with San Jose States Cricket Williams making her second appearance on the all-WAC first team along with Louisiana Techs Cheryl Ford. Ford also became the first player since Hawaiis Raylene Howard to win back-to back WAC Player of the Year honors. Howard earned the award during the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons.
Tulsa senior Allison Curtin, Rices Johnetta Hayes and Louisiana Techs Trina Frierson joined Ford and Williams on the first team. Curtin, a senior transfer, was first in the WAC all season in points per game averaging 23.2 ppg. Hayes was third in the league in rebounds, averaging 8.2 rpg., while Frierson was first in the WAC in field goal percentage (.513).
The all-WAC second teamers were Laura Ingham, Nevada; Amber Obaze, Louisiana Tech; Erica Smith, Louisiana Tech; Omelogo Udeze, Fresno State and Dragana Zoric, UTEP.
Boise States Jamie Hawkins earned the schools first WAC Freshman of the Year honor. It was the first WAC postseason award for the Broncos. Hawkins was among the WACs leaders in both scoring and rebounding.
Louisiana Techs Kurt Budke captured his first Coach of the Year honor, leading the Lady Techsters to a perfect 18-0 league record, the first since the 1998-99 season. Budke is in his first season at Louisiana
Tech after taking over for legendary coach Leon Barmore. The Lady Techsters enter the tournament with a 24-game winning streak.
The 2003 Williams WAC Tournament will be held March 11-15, at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. The womens tournament schedule includes two first round games on March 11, four quarterfinal games on March 12, semifinals on March 14 and the championship on March 15.
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 4-5. For the season, WAC teams are 93-45 (.674) on their home courts this season. Louisiana Tech also has only one home loss this season (14-1) to No. 4 Tennessee. The Lady Techsters are the only WAC team to remain undefeated at home this season during league games. Rice ended the regular season with one loss at home. Eight of the 10 WAC schools had at least a .500 record at home this season, only Nevada and Boise State holding home WAC records under .500.
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.
20 SOMETHING Louisiana Tech was the only WAC team this season to reach the 20-win plateau. With its 24-game winning streak, the Lady Techsters have their eye on 30 wins. Louisiana Tech only needs four more wins to reach 30.
WAC ROUNDUP Boise State freshman Jamie Hawkins earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors. The award was the first postseason honor for the Broncos since entering the WAC. Hawkins was among the leaders in the WAC in scoring and rebounding.
Fresno State finished the conference season in third place in the WAC standings, matching the school's best league finish from 1985-86 at 8-4 in the NorPac. Fresno State, which was picked to finish seventh in the preseason coaches poll, has won eight of its last 10 after posting a 9-20 overall mark just one season ago. Fresno State will be seeded third in the WAC Tournament which is the Bulldogs highest seed ever in the WAC Tournament. Last season, Fresno State was the tournament's ninth seed and lost in overtime to Boise State in the first round.
Hawaii finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the WAC regular season standings with Hawaii, Tulsa and San Jose State. The fourth-place finish is Hawaii's lowest since joining the WAC in 1996-97. Hawaii tied a season-high with 79 points at Boise State. The 59 percent shooting was also season high. In the final two road games of the regular season, the Rainbow Wahine finally broke out of its road slump, ending the season 2-7 on the road.
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season 26-2, 18-0 in the WAC. The win over SMU was Louisiana Tech's 400th all-time in Ruston (400-24). During senior Cheryl Ford's four years at Louisiana Tech, the Lady Techsters are 76-1 in conference games, including a 9-0 record in conference tournament games. Trina Frierson ended the regular season averaging 21.5 points and shooting 65.8 percent from the field over her last six games.
Nevada remained in Tulsa after losing to the Hurricane on March 8 to prepare for the WAC Tournament on Tuesday, March 11. The Wolf Pack will go in as the No. 10 seed, and start out in the first round against the seventh-seed SMU. Nevada is 0-2 in the WAC Tournament so far, with both eliminations coming in the first round.
Rice finishes the regular season 15-12 overall and 12-6 in the WAC. The Lady Owls also improve their current winning streak to five heading into WAC tournament. This is the second-straight season that the Lady Owls have earned the tournament's second seed. Last season, Rice defeated SMU in the quarterfinals, 80-58. The Lady Owls then were upset by third-seeded Hawaii in one of the lowest scoring WAC Tournament games, 59-36. The Lady Owls 36 points was the fewest ever scored.
San Jose State junior point guard Cricket Williams set a new San Jose State single-season scoring record in the Spartans win over Boise State, 73-61, in the final regular season WAC game. Williams drove to the hoop, hitting a lay up to score her 541st point of the season, setting the new San Jose State record. Williams surpassed Natalie St. Marys mark of 540 set in the 1982-83 season. Williams has 1,273 career-points and is currently fifth all-time.
SMU freshman post/forward Sarah Davis will miss the remainder of the season with a fractured right ankle. Davis was named to the WAC all-newcomer team this year. Freshman guard Kendall Shead collected a career-high 12 points against No. 6 Louisiana Tech. SMU's 30 three-point field goal attempts against Louisiana Tech and 32 defensive rebounds are season-high marks. This is the second-straight year that SMU begins the Williams WAC Tournament as the seventh-seed.
UTEP looks for better success at the 2003 WAC Tournament. The WAC Tournament has never been too friendly to the Miners. Since 1991, UTEP is 3-10 and did not qualify for the WAC Tournament in 1991 and 1997. UTEP's last win in the tournament came in a 63-49 victory over TCU in the first round of the 1998 tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. UTEP has lost five games in the tournament since that last victory. UTEP enters the tournament for the third-consecutive season in the first round game. The Miners will face Boise State in the first round of this years championships. However, the winner of the game will go on to face top-seeded Louisiana Tech, which finished the conference season 18-0 in 2002-03. UTEP has not only had little success at the conference tournament, it is had just one player named to the All-WAC Tournament Team. Shenita Waddell did so at the 1993 tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Tulsa senior Alyssa Shriver led all WAC players in blocked shots during the regular season. She posted 92 rejections to break her own school record of 77 last season. In WAC games only, she finished second with 56 blocks in 18 games. Senior Allison Curtin cracked the league's top-10 in six different categories, including scoring, scoring average, total field goals, field goal attempts, free throws and steals. Tulsa's 162 blocked shots in 2002-03 are the most ever recorded during a regular season by a WAC team. TU's 97 blocks during conference play were also a conference single-season record.