PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice's Lauren Neaves has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 5-11. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for the freshman, who has helped lead the Lady Owls to a 3-1 WAC start this season. This is the first player of the week honor for Rice since Johnetta Hayes during the 2002-03 season.
Neaves, a forward from Cooper City, Fla., hit .545 from the field as the Lady Owls went 2-1 last week to take a share of first place in the WAC. She scored five of a career-high 17 points in Rice's overtime win, as the Lady Owls defeated eighth-ranked Louisiana Tech. She broke an 82-82 tie with 1:01 left in the extra period against the Lady Techsters with a free throw, then gave Rice a three-point lead on a driving lay-up with 25 seconds left.
The freshman went 7-of-10 against Louisiana Tech, 5-of-12 against Boise State and 6-of-11 against UTEP. She recorded her second double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Boise State on the road. She had a career-best four blocks in each game played, bringing her season total to 31, scoring double-digits in each of Rice's games.
Also nominated: Amisha Carter, Louisiana Tech; Kaira White, SMU; Vaida Zagurskyte, UTEP and Jillian Robbins, Tulsa.
WHAT A RACE! All 10 of the WAC schools have won at least one game and lost at least one game after last week that saw Louisiana Tech fall to Rice, and then in turn see Rice fall to UTEP. There is a three-way tie for first between Louisiana Tech, Rice and SMU. Both the Lady Techsters and the Mustangs will be on the road this week against Hawaii and San Jose State. Rice is at home against Tulsa in its only game of the week.
TULSA'S ROBBINS SETS SCHOOL RECORD In Tulsa's home loss to SMU in overtime, freshman Jillian Robbins registered her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and tied Allison Curtin's single-game record for steals with eight. Curtin registered eight steals against Santa Clara during the 2002-03 season. Robbins also added two blocked shots.
AGAINST THE BEST The WAC is 1-8 against teams ranked in the top 25. Louisiana Tech captured the league's first win over a ranked team with a last-second win over then-No. 6 Penn State. SMU has already played three ranked teams in No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 23 TCU. No. 12 Louisiana Tech fell to No. 3 Tennessee two weeks ago. Hawaii lost to No. 21 Arizona, while Rice has fallen to No. 18 LSU. Fresno State is 0-1 this season against ranked teams falling to No. 19 Utah. Tulsa lost to No. 2 Duke in Durham on Dec. 14. Rankings at time of meeting.
NON-CONFERENCE RECORD The WAC is an even .500 with a 46-46 record (.506) against non-conference opponents. The WAC has the most wins against the Southland Conference with a solid 7-2 record. The WAC is 5-1 against the Big West Conference. The league has a solid 2-0 mark against the Big Ten. The WAC has seven losses against the Big 12 and Pac-10 Conferences.
SAN JOSE STATE'S WILLIAMS FINALIST FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD San Jose State senior Cricket Williams has been selected as one of 31 finalists nationwide for the Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award. The award is presented annually to the top senior male and female NCAA Division I Player-of-the-Year.
Nominees were selected based on performance and achievements from their junior season. Williams was a first team all-WAC selection her junior year. She set the school scoring record with 571 points, 20.4 per game, and finished as the 17th leading scorer in the nation. Williams also dished out 192 assists including 16 against Tulsa in early March. This season, Williams is third in the country in assists and averages 12.8 points and 8.5 assists per game. The award was launched during the 2001-02 season in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving school early to turn professional. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was developed to honor seniors for completing their collegiate athletic eligibility.
The idea first came from sportscaster Dick Enberg, who suggested such an award during the CBS telecast of the 2001 National Championship Game when Shane Battier led Duke to the title after returning to college for his senior season.
THREE-WAY TIE After last week's play, there is a three-way tied for first place in the WAC with Rice, Louisiana Tech and SMU. Rice was the last undefeated team in the WAC after upsetting No. 8 Louisiana Tech, 87-84 in overtime. Rice then fell to UTEP. SMU improved to 3-1 after wins last week against Fresno State and Nevada at home. Louisiana Tech also defeated the Bulldogs and Wolf Pack to move to 3-1 in the WAC. With three wins already in WAC play, SMU is half way to its season total of last season. The Mustangs ended league play 6-12 in 2002-03.
WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE, UTAH STATE On Oct. 23, 2003, the WAC issued invitations to New Mexico State and Utah State for the 2005 season. New Mexico State is currently 7-6 this season. Utah State is 1-10 in its first season of women's basketball in 17 years. The Aggies earned their first win of the season against Cal Poly.
WAC TOURNAMENT TRAVELS WEST TO FRESNO For the first time since the 1999-00 season, Fresno State will serve as the host for the Men and Womens WAC Basketball Tournament. The 2004 tournament will be held in the new 16,116-seat Save Mart Center. The seven through 10 teams will play on Tuesday, March 9. The remaining eight teams will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 10 with the top seed competing versus the winner of the Tuesday game, the No. 2 seed vs. No. 7, etc. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday.
AROUND THE COURT Boise State is only 4-8 overall, but they are getting some solid shooting efforts. Last season's WAC Freshman of the Year Jamie Hawkins is fifth in the league in shooting (14.2 ppg). Hawkins is also fifth in field goal percentage, shooting .496. Junior Jodi Nakashima is first in the WAC in three point field goal percentage (.510) and second in three-point field goals made (2.08 per game). As a team, the Broncos are tied for second in the WAC in shooting percentage (.436). This week, Boise State will put its shooting skills on display against Fresno State and Nevada on the road.
Fresno State has lost back-to-back games for the first time in almost a year. The Bulldogs look to get back on track with a two-game homestand this weekend. The first obstacle for the Bulldogs will be Boise State (4-8, 1-2 WAC) on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. Fresno State closes out the week by hosting UTEP (6-6, 1-2 WAC) on Jan. 17. Head coach Stacy Johnson-Klein recently announced the addition of freshman guard Chantella Perera, who was cleared on Jan. 9 to join the Bulldog roster. The 5-8 native of Wantirna, Victoria, Australia, went 0-3 from the field in four minutes of playing time at Louisiana Tech on Jan. 10 in her collegiate debut.
Hawaii freshmen have been immediately thrown into the fire. All six (true) freshmen have seen playing time this year. Pam Tambini earned the starting nods in the first seven games before suffering an ankle injury, while center Brittany Grice has six starts. Janevia Taylor earned her first start at point guard at Fresno State on Jan. 3 and provided a solid performance in 32 minutes. Junior Jade Abele has also been setting the pace for the Rainbow Wahine. Abele is second in the league in scoring, averaging 16.2 ppg. This week, Hawaii returns home to take on two of the three teams tied for first, Louisiana Tech and SMU. The Rainbow Wahine are in search of their third home win, as they play their first WAC home games this season.
Louisiana Tech had its 22-game WAC regular season winning streak stopped by Rice on Jan. 5. The Lady Owls are the only WAC team to defeat the Lady Techsters also taking a game in 2002. Louisiana Tech has recorded a record of 211-14 all-time in regular season conference games (American South, Sun Belt, Western Athletic). The Lady Techsters won all 18 WAC games last season. After the loss to the Lady Owls, Louisiana Tech rebounded with resounding wins against Nevada and Fresno State. Seniors Trina Frierson and Amisha Carter are leaders in two WAC categories. Frierson leads the league in scoring, averaging 17.1 ppg, while Carter leads in rebounding, averaging 10.3 rpg.
Nevada has been off to a slow start this season, but the Wolf Pack did capture its first WAC win earlier than last season. The 2002-03 Wolf Pack squad did not win its first league win until Feb. 8 with a win over UTEP at home. First-year head coach Kim Gervasoni earned her first WAC win with a 77-62 win against Hawaii on Jan. 5. This week, the Wolf Pack host UTEP and Boise State.
Rice handed Louisiana Tech its second-ever WAC loss with an 87-84 overtime victory on Jan. 5. UTEP snapped Rices three-game win streak in the Lady Owls loss in El Paso. Michelle Woods, Lindsey Maynard and Lauren Neaves each averaged over 13.0 points for Rice. Maynard scored a season-high 18 points in Rices overtime win over Louisiana Tech. Woods was the only Lady Owl to grab double-figure offensive and defensive rebounds. Rice will to rebound after the loss to UTEP, playing at Tulsa on Jan. 17. It is the Lady Owls only game of the week. After a slow start, the Lady Owls have won four of their last six games. Rice welcomed back Elisa Inman from injury. Preseason all-WAC selection Johnetta Hayes is still out until February with a knee injury.
San Jose State is off to its best start in school history with a 10-2 overall record. Junior Chenne Tuimoloau came off the bench and scored a team-high 20 points in the Spartans win over Hawaii on Jan. 8 It was her first 20-point game of the season. Senior Cricket Williams recorded her fifth double-double of the season against the Rainbow Wahine with 15 points and 10 assists. She has dished out 10 or more assists in six games this season to her third in the nation (8.50 apg).
SMU was the only team in the league to win all of its league games last week with wins over Tulsa, Fresno State and Nevada. With the wins, the Mustangs moved into a three-way tie for first in the WAC with Louisiana Tech and Rice. Comparing WAC game statistics and overall game statistics, SMU is averaging six more points per game and five more rebounds per game in league play. SMU's had some season marks set in the win over Nevada, including best three-point percentage (.450), free throws made (19), fewest field goal attempts (49) and fewest personal fouls (10).
UTEP has struggled playing away from El Paso over the past five seasons, compiling a 10-56 record (2-4 in 03-04; 3-13 in 02-03; 2-13 in 01-02; 2-12 in 00-01; 1-14 in 99-00). UTEP has lost its last 13 road games. The Miners are currently 2-4 (2-0 on neutral floors) when away from El Paso this season. UTEP has not won more than three games outside of El Paso since it went 5-11 away from the Sun City in 1998-99. UTEP has had only two winning seasons on the road in program history. The Miners went 9-7 away from El Paso in 1992-93 and 10-8 during the 1980-81 season. UTEP was also 3-3 away from El Paso in its initial season in 1974-75. In the program's previous 29-years, the Miners have posted only seven five-or-more win seasons away from El Paso.
Tulsa can tie the school record for consecutive WAC road victories with a win at Rice this weekend. TU posted back-to-back road wins over UTEP and Boise State last week. The school record was established during the 2001-02 campaign win wins at SMU, Fresno State and Nevada. The Golden Hurricane is off to a 2-2 start in WAC play for the second time in school history and for the first time since the 1998-99 season.