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Week One Women's Basketball Notes

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Week One Women's Basketball Notes

Louisiana Tech looks for
its fourth-straight WAC title
Related Material
Weekly Notes.pdf
  • For the complete release, including schedules, notes and polls, click on the .pdf to the right.

    POLLS
    ESPN/USA Coaches' Poll
    Associated Press

    PRESEASON HONORS Lindys Sports Annuals named Louisiana Tech No. 16 in its preseason poll this season. They were the only WAC team to earn a spot in the top 25. Street and Smtihs mentioned both Louisiana Tech and Rice as the best of the rest, just outside the top 25.

    FRESNO STATE TO HOST FIRST AND SECOND ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT Fresno State has been selected to host the first and second rounds of the 2005 NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament.
    The first and second rounds for the 2005 and 2006 championships will be conducted at eight pre-determined sites, which represents a format change from the 16 first and second-round sites in previous years.

    RETURNING ALL-WAC AWARDS WINNERS Several of the WACs top performers will return for play in 2004-05. Three first-team all-WAC selections will return, including Hawaiis Jade Abele, Rices Lauren Neaves and WAC Newcomer of the Year, Jillian Robbins of Tulsa. Only one second-team performer returns this season, Louisiana Tech guard, Erica Taylor. Neaves, Robbins and Taylor will all be back from the all-defensive team. Boise States Michelle Hessing, Hawaiis Janevia Taylor and UTEPs Charnette Phelps join Neaves and Robbins as returnees on the all-freshmen team.

    TOP STATISTICAL LEADERS RETURN Four of the WACs top 10 scorers are back, led by Hawaiis Jade Abele (20.4 ppg), who was third in the WAC in scoring last season. Five of the top 10 field goal percentage leaders are back, led by Tulsas Emily Jaskowiak, who led the conference with a .534 percentage. Five of the top 10 rebound leaders return, including WAC Newcomer of the Year, Jillian Robbins from Tulsa, who was second in rebounding (8.9 rpg) last season. Five of the top 10 assist leaders return, led by SMUs Kendall Shead, who was second in the league with 4.68 assists per game. Louisiana Techs Erica Taylor is the top returner in steals, averaging 3.16, good for second in steals. Rices Lauren Neaves is the leading returner in blocks, averaging 2.62 bpg to lead the league.

    HAWAII SAYS ALOHA TO BOLLA Hawaii announced the hiring of Jim Bolla as the new coach of the Rainbow Wahine basketball program. Bolla replaces Vince Goo, who retired following the conclusion of the 2003-04 season after 17 seasons as head coach.
    Bolla was formerly head coach at UNLV. During his 14-year tenure at UNLV, from 1982 to 1996, Bolla became the most successful coach in the programs history with a record of 300-120 (.714). He led the Lady Rebels to nine post-season appearances, including seven NCAA Tournament bids, and guided his teams to 11 winning seasons, including nine consecutive with 20 or more wins. Bolla guided the school to its highest ranking during the 1989-90 season when the Lady Rebels were ranked second in the nation in both the AP and USA Today polls, before finishing the season with a 28-3 mark.

    WAC TOURNAMENT TRAVELS TO RENO After one season in Fresno, the WAC Tournament will move to Reno in 2005. The 2005 WAC Tournament will be played at Nevadas Lawlor Events Center, March 8-12. The seven through 10 seeded teams will play on Tuesday, March 8. The remaining six teams will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 9 with the top seed competing versus the winner of the 8-9 Tuesday game, the No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 or No. 10, etc. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday.

    NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS WAC teams could face at least 15 different non-conference opponents that played in last years NCAA Tournament and seven teams that participated in the 2004 postseason WNIT.

    NCAA Opponents
    SMU vs. Maine, Nov. 21
    Rice vs. Texas Tech, Nov. 22
    Tulsa vs. SW Missouri State, Nov. 24
    Louisiana Tech vs. Mississippi, Nov. 24
    Rice vs. Auburn, Nov. 26
    UTEP vs. Arizona, Nov. 29
    Rice vs. Baylor, Nov. 30
    SMU vs. TCU, Dec. 2
    Tulsa vs. Oklahoma, Dec. 4
    Fresno State vs. UCLA, Dec. 11
    Louisiana Tech vs. Tennessee, Dec. 15
    Louisiana Tech vs. Oklahoma, Dec. 18

    WAC teams could also face the following NCAA Tournament teams in regular-season tournaments this season:

    Hawaii vs. Georgia, Nov. 26-28
    Hawaii vs. Michigan State, Nov. 26-28
    Hawaii vs. TCU, Nov. 26-28
    Nevada vs. Southern, Dec. 3-4
    Hawaii vs. Houston, Dec. 17-18

    WNIT Opponents
    Fresno State vs. Pepperdine, Nov. 19
    Louisiana Tech. vs. Arkansas State, Nov. 28
    Boise State vs. Idaho State, Dec. 6
    Nevada vs. UNLV, Dec. 22
    UTEP vs. Arkansas State, Dec. 29

    WAC teams could also face the following WNIT teams in regular-season tournaments this season:

    Rice vs. Xaiver, Nov. 26-27
    Nevada vs. Arizona State, Dec. 3-4
    Nevada vs. Gonzaga, Dec. 3-4

    LOUISIANA TECH FALLS TO TOP-SEEDED DUKE IN SWEET 16 For the second-straight season, Louisiana Tech advanced to the Sweet 16. After defeating Montana and Texas Tech on the road, the Lady Techsters fell to top-seeded Duke, 63-49 in Norflok, Va., on the campus of Old Dominion University. Despite holding Duke to only 39 percent from the field while allowing only 63 points, it was Louisiana Techs inability to generate any offense of its own that ultimately spelled the end of the season.
    Senior forward Trina Frierson led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 10-of-19 field goals, but Frierson was the only Techster who consistently scored against Duke. The 2004 WAC Player of the Year, Amisha Carter, hit only 2-of-13 field goals and finished with only nine points to go along with a game-high 15 rebounds while junior guard Erica Taylor, who entered the game averaging 29.5 points a contest in the NCAA Tournament, finished the afternoon 5-of-15 from the field for 11 points.

    LOUISIANA TECH DOWNS TEXAS TECH TO ADVANCE TO REGIONAL SEMIFINAL Louisiana Tech (29-2), defeated the Lady Raiders of Texas Tech, 81-64, before 4,261 at Dahlberg Arena. With the victory, Tech advanced to the Mideast Regional in Norfolk, Va.
    For the second game in a row, Tech junior guard Erica Taylor carried her team offensively, recording a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the three-point line and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Taylor, who scored a career-high 29 points in the first round against Montana on March 20, ignited the Techsters in the first half with 17 points. Taylors heroics were big as Tech played most of the first half without Trina Frierson, who picked up two early fouls and only played five minutes. Carter also struggled inside, hitting only 4-of-19 field goals in the game.

    RICE FALLS IN WNIT SECOND ROUND UNLVs Sheena Moore scored a game-high 33 points as UNLV defeated Rice, 68-66, in the second round of the WNIT in Las Vegas.
    Rices Lauren Neaves and Lindsey Maynard both scored 18 points for the Lady Owls, who finished the season 22-10. Michelle Woods and Latrice Elder each scored 10. It was the third time under McKinneys tutelage that the Lady Owls had advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
    UNLV used a 9-2 run in the last five minutes of the first half to finish the half down by one point, 35-34, and scored 34 points in the second half to end Rices season. The Lady Owls led the entire first half and were up by as much as 12 points game.

    TULSA MAKES FIRST POSTSEASON APPEARANCE In its first-ever postseason appearance, Tulsa trailed 66-64 with 0:12 remaining in the contest and had a chance to tie or take the lead on the games final possession. TU inbounded the ball to sophomore Kara Pongonis on the right side and the second-year guard dribbled to the left side past a double screen. However, Memphis defenders snuffed out the play and never gave Pongonis a good look at the basket. Her last second heave never reached the rim. Tulsa concluded the most successful season in school history with a 19-12 overall record.

    LOUISIANA TECH WINS THIRD-STRAIGHT WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE Top-seeded and sixth ranked Louisiana Tech brought home its third WAC title in as many seasons, defeating the Rice Lady Owls, 76-52, at the 2004 McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament in Fresno, Calif. on March 13. After a first-half 29-23 lead, Louisiana Tech pulled away in the second half, out-scoring the Owls, 47-29. The Lady Techsters were led by both Erica Taylor who registered 22 points, and the tournaments MVP, Amisha Carter, who tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds en route to the title.

    LOUISIANA TECH CAPTURES THIRD REGULAR SEASON WAC TITLE With solid wins over Rice and Tulsa at home, Louisiana Tech captured its third-straight WAC title. Last season was the tightest race for the Lady Techsters since joining the WAC in 2001-02. Rice ended the regular season with a 16-2 league record with the losses coming against Louisiana Tech and UTEP. Third place Tulsa set a school record by winning 18 regular season games. Louisiana Tech has won 12-straight conference titles, dating back to its days in the Sun Belt Conference. The Lady Techsters have won 160-straight games at home against unranked opponents.

    LADY TECHSTERS LEAD TOURNAMENT Louisiana Tech had several players appear among the leaders in the NCAA Championship statistics. Junior Erica Taylor finished second in the championship in scoring, averaging 23.3 points per games. Taylor finished just behind instate rival Seimone Augustus of LSU, who averaged 24.2 points in five game. Senior Trina Frierson was 15th in scoring, averaging 15.3 points. WAC Player of the Year, Amisha Carter, was second in rebounding with an average of 13.7 rebounds per game. Frierson was fifth (10.7 rpg). As a team, Louisiana Tech was tied for fifth in rebdound margin (+5.3).