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PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State's Amber Jackson has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec.13. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for the freshman.
Jackson, a freshman from Oxnard, Calif., has had an immediate impact on the Spartans this season, leading San Jose State to a 5-2 start this season. Last week, she led the Spartans to a home win over UC Davis and a road win over New Mexico State. It was only the second win in 15 meetings against the Aggies.
The forward ended the week averaging 23 points and 11.5 rebound in two games. She led the team in scoring in both games, including a season-high 26 points against UC Davis. She also had a team-high 13 rebound in the win against New Mexico State. Jackson shot 72.4 percent in the two games, including 81.3 percent against UC Davis, 13-for-16.
Other nominees included: Jamie Hawkins, Boise State; Mirenda Swearengin, Fresno State; Jade Abele, Hawai'i; Meghan McGuire, Nevada; Sharee Shepard, SMU and Jillian Robbins, Tulsa.
TULSA AMONG LEADERS IN RPI Tulsa is currently ranked No. 12 in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), and has a strength of schedule of 36. Tulsas RPI is the highest among WAC schools.
Tulsa continues its best start in school history at 7-0 and is one of the nations 13 teams that remain undefeated this season. The Hurricane has defeated three teams that were receiving votes this season, including Southwest Missouri State, Oklahoma and Georgia Tech. Oklahoma has been ranked as high as No. 23 this season, while GT topped No. 6 Georgia two weeks ago, and SMS was ranked in various top-25 polls.
NEVADA MATCHES LAST SEASONS WIN TOTAL Nevada has now tied the overall win tally from its 2003-04 season. Last season, the Wolf Pack ended the season 3-26. Nevada is now 3-3. The Wolf Pack has tallied wins against Big 12, Mountain West and Big West conference teams.
WAC AGAINST THE REST The WAC is 44-21 (.677) this season. The WAC has a solid record against several conferences, including a 6-1 record against the Sun Belt Conference. The WAC is above .500 against the Big 12 with a 3-2 record. WAC teams are also 5-1 against the Southland Conference and 3-0 against the Big Sky Conference.
BULLDOGS HEAD TO THE BIG APPLE Fresno States road trip this weekend represents the programs first apperance in New York since Dec. 5-6, 1998. The Bulldogs participated in the University of Buffalo Tournament that season, defeating Florida Atlantic 84-74 before falling to Buffalo 77-68 in the title game. Fresno State also played at the St. Johns Invitational held in Jamaica, N.Y., back on Dec. 29-30, 1989. During tournament play that season, the Bulldogs routed Northeastern 87-56 and lost to St. Johns 70-59. Those four contests are Fresno States only previous games played in the Empire State.
LOUISIANA TECH DROPS FROM POLLS Louisiana Tech dropped out of both of the polls for the first time since 1992, ending a streak of 221 appearances. The Lady Techsters are 3-2 after losses to Missisippi State and Illinois last week.
WAC VS. RANKED TEAMS WAC teams are 0-4 against ranked teams this season. Fresno State is 0-1 with a loss to No. 18 UCLA at Savemart Center on Dec. 11. Rice is 0-2 in ranked teams with losses to Baylor and Texas Tech, when both teams were both ranked No. 11. SMU also has loss to No. 23 TCU.
UNDERCLASSMEN TAKE CHARGE This young season has seen the young players take charge. San Jose State freshman Amber Jackson is second in the league in scoring (15.7 ppg), first in field goal percentage (.708) and fifth in rebounding (8.4 rpg). Super sophomores Jillian Robbins of Tulsa and Lauren Neaves of Rice have showed no signs of a sophomore slump. Neaves is first in the WAC in rebounding (9.9 rpg) followed by Robbins (9.7 rpg). Robbins is third in the WAC in scoring, averaging 14.9 ppg.
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.
WAC TO CHANGE IN 2005-06 Over the last year, the WAC issued invitations to Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. This season, Idaho is 5-3, New Mexico State is 2-3 and Utah State is 3-4.
CBS SPORTSLINE SELECTS WAC SCHOOLS AS THREE OF PRESEASON TOP-64 TEAMS CBS.sportsLine.com three WAC three schools as some of top 64 teams in the nation in its preseason previews. Louisiana Tech was picked 28th, while Rice was 53rd. Tulsa came in at No. 62.
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.
Boise State Broncos (3-3, 0-0 WAC)Boise State went 3-1 during their four-game homestand the last two weeks and enter this week at 3-3 overall ... the Broncos are the number one ranked scoring defense in the WAC entering this weeks action allowing 53.8 points per game ... freshman Tasha Harris has regained the team scoring lead averaging 10.2 points per game after recording a team high 15 points versus Gonzaga last week ... junior forward Jamie Hawkins was held to without a basket for only the second time in her career against Gonzaga moving her average to 9.7 points per game while grabbing a team high 8.2 boards per game ... Boise State is on the road this weekend playing at Utah Valley State on Dec. 18 and Weber State on Dec. 20.
Fresno State Bulldogs (6-1, 0-0 WAC)Solid rebounding has proven to be a noticeable characteristic for Fresno State for the third-straight season ... the Bulldogs have out-rebounded their opponents 45.1 to 36.7, including a season-best 55 against San Diego on Dec. 5 ... three different players are averaging at least five boards per game ... senior has been averaging Aritta Lane 6.9 with Amy Parrish at 5.7 and Mirenda Swearengin at 5.6 per game ... Fresno State has out-rebounded its opponents in four of the seven games played this year and leads the WAC in overall rebounding and rebounding margin ... after a 72-58 win at Denver on Dec. 2, the Bulldogs have now won five straight road games dating back to last season when the team won its final three away from Fresno.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (3-2, 0-0 WAC)Hawaii has won three in a row for the first time since the 2002-03 season ... Janevia Taylor and Alofa Toiaivao were also named to the all- tournament team ... Jade Abele was named tournament MVP ... Hawaii defeated BYU, 56-44, in the championship game of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Invitational ... UH improved to 3-2 overall with the win. ... Hawaii also captured its first preseason tournament since taking the 2002 Hawaii Invitational.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (4-2, 0-0 WAC)Sophomore Ty Moore blocked a point-blank shot with :02 seconds remaining to preserve the Louisiana Tech win, 62-61, over Alcorn State on Dec. 13 ... LouisianaTech won the game despite trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half and as many as eight points in the final five minutes ... next, the Lady Techsters will take on No. 9 Tennessee in Ruston ... last season, the Lady Vols defeated Louisiana Tech, 85-65 in Knoxville ... last week, Louisiana Tech dropped out of both of the polls for the first time since 1992, ending a streak of 221 appearances.
Nevada Wolf Pack (3-3, 0-0 WAC)With a 74-55 rout of San Diego State on Dec. 14, Nevada opens the season 3-0 at home for the first time in the recorded program history (1979-80) the win was also the first for the Wolf Pack against San Diego State, having lost the first two match-ups against the Aztecs in the series and the first over a Mountain West team since Wyoming in 2000-01 Nevada will continue its home stand to host Texas A&M, Corpus Christi before hitting the road to play five straight away from home the Pack has now tied the overall win tally from its 2003-04 season, and has tallied wins against Big 12, Mountain West and Big West conference teams.
Rice Owls (5-4, 0-0 WAC)Rice has been off since defeating Kent State in the championship game of the Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational Dec. 4 ... Lauren Neaves continues to lead the Lady Owls averaging 12.0 ppg and 9.9 rpg ... she now needs 39 blocks to break Rices all-time record of 142 held by Johnetta Hayes ... head coach Cristy McKinney is three wins shy of reaching 200 for her Rice career, and one away from 225 for her career.
San Jose State Spartans (5-2, 0-0 WAC)San Jose State defeated future WAC school New Mexico State on Dec. 11 for only the second time in 15 attempts ... the Spartas beat the Aggies, 54-43 ... freshman Amber Jackson is making a major impact on the Spartans this season ... the foward has started all seven games, leading the team in scoring (15.7 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (.708) ... Jackson is also leading the WAC in shooting percentage ... senior Erica McGlaston is ninth in the league in assists, averaging (3.43 apg).
SMU Mustangs (6-1, 0-0 WAC)Junior post/forward Sarah Davis is currently third on SMUs all-time career list for blocked shots with 97 ... Davis needs 13 blocks to move into second, surpassing Katie Remke ... freshman Janielle Dodds posted her third double-double of the season Saturday night against UTA with 13 points and 10 rebounds ... Dodds 13-point, 10-rebound performance on Dec. 11 marked the fifth team double-double of the season, surpassing the entire team double-double total of three from the 2003-04 season ... the last time SMU opened up a season with a 6-1 record took place during the 1997-98 season when the Mustangs posted a 7-1 record ... The 25-point victory on Dec. 11 was the largest margin of victory by SMU this year.
UTEP Miners (2-3, 0-0 WAC)UTEP dropped to 2-3 on the season with losses at No. 25 Arizona and at home to Texas-San Antonio the Miners will not play again until Tuesday, Dec. 14, when they travel to New Mexico State UTEP's next four opponents have a combined record of 5-17 Angie McGee and Marta Dydek lead the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game Dydek has 11 blocks in five games this season Kasia Krezel averages 9.0 points per game and has a team-high 12 steals in five contests ten players average at least 10 minutes per game with seven averaging at least 18 per contest UTEP has limited its opponents to 60.0 points per game with three teams being held under 55 points.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-0, 0-0 WAC)Sophomore Jillian Robbins is just one point shy of reaching 500 points for her career ... she currently has 499 points in just 36 career games ... Tulsa has a 9-1 home non-conference record over the past two seasons ... the Hurricanes only loss was to Arkansas last December ... in each of Tulsas seven games, the Hurricane has had one player reach the 20-point plateau ... Sophomore Tandem Mays began with a 21-point performance on opening night against Texas-San Antonio ... junior guard Kara Pongonis scored 20 points in the next contest, while sophomore Robbins has put up 21, 28 and a pair of 20-point performances ... in Tulsas game against UMKC, junior Megan Moody became the fourth Hurricane to reach the 20-point plateau with 20.