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PLAYER OF THE WEEK SMU's Janielle Dodds has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 20. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for the freshman.
Dodds, a freshman post from Fairfax, Va., was named the DU Wells Fargo Classic MVP after scoring a career-high 23 points against UT-San Antonio and added 14 against Denver. She also tied a career-high with 11 rebounds on Dec. 18. She just missed a double-double on Dec. 19 against DU. The freshman posted her fourth double-double of the season against UT-San Antonio. She has scored in double figures in six of SMU's nine games and double-figure rebound marks in four games.
SMU matched its season-high mark of four straight victories with a 60-42 win over Denver. SMU has held its last four straight opponents to under 50 points per game.
Other nominees included: Cassidy Blaine, Boise State; Janevia Taylor, Hawai'i; Lauren Neaves, Rice and Charnette Phelps, UTEP.
REGAL RPI The WAC has three schools with an RPI under 50. Tulsa is currently ranked No. 23 in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), according to CollegeRPI.com. Tulsas RPI is the highest among WAC schools. Hawaii has an RPI of No. 29, while SMU is currently ranked No. 48.
Tulsa continues its best start in school history at 7-1. 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 Georgia Tech topped No. 6 Georgia three weeks ago, and SMS was ranked in various top-25 polls.
NEVADA MATCHES LAST SEASONS WIN TOTAL Nevada eclipsed its win total from the entire 2003-04 season when it picked up its fourth win of the year at Sac State on Dec. 18. The win over the Hornets was the first win on the road, the last was a 70-59 at SMU on December 13, 2003, a span of 22 games, including neutral site.
Last season, the Wolf Pack ended the season 3-26. Nevada is now 4-4. The Wolf Pack has tallied wins against Big 12, Mountain West and Big West conference teams.
WAC AGAINST THE REST The WAC is 54-30 (.643) this season. The WAC has a solid record against several conferences, including a 7-2 record against the Sun Belt Conference. The WAC is undefeated against the ACC (2-0). The ACC has the second-highest RPI in the country. WAC teams are also 7-2 against the Southland Conference and 4-1 against the Big Sky Conference. The WAC has a 2-4 record against the SEC, the conference with the highest RPI, according to the WBCA/Summerville rankings.
MCKINNEY REACHES MILESTONE Rice head coach Cristy McKinney has reached yet another milestone in her coaching career. McKinneys win over Texas State was the head coaches 225th overall win. McKinney, who is in her 12th year, has 198 wins at Rice, just short of 200 wins as the Lady Owls head coach.
2005 WAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE Tickets for the 2005 WAC Men and Womens Basketball Tournament to be played March 8-12 at the Lawlor Events Center on the campus of the University of Nevada currently are on sale at all WAC athletics ticket offices. The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority is the tournaments co-sponsor.
Fans may purchase all-session tickets from any WAC institution through January 21 and may purchase them at any time through the University of Nevada athletics ticket office by calling 1-775-348-PACK (7225).
The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 8, with two women and two mens games. It continues with the womens and mens quarterfinals on March 9 and 10 respectively, and and both semifinals on March 11. The championship games will be played on Saturday, March 12.
Tickets are priced at $125 and $95 and include all men and womens games.
LOUISIANA TECH DROPS TWO-STRAIGHT GAMES For the first time since the 2001-02 season Louisiana Tech has lost two-straight games. This is the first time the Lady Techsters have lost multiple games since Kurt Budke has been a the head coach. In 2001-02, Leon Barmores last season, Louisiana Tech lost to Tennissee, Duke and UConn in one of the Lady Techsters toughest three game stretches.
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 0-5 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 a loss to No. 23 TCU. Most recently, Hawaii lost to No. 17 Houston at home.
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 (16.0 ppg), first in field goal percentage (.691) and fourth in rebounding (8.7 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 (9.6 rpg), and Robbins is third (9.2 rpg). Robbins is second in the WAC in scoring, averaging 14.5 ppg.
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 5-4, New Mexico State is 4-5 and Utah State is 4-4.
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.
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.
Boise State Broncos (4-4, 0-0 WAC)Cassidy Blaine led Boise State to a 90-63 non-conference road victory at Utah Valley State on Dec. 11 by recording her first career double-double as a Bronco ... in the victory, the first on the road for Boise State this season, Blaine tied her career high for points with a team high 21 versus the Wolverines ... she also recorded a personal best and team high 10 assists, the most by a Bronco since the school record (12) was set on Jan. 17, 2002 at Fresno State ... the double-double points/assists combination is only the second of its kind in the last five years with the other accomplished by Abby Vaughan on Dec. 1, 2001 (14 pts/10 asts) at Portland State.
Fresno State Bulldogs (8-1, 0-0 WAC)Fresno State swept both games of its New York road trip with wins over Long Island and Manhattan ... the Bulldogs, who have won their last seven road games dating back to last season, are in the midst of a four-game road stretch that includes games in New York, Honolulu and San Jose ... the victory against the Blackbirds on Dec. 20 improved the Bulldogs record to 8-1 overall, with the lone defeat coming last weekend at home against No. 18 UCLA ... the Bulldogs have been impressive this season ... last season, Fresno State played a total of 21 games before recording its eighth victory.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (4-3, 0-0 WAC)Hawaii, Houston and Wake Forest finished with identical records in the round-robin Ala Moana Hotel Paradise Classic .... Houston was declared champion to due tiebreaker (least points allowed) ... Alofa Toiaivao and Janevia Taylor were also named to the all-tournament team with Taylor earning MVP honors ... Hawaii has won four of its last five games after the slow start ... Taylor averaged 17.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg in games versus Wake Forest and nationally-ranked Houston ... Taylor recorded her first career double-double, 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a 68-64 overtime win over Wake Forest.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (4-4, 0-0 WAC)Louisiana Tech opens WAC play Dec. 30 when the Lady Techsters host Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center ... senior Lakiste Barkus is second in the WAC assists, averaging 4.75 ... Barkus is also second in steals, averaging 2.50 ... the Lady Techsters are fourth in scoring offense (66.0) ... Louisiana Tech is also fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.317) ... the Lady Techsters are looking to break a two-game losing streak on Dec. 30 against Tulsa followed by another tough game Rice on Jan. 1 ... Rice is the only WAC to team to have defeated Louisiana Tech since entering the league.
Nevada Wolf Pack (4-4, 0-0 WAC)Nevada eclipsed its win total from the entire 2003-04 season when it picked up its fourth win of the year at Sac State Dec. 18 the win over the Hornets was the first win on the road, the last was a 70-59 at SMU on Dec. 13, 2003, a span of 22 games, including neutral site Nevada, now 4-4 on the season, has four more games on the road before getting to return home to host Louisiana Tech on Jan. 6 the next trip will be to intrastate rival UNLV on Dec. 22 UNLV won last year in Reno 90-75 to take a 16-5 lead in the all-time series. Nevada has never beat UNLV in nine attempts in Vegas.
Rice Owls (6-4, 0-0 WAC)After a 12-day hiatus for finals, the Lady Owls returned to action with one game last week against Texas State... Rice won its 13th-consecutive home game with an 87-67 win over Texas State Friday night ... the win streak dates back to last season ... Rice last lost at home on Dec. 30, 2003, a three-point decision to Nebraska ... the Lady Owls have won their last three games, and four of
their last five ... Rice shot a season-high 49 percent against the Bobcats and dished out a season-best 25 assists ... Krystal Frazier had a career-high six assists, while three Lady Owls scored in double-digits.
San Jose State Spartans (6-3, 0-0 WAC)San Jose freshman Amber Jackson is leading the WAC in scoring, averaging 16.0 ppg ... Jackson is fourth in the WAC in rebounding, averaging 8.7 rpg ... San Jose State split its two games at the Mississippi State Classic, defeating Grambling State 63-56, on Dec. 20 in the consolation game of the 16-year tournament ... San Jose State will now take the next nine days off before starting the WAC schedule ... the team opens the WAC season at home against Nevada on Dec. 30 at 2:00 p.m.
SMU Mustangs (8-1, 0-0 WAC)SMU matched its season-high mark of four-straight victories with a 60-42 win over Denver ... SMU has held its last four straight opponents to under 50 points per game ... junior forward/post Sarah Davis needs eight more blocks to move into second on SMU's all-time career list for blocked shots ... junior guard Kendall Shead was selected to the DU Wells Fargo Classic all-Tournament team ... she tied a career-high mark with 18 points against Denver ... SMU held Denver to 17 first-half points, matching an opponent season-low mark ... SMUs 8-1 record to open a season ties a program-best mark of 8-1 during the 1993-94 season another Mustang win on Dec. 22 sets an SMU womens basketball record ... freshman guard Sharee Shepherd collected a career-high nine rebounds against UT-San Antonio.
UTEP Miners (3-5, 0-0 WAC)UTEP went 1-2 on the week after running its losing streak to five games with losses at New Mexico State and versus Northern Colorado, the Miners erased a 19-point deficit in a 72-71 overtime win at Illinois State the win also snapped a seven-game non-conference road losing streak freshman Shalana Taylor started at point guard in all three games, dishing out three, 10 and 13 assists in each game her 13 assists at ISU tied the UTEP single-game record and broke the Redbird Arena record UTEP shot a season-high .433 (29-67) at ISU, two days after a season-low .286 (18-63) against UNC.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-1, 0-0 WAC)Tulsa lost its first game of the season on the road against Stephen F. Austin ... in five of Tulsas seven wins, the Hurricane has trailed at halftime ... TU has led at halftime this year in only the season opener against Texas-San Antonio, 40-31, and against UMKC, 36-21 ... Tulsa trailed Southwest Missouri State by three points (31-28), Texas-Pan American by nine points (34-25), Oral Roberts by eight points (32-24), Oklahoma by two (30-28) and Georgia Tech by seven points (27-20) ... Tulsa is outscoring the opposition in the second half in those five come-from-behind victories by a margin of 13.8 points.