PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech's Amisha Carter has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 16-22. This is the second WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior this season. The Lady Techsters have been awarded four times this year.
Carter, a forward from Oakland, Calif., scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to an 89-79 road win over SMU on Sat. 21 in the Lady Techsters only action of the week. Carter hit 10-of-20 field goals and 13-of-16 free throws in 39 minutes of action, while adding a career-high three assists and three blocks.
Carter scored 24 of her 33 points in the second half helping Louisiana Tech come back from a halftime deficit, handing SMU its first home conference loss of the season. The 33-point outburst is the WAC's best of the season and the most points scored by a Lady Techster in a single game since Alisa Burras scored 35 against New Orleans on Jan. 30, 1997.
Also nominated: Janevia Taylor, Hawai'i; Lauren Neaves, Rice; Cricket Williams, San Jose State and Jillian Robbins, Tulsa.
LOUISIANA TECH AND RICE EVEN WITH FOUR GAMES REMAINING With two wins last week, Rice caught Louisiana Tech with both schools holding 13-1 records heading in to the final two weeks of regular season play. Both teams have the longest winning streaks in the league with the Lady Techsters winning 12 straight and the Lady Owls winning 10 straight. Both teams will play two more games before the head to head matchup in Ruston on Thursday, Mar. 4. This week, Louisiana Tech travels to UTEP and Boise State, while Rice hosts San Jose State and Rice. In another tight race, UTEP holds a one game lead over SMU and Tulsa for third. The Mustangs and and Miners will meet in El Paso on Feb, 28.
DOWN TO TWO In WAC games, there are only two schools remaining undefeated at home this season after Louisiana Tech defeated SMU in Dallas last week. Rice and Louisiana Tech are both 7-0 at home. Overall, Louisiana Tech is 11-0 at the Thomas Assembly Center this season. Rice had four non-conference losses at home for an 8-4 overall home record. Louisiana Tech, Rice, UTEP (5-1) and SMU (6-1) are the only teams with winning home records in WAC play.
AGAINST THE BEST The WAC is 1-9 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. 7 Stanford and 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. Rice has also lost to Baylor who is now ranked. Rankings at time of meeting.
NON-CONFERENCE RECORD The WAC is an even .500 with a 46-46 record 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.
HAWAII'S GOO TO RETIRE AFTER THIS SEASON Hawaii head coach Vince Goo announced his retirement following the conclusion of he 2003-04 season. Goo's retirement will mark the end of a 20-year coaching career at UH, including 17 years as head coach. Goo leaves a legacy that includes more than 300 wins, a perfect graduation rate and number of firsts for a program now in its 30th year of existence.
The 57-year-old Goo began his coaching career at UH in 1984, serving as the Rainbow Wahine's top assistant under head coach Bill Nepfel. Three years later, he took over the role as head coach and has since become the program's all-time winningest coach with a record of 331-162. Goo's team's have averaged nearly 20 wins per season during his 17-year tenure and have earned four straight post-season berths. His 331 wins are the most ever by a collegiate coach in Hawaii, men's or women's.
With the Rainbow Wahine currently 5-16, a string of eight straight winning seasons will likely come to an end for Goo, who suffered only two other losing seasons in the previous 16 years. Hawaii is currently in eighth place in the Western Athletic Conference with a 3-9 mark.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST This week, Rice is third in the nation in blocked shots (6.7 bpg). Tulsa jumped to fourth, averaging 6.3 bpg. Louisiana Tech moved into first in scoring margin (25.6). The Lady Techsters are also second in steals (14.5 spg) and scoring offense (84.0).
LOUISIANA TECH'S FRIERSON NAMED NAISMITH FINALIST Louisiana Tech senior Trina Frierson was one of 20 finalists named Tuesday for the 2004 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award, announced by Atlanta Tipoff Club President Jackie Bradford. Frierson, who was also named to the preseason watch list prior to the start of the 2003-04 year, is averaging 16.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Louisiana Tech while shooting 52 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free throw line. The Naismith Board of Directors, which includes some of the countrys leading basketball coaches, journalists, and administrators, began the selection process earlier this year. They reduced the number of finalists by balloting to the 20 top males and females they feel are most deserving of the award.
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 11-14 this season. Utah State is 4-19 in its first season of women's basketball in 17 years. The Aggies earned their third Big West win against Long Beach State, 64-60.
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 against. No. 7, etc. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday.
AROUND THE COURT Boise State has lost three-straight games aftet a 63-52 win over Nevada on Feb. 12. The Broncos look to break the streak at home this week against SMU and Louisiana Tech. Junior Jodi Nakashima is still among the leaders in three-point field goal percentage. Nakashima is second in the league behind UTEP's Ana Valtierra. Nakshima is shooting .427. She is also fifth in the league in three-pointers made, averaging 1.58 three-pointers made a game.
Fresno State will finish sub-.500 in conference play for the first time since the 2001-02 season. For Fresno State to record a second straight winning season, the Bulldogs must win their final three regular season games and at least three games in the WAC Tournament. Fresno State will likely need to sweep its final three games to have a shot at the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. That includes next weekend's road trip to San Jose State and Hawai'i. And it will be a tough task, as the Bulldogs have not swept a two-game conference road trip since 1997 season when the team recorded wins at UNLV (74-68 on Jan. 16) and Air Force (62-53 on Jan. 18).
Hawaii snapped a five-game losing streak, its longest since 1995, with its 64-49 win over Boise State. The Rainbow Wahine won two in a row for the first time this year when it beat UTEP, 57-49 two nights later.
Louisiana Tech senior forward Amisha Carter's 33 points against SMU were the most scored by a Louisiana Tech player since Alisa Burras scored 35 against New Orleans on Jan. 30, 1997. Three Louisiana Tech players recorded double doubles against SMU (Carter 33/17, Trina Frierson 29/11 and Erica Smith-Taylor 16/15), marking the first time that has occurred since three Techsters accomplished the feat in a 74-50 win over Fresno State on Dec. 30, 2001. Louisina Tech ranks No. 2 in the nation in turnovers forced per game at 24.5. The Lady Techsters have now won 12 WAC regular season games in a row, Louisiana Tech's third double digit conference winning streak since it joined the league prior to the 2001-02 season (also had a 22 game and a 14 game WAC winning streak). With its 89-79 win over SMU on Saturday, Louisiana Tech won its 20th game of the season, marking the 27th time in the 30-year history of the program at a Lady Techster team won at least 20 games.
Nevada has concluded all of its home games for the year. The Wolf Pack will have just three more regular season games before the WAC Tournament on March 9-13. The first trip will be to Fresno State on Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Save Mart Center, the site of the WAC Tournament. The game against the Bulldogs will be a double-header with the men's team playing first at 6 p.m. and the women following 30 minutes after the conclusion. Hawai'i and San Jose State will be the final two opponents slated for Thursday, March 4 and Saturday, March 6, respectively. Nevada finished with a 3-11 record at home.
Rice improved to 16-7 overall and 13-1 in conference play, and remain tied for first with Louisiana Tech in the WAC race. Freshman Krystal Frazier stepped up against Nevada, scoring a team-leading and career-best 14 points in Rices 61-54 victory. Four Lady Owls scored double-digit points against Fresno State, led by senior Lindsey Maynard with 16. Maynard has now scored double-digits in 13 games this season. Rices win at Nevada was head coach Cristy McKinneys 185th as the head coach at Rice.
San Jose State has lost six of its last eight games. The Spartans did break a three-game losing streak with a win over Boise State last week. San Jose senior Cricket Williams set two WAC career records in the loss to UTEP in assists and steals (WAC games only). She enters the week with 625 assist and 186 steals in league games. She already owned the WAC games only assist record with 263.
SMU sophomore guard Kendall Shead is second in the WAC in assists, averaging 4.57 apg. Shead is also second in defensive rebounds, averaging 5.70 defensive rebounds per game. Fellow sophomore Sarah Davis is fourth in the WAC in blocked shotswith1.52 bpg.
UTEP remained in third in the WAC with a win over San Jose State and a loss to Hawaii. The Miners are 9-4 after 13 games. With a 14-10 record, the Miners have passed last season's win total of 10. UTEP is one win away from doubling last season's WAC total. Last season, the Miners were 5-13 in league play.
Tulsa's frontcourt of junior Becky Heidotten, sophomore Emily Jaskowiak and freshman Jillian Robbins amassed 85 points, 34 rebounds and 10 steals in two road games last at Fresno State and Nevada. For the week, the trio averaged 42.5 points, 17.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals and connected on 34-of-55 field goal attempts (.620), and 23-30 free throw attempts (.770). TU sophomore sharp-shooter Kara Pongonis drained eight three-pointers last week and finished 8-of-14 (.571) from behind three-point line for the week. Pongonis has nailed 51 treys this season, which ranks fifth on the school's single-season list, and 79 career three-pointers in just under two seasons, which ranks fifth among TU's career leaders. Since receiving her first career start in TU's game at Hawaii on Jan. 31, sophomore Emily Jaskowiak has averaged 13.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She produced a career-high 20 points at Nevada and collected a career-best 13 rebounds at Hawaii.This season a total of five different Golden Hurricane players have recorded a double-double.