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PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State's Tatiana Taylor has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week of March 1-7. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior. Taylor is the third Spartan to earn player of the week honors with Cricket Williams and Teoma Taylor also earning the honor.
Taylor, forward from San Francisco, Calif., scored a career-high 34 points in a double overtime win over Nevada. The 34 points is the most scored in the WAC this season and the best single-game scoring performance in Spartan history. Taylor had double-doubles in both games with 34 points and 14 rebounds against Nevada and 13 points and 10 rebounds against Fresno State.
In the final two regular season games, the senior averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds, as San Jose State went 1-1. Taylor shot .750 from the free throw line and had a field goal percentage of .667. She also added five assists and three steals.
Also nominated: Aritta Lane, Fresno State; Jade Abele, Hawai'i; Trina Frierson, Louisiana Tech; Michelle Woods, Rice; Noni Wharemate, UTEP and Jillian Robbins, Tulsa.
LOUISIANA TECH CAPTURES THIRD-STRAIGHT WAC TITLE With solid wins over Rice and Tulsa at home, Louisiana Tech captured its third-straight WAC title. This 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.
PERFECT AT HOME In WAC games, only two schools finished the regular season undefeated at home this season. Rice and Louisiana Tech both finished 9-0 at home. Overall, Louisiana Tech is 13-0 at the Thomas Assembly Center this season. Rice had four non-conference losses at home for a 10-4 overall home record. Louisiana Tech, Rice, UTEP (6-2), Tulsa (5-4) and SMU (6-3) are the only teams with winning home records in WAC play. Three teams, Rice, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa, ended the season with at least 10 home wins.
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.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST Rice is first in the nation in blocked shots (6.8 bpg). Tulsa is seventh, averaging 6.1 bpg. Louisiana is second in steals (13.9 spg), scoring margin (25.1) 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.
20 SOMETHING Louisiana Tech was the only WAC team this season to reach the 20-win plateau. With its 16-game winning streak, the Lady Techsters have won 23 game this season. Rice needs just one more wins to reach 20, while Tulsa needs two.
CARTER AND FRIERSON MAKE WAC HISTORY Louisiana Tech senior Amisha Carter and Trina Frierson made WAC history by being the only teammates to end the regular season one-two in scoring. Carter leads the WAC in scoring, averaging 17.5 ppg. Frierson is second in scoring, averaging 16.8 ppg. Carter is also first in the league in rebounding, averaging 10.2 rpg.
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 13-15 this season. Utah State is 5-21 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.
REWIND In Tulsa last season, Louisiana Tech won its second-straight WAC Tournament title emphatic 89-57 win over Fresno State. It was the Bulldogs first ever WAC Tournament final. Tournament MVP Cheryl Ford set a WAC record with 25 rebounds against the Bulldogs. It was a meeting of two former assistant coaches under Leon Barmore with Louisiana Tech's Kurt Budke defeating Fresno State's Stacy Johnson-Klein.
2003 - Tulsa, Okla. (March 11-15)
Seeds: 1-Louisiana Tech, 2-Rice, 3-Fresno State, 4-Tulsa, 5-Hawaii, 6-San Jose State, 7-SMU, 8-Boise State, 9-UTEP, 10-Nevada
Game 1 - SMU 60, Nevada 49 (2,751)
Game 2 - Boise State 75, UTEP 58 (2,751)
Game 3 - SMU 58, Rice 55 (1,142)
Game 4 -Fresno State 63, San Jose State 57 (1,142)
Game 5 - Louisiana Tech 80, Boise State 55 (2,712)
Game 6 -Hawaii 62, Tulsa 48 (2,712)
Semifinal 1 - Fresno State 81, SMU 67(1,164)
Semifinal 2 - Louisiana Tech 85, Hawaii 58 (1,164)
Championship - Louisiana Tech 89, Fresno State 57 (3,512)
All-Tournament TeamCheryl Ford, Louisiana Tech (MVP)
Trina Frierson, Louisiana Tech
Amber Obaze, Louisiana Tech
Lindsay Logan, Fresno State
Omelogo Udeze, Fresno State
NCAA ANNOUNCEMENT Pairings for the 2003 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament will be announced live on ESPN on Sunday, March 14 at 5:00 p.m. (ET).
AGAINST THE BEST The WAC is 1-9 against non-conference 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.
AROUND THE COURT Boise State continued its recent tradition of bringing in very successful freshman. Last season, Jamie Hawkins earned WAC Freshman of Year honors. This season, freshman Michelle Hessing was named to the all-Freshman team. Hessing is one of the leaders in free throw percentage.
Fresno State completed its first two-game conference road trip sweep since 1997 on March 6 with a 63-54 victory over Hawai'i. With the win, the Bulldogs clinch the No. 6 seed in next week's WAC Tournament. Fresno State, which has now won six of its last eight following an eight-game losing skid, won its first game against Hawai'i in Honolulu since the 1991 campaign. The Bulldogs, who defeated San Jose State 72-60 on March 4, earned their first two-game conference road trip sweep since winning at UNLV and Air Force in January of 1997.
Hawaii finished in eight place in the WAC. This is the lowest finish since joining the conference in 1996-97. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine were the No. 5 seed and upset host and No. 4 seed Tulsa, 62-48. Head coach Vince Goo made his final home appearance, a 63-54 loss to Fresno State. It was his 499th game coached. His 500th game will come in the opening round of the WAC Tournament Hawaii had its three-game home court win streak snapped by Fresno State on March 6.
Louisiana Tech senior Amisha Carter earned Louisiana Tech's third WAC Player of the Year honor in as many seasons. After playing a key role off the Louisiana Tech bench as a junior, Carter started all 26 games for Louisiana Tech this season, averaging 17.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 54 percent from the field. The 6-foot-2-inch Carter led the WAC in double doubles with 13 and actually improved her scoring in league games averaging 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. The Lady Techsters have now amassed a 52-2 regular season WAC record in three seasons. Louisiana Tech's only losses have come against Rice in Houston in 2001-02 and 2003-04.
Nevada finished with four players on the court in its tough, 81-78, double-overtime loss at San Jose State on March 6. The already tight eight-player roster suffered from foul trouble and played through one and a half overtimes short one player on the floor and dropped to 2-16 in league play. For the second-straight season the Wolf Pack will be the WAC Tournament's No. 10 seed. This will be head coach Kim Gervasoni's first WAC Tournament. Gervasoni will be looking to lead the Wolf Pack its first WAC Tournament win since entering the league in the 2001-02 season. In 2001, Nevada lost to Rice in overtime in the quarterfinals. In 2002, the Wolf Pack lost to Hawaii in the quarterfinals, while losing to SMU in the first round in 2003.
Rice finishes the WAC season with a 16-2 record, the best ever WAC record under head coach Cristy McKinney. The Lady Owls out-shot Louisiana Tech 47 percent to 44 percent in the Lady Techsters 12-point victory. Lindsey Maynard tied her season high with 18 points against Louisiana Tech. Rice held SMU to 17 first-half points, an opponent season low for the Lady Owls. Freshman Lauren Neaves finishes the regular season with 66 blocks, second on the Rice single-season list. The Lady Owls return to Fresno, Calif., site of their last WAC tournament championship (2000). The Lady Owls enter the tournament as the second seed.
San Jose State took advantage of a five-on-four situation for the entire second overtime to defeat Nevada, 81-78, in double overtime. Senior Tatiana Taylor scored a career high 34 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Taylor was 12-of-20 from the field and 10-of-14 from the free throw line. The 34 points was the most scored in the WAC this season. Taylor is one of just three players to score over 30 points this season. The Spartans set a Event Center record for free throws attempted with 46, just shy of the school record of 47 set in 1980. The game was the first double overtime contest for the Spartans since in 86-76 loss to UTEP in 2001. It was the first double overtime win for San Jose State in school history.
SMU enters the 2004 WAC Tournament as the No. 5 five seed and will face UTEP, the No. 4 seed, on Wednesday, March 10. The Mustangs won both games against UTEP this season (54-39 in Dallas on Jan. 29; 52-45 in El Paso on Feb. 28). The Mustangs look to break out of a bit of funk. SMU has lost four out of its last five games. In league games, SMU has two of the top three in three-point field goals made. Junior Kaira White is second, averaging 1.89 three-pointers a game. Senior Andrea Cossey is third with an average of 1.83. Sophomore forward Sarah Davis posted a career-high 18 rebounds at UTEP, the fourth-most in Mustang history. She recorded her sixth career double-double at UTEP, and is fifth on SMU's all-time career list in blocked shots, totaling 81 blocks - needs four more to move into fourth.
UTEP earned the No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament. The fourth seed is the Miners highest since earning the Mountain Division's third seed in the 1998 tournament. In head coach Keitha Green's third season, she has led UTEP to a 15-12 record with a 10-8 league record. The 10 WAC wins is more than the previous four seasons combined. It is the most league wins since UTEP went 10-4 in 1997-98. UTEP doubled its WAC wins from last season when the Miners won five league games.
Tulsa picked up its record-breaking 18th victory this season with a 73-67 come-from-behind win over SMU. With 18 wins this season, Tulsa surpassed the 2001-02 Hurricane squad for the most victories in a single season. Tulsa posted a 17-13 overall record in 2001-02, and a mark of 11-7 in WAC play. Tulsa Head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller has led TU to 14 or more wins in four of her five seasons at TU. Last season, Tulsa finished with a 14-16 overall mark, and the Hurricane registered a 14-15 record in 1999-2000, and McConnell-Miller was named the 2000 WAC Coach of the Year. Tulsa posted its best season as a WAC member with a third-place finish in 2004, and also equaled the school record for conference wins with 11 victories. TU became a member of the WAC in 1996-97. Jillian Robbins was the top scoring and rebounding freshman in the WAC this season and also led all WAC players in steals and was second for blocked shots. In 18 league games, Robbins averaged 15.2 points, 8.8 rebounds 1.9 blocks and 3.6 steals per game.