PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech's Tamika Kursh has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 17. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for the sophomore this season, and the second for the Lady Techsters this year.
Kursh, a sophomore from Ft. Smith, Ark., averaged 14.0 points and 13.5 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to a pair of WAC wins over San Jose State and Hawai'i. The Lady Techsters moved to 6-0 in league play with the wins and have won six-straight games.
Kursh posted her first career double-doubles, registering back-to-back double-doubles, while shooting 53 percent (11-of-21) from the field and 55 percent (6-of-11) from the free throw line. In Louisiana Tech's 66-52 come-from-behind win over San Jose State, Kursh scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds, including 12 offensive boards. The forward hit 7-of-15 field goals and was 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
Louisiana Tech trailed 24-22 at the half before Kursh scored 10 second-half points and pulled down 11 second-half rebounds. The 15-rebound game is tied for the most in any WAC game this season. Kursh scored 11 points and pulled down 12 to lead Tech to a 68-54 come- from-behind win over Hawai'i
Other nominees included: Tasha Harris, Boise State; Jade Abele, Hawai'i; Lauren Neaves, Rice; Kendall Shead, SMU and Marta Dydek, UTEP.
REGAL RPI As the WAC season gets going, the league is having a stellar season. After three weeks of WAC play, the league has an overall Rating Percentage Index (RPI) of seven, according to the Womens Basketball Coaches Association. This is the highest RPI for the WAC in five seasons.
Last season at this time, the WAC had a WBCA RPI of 13th, while during the 2002-03 season the league was 10th. Since the 1999-00 season, the WAC has not had an RPI lower than 10th.
The WAC has six schools with an RPI under 75, and according to the WBCA has no schools with an RPI higher than 200. Louisiana Tech has an RPI of 16th to lead the WAC, while Tulsa is currently ranked No. 33, according to the WBCA. SMU is ranked 48th, while Fresno State currently has an RPI of 75th. Rice has an RPI of 72th, and Hawaiis RPI is 54.
JACKSON FIRST IN THE NATION IN FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE San Jose State freshman sensation, Amber Jackson, leads the nation in field goal percentage in this weeks NCAA statistics. This is the second week that she has led the nation. Jackson is shooting .686 this season in 15 games. With the graduation of Tatiana and Teoma Taylor and all-WAC selection Cricket Williams, Jackson has emerged as a leader for the Spartans this season.
LOUISIANA TECHS TAYLOR MAY RETURN TO LINEUP Louisiana Tech senior guard Erica Taylor, who has missed the entire season due to the birth of her daughter Nia Jay Taylor on Dec. 14, could see her first action of the season on January 22 at SMU. Taylor was voted the WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the leagues coaches.
TULSA AGAINST THE BEST Tulsa is 3-1 against 2004 postseason teams, including 2-1 against NCAA participants from a year ago and 1-0 vs. Postseason WNIT teams. Tulsa has wins over NCAA Tournament teams Southwest Missouri State (71-67) and Oklahoma (67-59), and a loss to Louisiana Tech (63-47). TU picked up a victory over Rice, which advanced to last seasons WNIT second round.
SMUS DAVIS CLIMBS THE CHARTS Junior post/forward Sarah Davis moved into second on SMUs all-time career list for blocked shots on Jan. 14 against Hawaii, collecting three swats. She surpassed Katie Remke who totaled 109. Now with 112 career blocks, Davis needs 28 blocks to become SMUs all-time block leader, a title now held by Karlin Kennedy (1996-2000 - 139 blocks).
FAST-BREAK FRESHMEN Two freshmen have taken the WAC by storm not unlike the sensation caused by Rices Lauren Neaves and Tulsas Jillian Robbins last season. San Jose States Amber Jackson leads the league in scoring, averaging 16.8 points per game. Jackson also leads the nation in field goal percentage (.686). Fellow freshman Janielle Dodds is fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 14.4 ppg. Dodds is also tied with Neaves in rebounding, averaging 8.6 rpg. UTEP rookie Kasia Krezel is tied for second in the league in steals (2.33 spg).
GOLDEN HURRICANE JOIN RELIEF EFFOTS In an effort to provide relief for the thousands of people affected in Asia by a deadly Tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, The Tulsa basketball players, coaches, and staff presented a check in the amount of $3,000 to the American Red Cross Tsunami Relief Fund on Jan. 13. The players, coaches and staff raised over $1,000 and fans more than matched their total with donations during the Boise State and UTEP home games.
WAC AGAINST THE REST The WAC is 61-32 (.656) this season. The WAC has a solid record against several conferences, including an 8-2 record against the Sun Belt Conference. The WAC is undefeated against the ACC (2-0). The ACC has the highest RPI in the country. WAC teams are also 7-2 against the Southland Conference and 5-3 against the Mountain West Conference. The WAC has a 2-4 record against the SEC, the conference with the second-highest RPI, according to the WBCA rankings.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE Louisiana Tech is still the only remaining undefeated team in WAC play. Two weeks ago, Fresno State lost to both the Lady Techsters and SMU. The Mustangs also dropped a game to Nevada on the road.
Louisiana Tech ended non-conference play at 4-4 before once again displaying its WAC dominance with six victories in their first six league games. This week, the Lady Techsters look to stretch their record to 7-0 with a game against travel partner, SMU, on Jan. 22.
Fresno State is now tied for fourth with both Rice and Tulsa. SMU is second with a 3-1 WAC record.
COACHES REACH MILESTONES Rices 55-50 win over UTEP marked head coach Cristy McKinneys 200th Rice victory. In her 12 seasons at Rice, she is now 201-137.
SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola posted her 400th game at the helm of the Mustangs at Nevada. Rhompola has been at SMU 13 years and has 248 wins as the Mustangs 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.
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 against 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. Hawaii lost to No. 17 Houston at home.
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 9-5, 4-1 in the Big West. New Mexico State is 6-9, 1-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies defeated No. 22 Houston earlier this season. It was the Aggies first-ever win over a ranked team. Utah State is 8-6, passing the win total of all of last season, the Aggies first season. USU is 3-2 in the Big West. The Aggies have won three-straight games.
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.
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 (6-8, 1-4 WAC)Boise State defeated Nevada capture its first win in WAC play ... after exchanging baskets for the first nine minutes, the Broncos went on an 11-point run to lead 23-12 and never looked back ... the Broncos now prepare for the road as they face San Jose State (Jan. 20) and Hawaii (Jan. 22) ... Tasha Harris is fifth in scoring in WAC games, averaging 14.2 ppg ... in all games, Harris is seventh in scoring, averaging 12.6 ppg.
Fresno State Bulldogs (11-4, 3-3 WAC)Fresno State has a tough week hosting Rice and Tulsa at home ... Rice owns a 14-3 advantage in the all-time series ... Fresno States most recent victory against Rice came on Jan. 2, 2003, in a 77-70 triumph in the North Gym ... since then, the Owls have won three straight and swept the season series last year ... Tulsa holds an 8-5 advantage over Fresno State ... the schools hooked up three times last year, with each winning on its home court during the regular season and Tulsa claiming a 79-55 win during the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... in 2000-01, Fresno State swept the season series.
Fresno State Bulldogs (11-4, 3-3 WAC)
Fresno State has a tough week hosting Rice and Tulsa at home ... Rice owns a 14-3 advantage in the all-time series ... Fresno States most recent victory against Rice came on Jan. 2, 2003, in a 77-70 triumph in the North Gym ... since then, the Owls have won three straight and swept the season series last year ... Tulsa holds an 8-5 advantage over Fresno State ... the schools hooked up three times last year, with each winning on its home court during the regular season and Tulsa claiming a 79-55 win during the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... in 2000-01, Fresno State swept the season series.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (6-6, 2-3 WAC)Senior Jade Abele averaged 15.0 ppg and 14.0 rpg in road games at SMU and Louisiana Tech last week ... she posted her first pair of double-doubles on the season and back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in her career ... after scoring just 11 points in her first two WAC games, Abele has come on in
the last three WAC road games ... the co-captain recorded 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists at San Jose State (Jan. 8), then followed up with a pair of double-doubles at SMU (20 points, 13 rebounds) and Louisiana Tech (10 points, 15 rebounds) ... the win snapped Hawaiis five-game regular season road losing streak ... this week, the Rainbow Wahine remain on the road to face UTEP and Boise State.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (10-4, 6-0 WAC)With its wins over San Jose State and Hawaii, Louisiana Tech has now won 22-straight regular season league games, tying its own record set during the 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons ... Louisiana Techs last WAC loss was 87-84 in overtime at Rice in January of last year ... the Lady Techsters have won 44 of their last 45 regular season league games ... in 14 games this year, Louisiana Tech has trailed or been tied at the half in nine of them ... Tech has trailed at halftime in its last three home conference games and has come back to win all three by 10 or more points ... Louisiana Tech has won 98-straight regular season home conference games dating back to the 1991-92 season.
Nevada Wolf Pack (5-11, 1-5 WAC)Nevada broke a five-game losing streak with one of its biggest wins in recent history when it downed SMU 63-62 on Jan. 13 ... the Wolf Pack is now one game short of doubling its disappointing win total from last season with more than 14 games left on the schedule ... Nevada is now 4-8 against the Mustangs, breaking a three-game losing streak in the series ... the Pack is now 4-2 at home this season after opening the year 3-0 at Lawlor for the first time in the programs recorded history ... after a brief home stand, Nevada returns to the road traveling to UTEP and Boise State this week.
Rice Owls (9-7, 2-3 WAC)After a 13-point loss at Tulsa, Rice drops to 2-3 in the WAC ... the Lady Owls shot 46 percent in the second half against the Golden Hurricane, connecting on 12-of-26 ... Michelle Woods was Rices top rebounder with 14, her fourth game this season with double-digit rebounds ... Rice is 9-3 this season when out-rebounding its opponent ... Maudess Fulton scored 11 points for her seventh game in double-digit points ... sophomore Lauren Neaves is tied for third in the league in rebounding, averaging 8.6 rpg ... senior Michelle Woods is seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.347) ... Woods has made 17 three-pointers this year.
San Jose State Spartans (9-6, 2-3 WAC)Despite losing two games last week, San Jose freshman Amber Jackson still leads the WAC in scoring, averaging 16.8 ppg ... Jackson remains second in the WAC in rebounding, averaging 8.7 rpg ... in this weeks NCAA statistics, Jackson still leads the nation in shooting percentage (.686) ... Jackson is also second in the league in double-doubles with seven tied withTulsas Jillian Robbins and just behind SMUs Janielle Dodds.
SMU Mustangs (13-3, 4-2 WAC)Freshman Janielle Dodds has recorded double-figure scoring marks in all but four games ... junior Kendall Shead posted her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Hawaii ... senior Shonte Roberts needs 145 points to reach the 1,000-career point mark ... freshman Sharee Shepherd recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against San Jose State ... now fifth on SMU's all-time career list for assists, Shead totals 294 assists, needing 33 assists to climb to the fourth spot, currently held by Tomi Hollis (1983-86) with 327 dishes ... SMU currently totals 10 home victories ... the most home wins SMU has totaled in a single season is 12 which took place twice (1997-98 season and 1999-2000 season).
UTEP Miners (8-7, 3-2 WAC)UTEP shot a season-high 49.1 percent in a win over Fresno State ... the Miners handed Fresno State its first loss on the road this season ... they also snapped its nation-best 10-game road winning streak, which dated back to last year ... Fresno States last loss came on Feb. 12, 2004, at UTEP ... freshman Kasia Krezel is tied for second in the league in steals (2.33 spg) ... fellow freshman Shalana Taylor is third in the league in assists (4.50 apg) ... the Miners are second in the league in free throw percentage as a team, shooting .729 (172-for-236) ... in WAC games, UTEP is first in free throw percentages, shooting .747 (71-of-95) ... the Miners are also first in league games in steals (12.40 spg).
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (11-4, 3-2 WAC)Tulsa captured a critical 74-61 win over Rice at home before falling on the road to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in a non-conference matchup ... the Golden Hurricane moved into a tie for third place with UTEP at 3-2 ... sophomore Jillian Robbins is first in the WAC in two categories ... Robbins leads the WAC in blocked shots (3.07 bpg) and rebounds (9.2 rpg) ... junior Kara Pongonis is first in free throw percentage (.886) and three-point field goals made (2.33/g) ... this week, the Golden Hurricane pack their bags and travel to Nevada and Fresno State ... last year, Tulsa won both games with Nevada and won two of three matchups with Fresno State.