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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech's Tasha Crain has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 3. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for the junior.
Crain, junior from Kingsland, Ark., led Louisiana Tech to victories over Tulsa and Rice, averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Crain shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field and 91 percent (19-of-21) from the free throw line.
Trailing by 16 points to Rice in the second half, Crain led Louisiana Tech to one of the biggest comebacks in the program's history, scoring a career-high 29 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and hitting 15-of-16 free throws. The 15 free throws made ties the Louisiana Tech single-game record. Crain scored 16 of her 29 points in the game-ending 30-6 run by the Lady Techsters over the final 10 minutes of the game. She hit 10-of-10 free throws in the final 2:11 of the game, including two to tie the game at 64, and two to give Louisiana Tech its first lead since 9-8 early in the first half. She also added three rebounds, three assists and two steals on her 21st birthday.
Two nights earlier, Crain led all Tech scorers with 12 points. She was 4-of-9 from the field and made 4-of- 5 free throws, while adding five assists, three rebounds. She also added two steals and one block shot in a 63-47 win over Tulsa. Crain spearheaded a Tech defense that held Tulsa to a season low 47 points and only 29 percent shooting.
Other nominees included: Tasha Harris, Boise State; Aritta Lane, Fresno State; Michelle Woods, Rice; Amber Jackson, San Jose State; Janielle Dodds, SMU and Charnette Phelps, UTEP.
REGAL RPI As the WAC season gets going, the league is having a stellar season. After the first week of WAC play, the league has 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 four schools with an RPI under 50, and according to the WBCA has no schools with an RPI higher than 200. Tulsa is currently ranked No. 29, according to the WBCA. Tulsas RPI is the highest among WAC schools. Louisiana Tech has an RPI of 32nd, while SMU is 38th. Fresno State currently has an RPI of 43rd.
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 60-32 (.652) 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.
BATTLE OF THE UNDEFEATED Fresno State will host the two other undefeated teams this week, taking on SMU (11-1, 2-0 WAC) on Jan. 6. The Bulldogs will then take on three-time champion, Louisiana Tech (6-4, 2-0).
SMU is off to its best start in school history at 11-1. The Mustangs matched a program record with their ninth-consecutive home win on Jan. 1, defeating Tulsa, 75-60, after beating Rice in the WAC opener. SMU leads the all-time series 8-6, although Fresno State has won four of the last five meetings.
Louisiana Tech ended non-conference play at 4-4 before once again displaying its WAC dominance with two victories in the first two league games. Louisiana Tech has won all eight meetings played between the two schools.
Fresno State (10-1, 2-0 WAC) has reached the 10-win plateau, something it has now accomplished the last two seasons. Last season, the Bulldogs did not win their 10th game of the year until an 85-76 winover Tulsa on Feb. 19, 2004. The Bulldogs only setback this season came against UCLA on Dec. 11.
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.
UNDERCLASSMEN TAKE CHARGE This season season has seen the young players take charge. San Jose State freshman Amber Jackson is second in the league in scoring (17.6 ppg), first in field goal percentage (.711) and third in rebounding (9.1 rpg). Super sophomores Jillian Robbins of Tulsa and Lauren Neaves of Rice have showed no signs of a sophomore slump. Robbins is first in the WAC in rebounding (9.7 rpg), and Neaves is second (9.2 rpg). Robbins is third in the WAC in scoring, averaging 15.5 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 6-4. New Mexico State is 5-7 with a win over No. 22 Houston. It was the Aggies first ever win over a ranked team. Utah State is 5-5, matching the win total of all of last season, the Aggies first season.
Boise State Broncos (4-4, 0-1 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 (10-1, 2-0 WAC)The Bulldogs (10-1, 2-0 WAC), who did not record their 10th win last year until Feb. 19, have now won four-straight overall and nine consecutive road games, dating back to last season when the team won its final three away from Fresno ... in fact, Fresno States last road loss came in a 45-38 defeat to UTEP in El Paso on Feb. 12, 2004 ... Fresno State improves to 36-17 all-time against San Jose State and has won five-straight since a 66-53 loss back on Jan. 25, 2003 ... Fresno State is now 16-3 against California schools under head coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (5-4, 1-1 WAC)The Rainbow Wahine will take to the road for their first road game of the season ... Hawaii will face its travel partner, San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 8 ... last week, the Rainbow Wahine went 1-1 in their opening WAC weekend, losing to Fresno State and defeating Nevada ... senior Milia Macfarlane is first in the WAC in three-point field goal percentage, shooting .600 ... Macfarlane is also fourth in field goal percentage, shooting .551 ... the Rainbow Wahine need to win only four more games to pass last seasons win total of eight.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (6-4, 2-0 WAC)With its two home conference wins this week, Louisiana Tech has now won 96-straight regular season home conference games dating back to the 1991-92 season ... Louisiana Tech has now won 18-straight regular season conference games, the second longest winning streak in the history of the league ... Louisiana Tech actually owns the top three all-time win conference game win streaks in the WAC (22, 18, 14) ... Louisiana Tech is shooting 10 percentage points higher in the second half of its games this year (35.3 percent in first half; 45.1 percent in second half) ... Louisiana Tech junior guard Tasha Crain scored a career-high 29 points in a 76-66 win over Rice ... Crain hit 15 of 16 free throws in the game and the 15 free throws made tied the Louisiana Tech single game record.
Nevada Wolf Pack (4-8, 0-2 WAC)After a five-game stretch on the road, Nevada will get to return home to face Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7:00 p.m ... sophomore Traci Graham is second in the league in steals, averaging 2.42 spg with a total of 27 total steals ... freshman Meghan McGuire is fifth in the league in field goal percentage, shooting .818.
Rice Owls (7-6, 0-2 WAC)The Lady Owls are now 5-4 in WAC openers under head coach Cristy McKinney ... Rice is 0-2 to start the WAC season for the first time since 2000, when the Lady Owls won the WAC tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament ... Rice used an 11-0 rally in the second half at SMU to pull to within eight, before falling to the Mustangs by nine... After scoring 12 and 14 points against SMU and Louisiana Tech, respectively, Annie Peck has now scored in double-figures seven times this season... The Lady Owls had 42 rebounds in both games, out-rebounding both the Mustangs and Lady Techsters.
San Jose State Spartans (7-4, 1-1 WAC)San Jose freshman Amber Jackson is leading the WAC in scoring, averaging 17.6 ppg ... Jackson is third in the WAC in rebounding, averaging 9.1 rpg ... Jackson scored a season-high 32 points in the Spartans win over Nevada, it was the highest point total of any WAC player this season ... Lindsay Harris scored a career-high 18 points in the loss to Fresno State ... Senior Jessica Kellogg came off the bench and scored 14 points and and dished out six asissts ... Senior Erica McGlaston is first in the WAC in steals, averaging 2.45 steals per game with a total of 27 total steals.
SMU Mustangs (8-1, 2-0 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 (6-5, 1-0 WAC)UTEP has won a season-best four consecutive games, its longest since winning five during the first half of WAC play last year UTEP is 1-0 in WAC play for just the third time in 15 season the Miners won their opening conference game for just the sixth time in school history (24 seasons) UTEP has only started 2-0 in WAC play once (1994-95) UTEP is 2-0 in overtime games this year and 3-2 under Keitha Green UTEP finished its non-conference schedule with a .500 record (5-5) or better for the third consecutive season the Miners have won two consecutive road games and hit the road this week at Rice and Tulsa - last season UTEP was 4-5 in WAC road games Charnette Phelps is averaging 17.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the last four games.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-3, 0-2 WAC)Sophomore forward Jillian Robbins has been Tulsas most consistent player this season ... Robbins has reached double figures in scoring and rebounding in seven of 11 games ... she scored 20 or more points on five different occasions and has two games with 15 or more rebounds ... junior guard Kara Pongonis led the WAC in three-point field goals last season with 67 ... this season, Pongonis has picked up where she left off a year ago and currently leads the conference in three-pointers with 26 ... she is one three-pointer shy of moving into second place for career threes made with 121.