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RICE AND LOUISIANA TECH ADVANCE TO NCAA TOURNAMENT For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, the Western Athletic Conference will have two women's basketball teams advance to the NCAA Tournament. WAC Tournament winner, Rice, and Louisiana Tech will both advance to the big dance.
The Lady Owls return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Rice defeated UC Santa Barbara before falling in the second round to North Carolina. The Lady Techsters are one of two teams to have advanced to all 24 NCAA Tournament. No. 1 seed Tennessee has also made every tournament.
Both Rice and Louisiana Tech are No. 11 seeds. The Lady Owls will take on No. 6 Georgia as part of the Mideast Regional. Louisiana Tech will face the No. 6 seed, Temple. The Lady Techsters are in the East Regional and will play in Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., on March 20 and 22.
The No. 1 seed in the Mideast Regional is LSU, while North Carolina is the top seed in the West Regional. Tennessee is the No. 1 seed in the East Regional, while Michigan State is the top seed in the Midwest Regional.

THREE ADVANCE TO WNIT TO GIVE WAC FIVE POSTSEASON TEAMS Fresno State, SMU and Tulsa all earned bids to the Sportsview.tv Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), giving the Western Athletic Conference five total teams in postseason play. This is the most since six teams advanced to postseason during the 1998-99 season. That year two teams played in the NCAA Tournament, while four advanced to the WNIT.
Tulsa advances to the WNIT for the second-straight season, while the Bulldogs make their second appearance in three years. SMU last made the postseason in 2000 advancing to the NCAA Tournament. This is the Mustangs first appearance in the WNIT.
Tulsa will travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M on March 16 at 5:00 p.m. Fresno will take on Texas Corpus Christi on the road on March 18. SMU will take on Southwest Missouri State on the road on March 17. If the Bulldogs and Golden Hurricane both win, they would face off in the second round. SMU would face the winner of the Gonzaga/BYU game.

RICE IN THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUND Georgia enters the NCAA tournament with a 22-9 overall record. The Bulldogs fell to LSU in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, but earned an at-large bid. Georgias Tasha Humphrey is the SEC Freshman of the Year.
If Rice wins, it will face the winner of third-seed Texas (21-8) against 14th-seed Oral Roberts (22-8). The two other games consist of fifth-seed North Carolina State (21-7) versus 12th-seed Middle Tennessee State (23-8), and fourth-seed Texas Tech (22-7) against 13th-seed Texas-Arlington (21-9).
The Lady Owls game will be seen on ESPN2 with Sean McDonough and Doris Burke doing the announcing.
This is the first meeting between the Lady Owls and the Bulldogs. Rice is 2-31 against possible opponents in the first and second round. The Lady Owls are 1-0 against Oral Roberts with a win in November of 1991. Rice is 1-30 against third-seeded Texas. In their last meeting, Texas beat Rice in February of 1996. Rice is 2-4 against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament with two wins against Louisiana Tech. The Lady Owls have losses to Louisiana Tech, Baylor, Arizona and Texas Tech.

LOUISIANA TECH IN THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUND Temple has the longest current winning streak in the nation, winning 24 games and boasts an impressive 27-3 record under head coach Dawn Staley. Temple started the season 3-3 with losses to LSU, Tennessee and Florida, but then reeled off 24 consecutive victories, including wins over Rutgers and Villanova. The Owls posted a perfect 16-0 mark in the Atlantic 10 and won the tournament title, defeating George Washington 70-62 in the championship game.
Louisiana Tech is 3-0 against its possible first and second round opponents. Tech is 3-0 against Rutgers with its last win coming in 1982. The Lady Techsters have never faced Temple or Hartford. Louisiana Tech is 2-3 against teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Techsters were 1-2 against Rice. Louisiana Tech was 0-1 against Tennessee, and 1-0 against Alcorn State. Tech was 2-2 against teams in the WNIT with wins over Arkansas State and Western Kentucky and losses to Illinois and Mississippi State.

FRESNO STATE TO HOST FIRST AND SECOND ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT Fresno State will host the first and second rounds of the 2005 NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament on March 19 and 21. From the Midwest Regional, Iowa State, Utah, Stanford and Santa Clara will travel to Fresno. From the West Regional, Notre Dame, UC Santa Barbara, Arizona State and Eastern Kentucky will play first and second round games in Fresno. The first and second rounds for the 2005 and 2006 championships will be conducted at eight predetermined sites, which represents a format change from the 16 first and second-round sites in previous years.

Saturday, March 19
(5) Arizona St. vs. (12) Eastern Kentucky, 11:00 a.m.
(4) Notre Dame vs. (13) UCSB, 1:30 p.m.
(7) Iowa State vs. (10) Utah, 5:00 p.m.
(2) Stanford vs. (15) Santa Clara, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 21
ASU/E. Kentucky vs. Notre Dame/UCSB, TBD
Iowa State/Utah vs. Stanford/Santa Clara, TBD

FIRST AND SECOND ROUND SITES
March 19 & 21
Reunion Arena (17,767) Dallas, Texas
Save Mart Center (15,621) Fresno, Calif.
Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, Minn.
Bank of America Arena (9,394) Seattle, Wash.

March 20 & 22
Dean E. Smith Center (21,000) Chapel Hill, N.C.
Comcast Center (17,950) College Park, Md.
Thompson-Boling Arena (25,000) Knoxville, Tenn.
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Conn.

WAC IN THE WNIT The postseason WNIT includes 32 teams from around the nation in a single-elimination format. All games, including the semifinals and championship, will be hosted by participating schools.
Fresno State will play at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (22-6, Independent) in a first-round game scheduled for Fri., March 18. Texas A&M Corpus Christi captured the Independent Tournament championship, defeating Northern Colorado 62-42 in the title game. Three of the Islanders six losses this season came to 2005 NCAA participants (Purdue, Michigan State and Houston) and a fourth came at the hands of WNIT entrant Texas A&M. Fresno States last appearance in the WNIT came during the 2002-03 when the Bulldogs went 2-1 in three games that included home victories over Santa Clara and Oregon State. The Bulldogs, who are 3-6 all-time in postseason WNIT contests, have also competed in the 1986 and 1990 WNIT.
Tulsa is making its second-straight postseason appearance, advancing to the WNIT last season. This is the first ever meeting between the Golden Hurricane and the Aggies. Last
season, TU made the first-ever postseason appearance in school history with its WNIT bid, but fell at Memphis in the first round, 66-64.
Texas A&M, 14-14, is in the midst of a three-game losing streak and has lost six out of its last seven games, including a 86-65 loss to Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. A&Ms last win came against Oklahoma State, 75-61, at home on Feb. 8. The Aggies finished 10th in the conference with a 4-12 league mark. Texas A&M is averaging 64.1 points and 33.9 rebounds per game.
The last time SMU competed in the WNIT was in 1993 when the Mustangs fell to Arkansas State in the championship game. SMU will take on Southwest Missouri State. Both SMS teams will take on WAC schools as the Rice mens team will also travel to Springfield for an NIT game on Wednesday, March 16. The Lady Bears won their second-straight MVC regular-season title by two full games with a 15-3 league record. SMS lost to MVC tourney host Illinois State in the quarterfinals of the league tourney. Illinois State went on to win the meeting and SMS takes a 20-8 mark into the WNIT.

LA TECHS CRAIN NAMED FINALIST FOR ALL-AMERICA TEAM Louisiana Tech junior guard Tasha Crain was named one of 48 finalists for the 2005 Kodak/WBCA All-America Basketball Team for NCAA Division I, which was announced today by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in cooperation with Eastman Kodak Company.
The 48 finalists, who are voted upon by WBCA member coaches in each of the eight WBCA geographical regions, are now in the running for selection to the 10-member Kodak/WBCA All-America Team.
Crain was one of six selections out of Region 7. The Kingsland, Ark., native was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year this season after leading Louisiana Tech to the league regular season title and a 20-9 mark.
The 5-foot-7-inch guard averaged 17.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 47 percent from the field, 42 percent from the three-point line and 82 percent from the free throw line.
Crain became the first point guard in Louisiana Tech history to lead the team in scoring in a season. Louisiana Tech has produced 16 Kodak All-Americans in its illustrious history.

TOURNAMENT RECORDS Several records were broken at the WAC Tournament this year. San Jose States Lindsay Harris made 15 free throws in a loss against Rice. The previous record was 13 by Utahs Mikki Kane against UTEP in 1992.
Rice also set a record for free throws, making 30 against San Jose State in the semifinals. The previous record was 27 by three different schools, but Louisiana Tech had broken that record right before Rice. Tech had 29 free throws made against Fresno State in its double overtime win. Against the Spartans, the Lady Owls also set the record for free throws attempting, shooting 44 times from the charity stripe. Rice also set the record for rebounds in a tournament with 147 in three games. SMU held the record with 144 in 1999.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC owns an all-time record of 72-36 (.667) in NCAA Tournament games. The 10 teams from the 2004-05 season own a 15-23 record (.395) as WAC members. Louisiana Tech is 65-21 (.756) in NCAA play.

WAC TOURNAMENT RECAP Rice tied Louisiana Tech for the regular-season title, giving the Owls enough confidence to knock off the three-time defending champs in the WAC tournament.
MVP Lauren Neaves led six Rice players in double figures with 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds on March 12 in the 86-66 victory that guarantees the Lady Owls a spot in the NCAA tournament.
With the win Rice snapped Louisiana Tech's 28-game conference tournament winning streak and prevented the Lady Techsters from winning the conference tournament title for the first time since 1995.
WAC All-Tournament Team
Mirenda Swearengin, Fresno State
Tasha Crain, Louisiana Tech
Erica Taylor, Louisiana Tech
Krystal Frazier, Rice
Lauren Neaves, Rice (MVP)

LOUISIANA TECH AND RICE SHARE WAC TITLE For the first time since the 1995-96 season, two teams will share the regular season WAC womens basketball title. Rice takes a share of the title with Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters have had at least a share of the WAC title every year since the 2001-02 season. The Lady Owls win their first WAC regular season title.
Rice defeated Louisiana Tech for the third time in WAC play, knocking off the Lady Techsters 83-69. Rice out-rebounded both Louisiana Tech and SMU, edging out the Lady Techsters 51-35 and the Mustangs 55-36.

MCKINNEY EARNS HONOR In her final season in the WAC, Rice head coach Cristy McKinney receives her first coach of the year honors. McKinney led Rice to its first regular season conference title this season, and the WAC tournament title in 2000. She is in her 12th season at the helm of the Rice program and owns an overall record of 213-138 (.607). Rice finished with a 14-4 WAC record and a share of its first regular season conference title.

FRESNO STATE SECURES WINNING SEASON Fresno States 71-50 win over Boise State on Feb. 12 guaranteed the Bulldogs will finish the 2004-05 season with a winning record. Fresno State's most recent winning season came in 2002-03 when the team finished 21-13. Fresno State finished 10-8 in WAC, its first winning conference record since the 2002-03 season. The Bulldogs finished 11-7 and third place in the WAC in 2002-03, marking the first time the club notched a winning conference record in 13 years. Since the beginning of the 2002-03 campaign, Fresno State has recorded 26 WAC victories. The Bulldogs were 7-11 last season against WAC teams.

REGAL RPI The WAC ended the regular season with 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, 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.

REWIND The top-seeded and sixth ranked Louisiana Tech brought home their third WAC title in as many seasons, defeating the Rice Lady Owls, 76-52, at the 2004 McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament in Fresno, Calif. After a first-half 29-23 lead, Louisiana Tech pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Owls, 47-29. The Techsters were led by both Erica Smith-Taylor who registered 22 points, and the tournament's MVP, Amisha Carter, who tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds en route to the title.

2004 -FRESNO, CALIF. (March 11-15)
Seeds: 1-Louisiana Tech, 2-Rice, 3-Tulsa, 4-UTEP, 5-SMU, 6-Fresno State, 7-San Jose State, 8-Hawaii, 9-Boise State, 10-Nevada

Game 1 - Boise State 59, Hawaii 56 (584)
Game 2 - San Jose State 68, Nevada 60 (584)
Game 3 - La. Tech 100, Boise State 56 (612)
Game 4 -UTEP 70, SMU 63 (612)
Game 5 - Rice 67, San Jose State 63 (1,907)
Game 6 - Tulsa 79, Fresno State 55 (1,907)
Semifinal 1 - La. Tech 74, UTEP 47(786)
Semifinal 2 - Rice 55, Tulsa 42 (786)
Championship - La. Tech 76, Rice 52 (987)

JACKSON SECOND IN THE NATION IN FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE San Jose State freshman sensation, Amber Jackson, slipped to second in the nation in field goal percentage in this weeks NCAA statistics. She is second in the nation shooting .659. She is just behind Libertys Katie Feenstra who stands in first, shooting .685. 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. San Diego States Michelle Suman has the WAC record in field goal percentage, shooting .667 during the 1991-92 season.

TULSAS HEIDOTTEN NAMED SEMIFINALIST Tulsa senior Becky Heidotten has been selected as a semifinalist for the third Annual Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence presented by Creamland Dairies.
The award honors college seniors for their athletic and academic achievement as well as their community involvement. The award will be presented at the end of the 2004-05 basketball season on April 12, 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
This season, Heidotten has led Tulsa to a 19-9 overall record and a third-place finish in Western Athletic Conference play with an 11-7 mark. She has started all 28 games this season and holds season averages of 8.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and has connected on 55-percent of her field goal attempts. Heidotten tied her career-high with 26 points in Tulsas 74-70 upset win over WAC leader Louisiana Tech in the regular season finale. Heidotten is a nursing major and was named to the ESPN Academic All-District VI Second Team earlier this season.
Three finalists for the collegiate awards will be named during the NCAA basketball tournaments and will be present in Albuquerque on April 12, 2005 at an awards dinner held at the Albuquerque Marriott. Jimmy Dykes, ESPN College Basketball Analyst will emcee the event, and Citadel Communications Sports Radio 610 The Sports Animal and News Radio 770 KKOB are official media sponsors.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS Several 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 is third in the league in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game. Jackson is second in the nation in field goal percentage (.659). Fellow freshman Janielle Dodds is fourth in the league in scoring in league games, averaging 14.4 ppg. Dodds is also fourth in rebounding in WAC games, averaging 8.3 rpg. UTEPs freshman Shalana Taylor is second in the league in assists in WAC games (5.07 apg). Nevada freshman Meghan McGuire is eighth in the league in scoring, averaging 13.2.

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.

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.
Idaho ended the season 19-11, 12-6 in the Big West. Idaho fell to UC Santa Barbara in the finals of the Big West Tournament. New Mexico State finished the season 9-19, 4-11 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 guaranteed itself a non-losing season for the first time since 1979, as that team finished at 14-10. USUs 14 wins also ties the 1979 and 1975 (14-6) teams for the second most wins in school history. The Aggies end the season 14-14, 9-9 in the Big West.