PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Idaho’s Katie Madison has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 4. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week for the freshman, and the first for the Vandals this season.
Madison, a post from Prairie, Wash., (Prairie) scored an Idaho all-time freshman high 35 in the win over Eastern Washington going 11-for-29. Madison averaged a team-high 24.3 points per game in the three games this week, helping Idaho to a wins over Eastern and Mississippi Valley State. She shot the ball well all week, as she was 28-for-40 (.700). She was also solid from the free throw line, connecting on 17-for-20 (.850). Her 32 rebounds led the team, averaging 10.7 a game. Madison had double-doubles in two of three games this week. The 35 points were the most scored in the WAC this season.
Other nominees included: Michelle Hessing of Boise State scored 10 points as the Broncos defeated San Diego ... Chantella Perera of Fresno State scored 31 points in two games last week, including scoring 17 in a win against No. 23 Texas Tech ... Sherrell Neal of New Mexico State scored 32 points in two games as the Aggies went 0-2 last week ... Dellena Criner of Nevada scored 25 points in a loss to Auburn ... Brittany Helm of San Jose State averaged 17 points per game over three games last week ... Taylor Richards of Utah State scored 29 points as Aggies went 1-1 last week.
FANTASTIC FRESHMAN ? Idaho freshman post Katie Madison is off to a tremendous start this season. Against Eastern Washington on Nov. 29, Madison scored a WAC-high 35 points in the win. Madison is first in the WAC in scoring (18.4) and rebounding (9.7). She is also leading the WAC in field goal percentage, shooting .568.
DEJA VU? ? UH looks to duplicate the success it enjoyed on the road last year. Hawai?i finished 7-3 on the road in 2005-06 and started its road schedule with a pair of road wins at San Francisco and Santa Clara in its first non-conference road games in a dozen years. That sparked a perfect 6-0 record in the month of December, marking just the third time in the last 14 seasons that UH went undefeated in the month heading toward conference play.
TOUGH “D” ? Last week, Boise State held San Diego to 29 points. San Diego entered the game averaging 72 points. The 29 points were the fewest allowed by a WAC team all season. The next fewest was the 47 that the Broncos allowed in a win over Oregon on Nov. 24. It has been 30 years since the Broncos held someone below 30 points in a game dating back to January 20, 1977 when they defeated Northwest Nazarene 64-29 in Boise.
VANDALS LOSE KEY COMPONENT ? Idaho senior Karly Feltonwill miss the remainder of her senior season after tearing ACL in her left knee. The injury occurred Nov. 24 in the Vandals game against Colorado State at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational tournament. Felton could use a medical redshirt this season and still have one year of eligibility left if she chooses.
MARSHALL LEAVING FRESNO STATE ? Senior guard Jasmine Marshall announced today that she is leaving the program due to family reasons. Marshall recently married former Bulldog football star and current Carolina Panther Richard Marshall, and has decided to move to the East Coast to live with her husband.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2007 TOURNAMENT ? The 2007 WAC Basketball Tournament will be held March 6-10 in Las Cruces, N.M., at the Pan American Center and will be hosted by New Mexico State. The tournament was held at Nevada’s Lawlor Events Center the last two seasons. New Mexico State will also host the 2008 tournament.
HISTORY LESSON ? The 2006-07 season marks the 19th year of women’s basketball at USU, and just the fourth since the program was restarted prior to the 2003-04 season. The women’s hoops program at USU had been disbanded following the 1987 season due to budget cuts. USU is playing in its second season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) after playing its first two seasons in the Big West Conference.
TOUGH START ? San Jose State is still in search of its first victory of the 2006-07 season, currently at 0-8. San Jose State concludes a stretch of four games in seven days with a home game against Washington State on Tuesday, Dec. 5, before beginning a season-long four-game road stretch at Colorado State on Saturday, Dec. 9. The Spartans have fielded a starting lineup with three freshmen and two sophomores in each of the past three games.
LOUISIANA TECH TO PARTICIPATE IN KATRINA RELIEF CLASSIC ? Tickets to Louisiana Tech’s women’s basketball game against LSU at the New Orleans Arena on Dec. 30 at 2:00 p.m. will go on sale through Ticket Master.
Individuals wishing to purchase tickets must do so by calling Ticket Master at 504-522-5555 and asking for “LSU Operation Rebound game” or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
Ticket prices are $25 for the floor seats directly behind the Tech bench or $7, $5 and $3 for all other reserved seats. All proceeds from the game go the LSU Operation Rebound to benefit the Friends of New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) and the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. For more information about the event visit www.LSUOperationrebound.com.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS ? The WAC has several key non-conference matchups this season. WAC teams will play at least 12 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. WAC teams will face two teams that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen (Utah and Stanford) and one team that advanced to the Final Four (LSU).
Vs. 2005-06 NCAA Tournament Teams:
Fresno State at Utah, Nov. 13
BYU at Fresno State, Nov. 17
Louisiana Tech at Stephen F. Austin, Nov. 17
Tennessee at Louisiana Tech, Nov. 28
New Mexico State at New Mexico, Dec. 1
BYU at New Mexico State, Dec. 6
Fresno State at California, Dec. 7
Nevada at Washington, Dec. 10
New Mexico at New Mexico State, Dec. 19
Louisiana Tech vs. LSU, Dec. 30
Stanford at Fresno State, Jan. 2
FRESNO STATE TO HOST REGIONALS ? Fresno State has been selected to host a 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Regional at the Save Mart Center, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee announced. The Administrative Committee of the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet approved the sites.
The Save Mart Center, which hosted its first sporting event in November 2003, experienced March Madness for the first time when Fresno State hosted the first and second rounds of the 2005 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. Arizona State and Stanford won first and second round contests to advance to the regional round.
The first and second rounds of the 2007 NCAA Championship will be conducted at eight pre-determined sites, with two teams advancing into the regional round of 16.
Boise State Broncos (4-3, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State split a pair of games last week losing 81-66 at Utah Valley State (7-1) then rebounded to hand San Diego (6-1) their first loss of the season 47-29 in Boise on Sunday ... San Diego entered Sunday’s game averaging 72 points, Boise State held them to 29 ... it has been 30 years since the Broncos held someone below 30 points in a game dating back to January 20, 1977 when they defeated Northwest Nazarene 64-29 in Boise.
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-2, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State opened the season winning its first three games, a quick start out of the gate that has been a hallmark of the recent program ... the Bulldogs won their first two games last season under Adrian Wiggins, defeating UC Irving on the road before toppling Texas Southern at home ... the year prior, the Bulldogs had one of their best starts in program history, winning their first six games, including home wins against Pepperdine, Oklahoma State, San Diego and Washington State.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (3-2, 0-0 WAC)
This year’s squad is a senior-laden crew with six seniors, inlcuding five four-year players ... a trio of seniors are carrying the offensive load early in the season ... Janevia Taylor (13.2 ppg), Brittany Grice (12.8) and Pam Tambini (11.2) are the team’s top three scorers and have accounted for 61% of the team’s scoring and 58% of the team’s assists ... defense has carried the day for the Rainbow Wahine so far ... while the UH offense has cracked 60 points just twice in five games, the defense has gotten the job done, limiting opponents to 58 points or less in three wins.
Idaho Vandals (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Katie Madison scored a season-high 35 points in the win over Eastern Washington on Nov. 29 ... she also recorded 15 rebounds, for her second career double-double ... Madison was a spotless 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the game ... against Alcorn State, the freshman had 19 points and 11 rebounds, game-highs for Idaho in both categories ... in the victory over Mississippi Valley State, Madison again scored 19 points ... the honor is the first of Madison’s career and the first for Idaho this season ... it is also Idaho’s first WAC player of the week honor in women’s basketball.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (2-5, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech hosts Kansas State on Dec. 5 at the Thomas Assembly Center as the Lady Techsters look to snap a two-game losing streak ... Kansas State (6-1) will be playing its first true road game of the season, after posting a perfect 5-0 mark at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan and splitting a pair of games at the UNLV Lady Rebel Shootout against neutral opponents ... the Wildcats, who defeated Louisiana Tech 77-66 last year, have been winning with defense as Kansas State opponents are shooting only 29 percent from the field and averaging only 51.0 points a game.
Nevada Wolf Pack (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Senior Traci Graham is one steal short of tying for second place on Nevada’s all-time list and is four steals away from topping the list ... Dellena Criner was 5-of-5 from three-point range against Auburn ... Nevada tied a school record with 11 three-pointers against Auburn ... in seven games, Nevada has had five different players lead the team in scoring ... seniors Traci Graham and Jessica Preslar have each played in every game of their Nevada careers, a stretch of 96 straight.
New Mexico State Aggies (3-5, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State hosts BYU in the Aggies final game before the finals break, Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 7:00 p.m. ... junior forward Sherell Neal paces the Aggies with four double-double performances this season ... she is tied with Louisiana Tech’s Ty Moore for the WAC lead with the four double-doubles ... junior forward Anikia Jawara recorded her first double-double in a NMSU uniform against Utah Valley State.
San Jose State Spartans (0-8, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State concludes a stretch of four games in seven days with a home game against Washington State on Tuesday, Dec. 5, before beginning a season-long four-game road stretch at Colorado State on Saturday, Dec. 9 ... freshman point guard Brittany Helm has reached double figures in scoring in each of her first eight games to begin her college career, and been named to a pair of all-tournament teams, at SMU and Cal ... the Spartans have fielded a starting lineup with three freshmen and two sophomores in each of the past three games.
Utah State Aggies (2-4, 0-0 WAC)
In the first NCAA stats of the season, Utah State was ranked second in the nation in free-throw percentage (83.6) ... Brittany Hagen became the Utah State record holder for career three-pointers last year, and entered her senior season with 83 treys, ranking second in career three-point FG percentage (83-234, .355) ... the Aggies lost to Montana in Missoula on Dec. 5 ... Utah State continues its tour of the Big Sky state, facing Montana State in Bozeman on Dec. 6.