The WAC Tournament will begin March 7 in Reno, Nev., at the Lawlor Events Center. There is no defending WAC Champion with Rice capturing the WAC tournament title during the 2004-05 season. Louisiana Tech won three previous tournament. The Lady Techsters defeated Hawai'i (2001-02), Fresno State (2002-03) and Rice (2003-04).
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XBOX LIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech's Tasha Williams has been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of March 6. This is the final Player of the Week of the 2005-06 season.
Williams, a senior from Kinglsand, Ark., averaged 8.0 points, 9.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals, while leading Louisiana Tech to two victories and the 2006 Western Athletic Conference title. The guard registered only the third triple-double in Louisiana Tech history by recording 10 points, 11 assists and 10 steals in a 91-52 win over Hawai'i Saturday night. It was the first triple-double in the WAC this season. She also had six points, eight assists and six rebounds in a 55-40 win over Idaho earlier in the week. Williams' 10 steals tied the Louisiana Tech single game record which she already owned and her 11 assists were a career high. Both the 10 steals and the 11 assists were a individual season best by a WAC player this year. The 10 steals was one shy of the WAC record.
Other nominees included: Amy Parrish of Fresno State scored 37 points with 17 rebounds as the Bulldogs secured the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament ... Leilani Mitchell of Idaho averaged 17.0 points as the Vandals split game to end the regular season ... Jenean Ford of New Mexico State scored a career-high 24 points in an overtime loss to Hawai'i.
FRESNO STATE'S SWEARENGIN NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR Senior Mirenda Swearengin captured the 2005-06 WAC Player of the Year honor. She is the first Bulldog to win the honor since the WAC starting sponsoring women's basketball for the 1990-91 season. Louisiana Tech had won the last for Players of the Year (Cheryl Ford 2001-02, 2002-03; Amisha Carter, 2003-04; Tasha Williams, 2004-05). Swearengin and Amy Parrish were both named to the first team. It was the first time in Bulldog history that two players were named to the all-WAC first team.
Swearengin, who transferred from New Mexico Junior College prior to the start of last year, is averaging 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 20 games played. She has scored in double-figures 15 times and ranks second on the club in assists (83) and steals (49).
LOUISIANA TECH CAPTURES WAC TITLE Nineteenth-ranked Louisiana Tech used a 14-0 run over the final 9:11 of the game to down Idaho 55-40 before 876 fans at the Cowan Spectrum on Feb. 28. With the victory, Tech clinched at least a share of its fifth-straight Western Athletic Conference title, its 14th-straight regular season conference title counting its days in the Sun Belt Conference. The Lady Techsters captured the title out-right with a win against Hawai'i on March 4.
MONDAY MADNESS Beginning with the 2006 NCAA championship, the women's selection show moves to Monday. ESPN will televise the women's selection show Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m. (ET). NCAAsports.com will have brackets up immediately after the selections are announced. Game times will be announced shortly thereafter.
For the second-straight season, there will be pre-determined sites for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Fresno State was one of the chosen sites. This season is the 25th anniversary of the women's basketball tournament. The Final Four travels to Boston, Mass., for its silver anniversary. On April 4-6, Harvard University and Northeastern University will host the Final Four. All games will be played at the FleetCenter, home of the Boston Celtics.
BANNER YEAR FOR WOLF PACK The third year under head coach Kim Gervasoni has been a breakout year. The 12 wins this season are more than in her first two years combined. The 8-8 WAC record is the Wolf Pack's most since winning nine during the 2000-01 season. Nevada has earned the No. 5 seed in the WAC Tournament. The Wolf Pack earned their first WAC Tournament win last season, defeating Hawai'i, 65-61.
FRESNO STATE MATCHES MOST LEAGUE WINS Fresno State's 14 WAC wins represents a school record for most conference victories in a single-season. The 1986-87 squad finished 12-6 overall in the PCAA, good for fourth place. In addition, Fresno State's second-place finish is also a program-best. The Bulldogs have never won a conference championship, regular-season or conference tournament.
LOUISIANA TECH MOVES UP IN THE POLLS For the third-straight week, Louisiana tech has moved up in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Louisiana Tech moved up to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Lady Techsters climbed up to No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Lady Techsters (23-4, 15-1 WAC) are winners of 12-straight and 18 of their last 19. Tech entered the AP Top 25 Poll four weeks ago at No. 25 and jumped up one spot to 19th last week.
APPROACHING RECORDS Idaho's Leilani Mitchell is nearing a WAC record. She currently has a steal average of 4.00 spg. The WAC record for a season is 3.79 spg by Tomika Young of BYU during the WAC's first season the 1990-91 season. She has 108 total steals through 27 games. In WAC games, her average is 3.92 which would place her third in the league.
WINNING AWAY FROM THE ISLAND Hawai'i has gone 7-3 on the road this year and won four-straight WAC road games for the first time in five years. The last time Hawai'i accomplished that feat was when they won at UTEP, Tulsa , Fresno State, Nevada and SMU in 2001. UH??s win percentage is actually better on the road (.700) then it is at home (.647). The Rainbow Wahine were 5-3 in WAC road games and finished 4-4 in WAC home games.
TUNE IN All eight games this week can be viewed on wac.tv. On the wacsports.com web site there is a LIVE VIDEO link to each game. The games this week can be viewed for free.
WINNING WITH WIGGINS Fresno State has posted a 29-10 overall record under the direction of interim head coach Adrian Wiggins, who has been at the helm of the `Dogs since Feb. 9, 2005. Of the 29 victories under Wiggins, 23 have been of the double-digit variety. In addition, Fresno State has also posted a 19-1 record in games played at the Save Mart Center under Wiggins' guidance. The only loss came at the hands of then-No. 10 Arizona State in the form of a 68-52 setback. Fresno State is 1-2 in postseason games with Wiggins at the helm.
NEVADA'S FITZGERALD HAVING STELLAR ROOKIE CAMPAIGN Freshman guard Brandi Fitzgerald, who leads the team in scoring, had her first double-double for Nevada with 17 points and a career-best 11 rebounds versus. San Jose State. She topped that in scoring with 23 points against Boise State and now has 15 double-figure scoring performances and one double-digit rebounding effort.
UTAH STATE SET TO PLAY IN THIRD TOURNAMENT Utah State will be playing in a conference tournament for the third-straight year after resuming its program ahead of the 2004 season. In its inaugural season in 2004, the Aggies posted a 5-22 overall record, including a 5-13 conference mark to finish tied for eighth place in the Big West. USU then lost its opening round game to Long Beach State 55-48. Last year USU was sixth in the league with a 9-9 record and a 14-14 overall mark. USU was then upended by UC Irvine 75-63 in the first round of the Big West Tournament.
WAC IN THE RPI In both the Basketball News and CollegeRPI.com the WAC has an RPI of 15. Louisiana Tech, Fresno State and Hawai'i are the only teams in the WAC with an RPI under 100. In Basketball News, the Lady Techsters have an RPI of 34, while Louisiana Tech has an RPI of 35 in CollegeRPI.com. Fresno State has an RPI of 79 in Basketball News and 77 in CollegeRPI.com. Hawai'i has an RPI of 93 in both.
WAC TOURNAMENT TICKETS AVAILABLE Individual session tickets for the 2006 WAC Basketball Tournament at the Lawlor Events Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, March 7-11, go on sale Friday at the Lawlor Ticket Office only. Ticket office hours are 10:00 a.m. (PST) to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. They may also be purchased online at www.tickets.com.
Men's individual session prices are $35 for the lower concourse (limited availability), $28 for the upper center concourse and $19 for all other seats (ends and upper concourse). All women's individual session tickets are $10 with all seats general admission. Each individual session is two games except Saturday's championship games, with the women's championship (first session) at noon costing $10 and the men's championship (second session) at 6:00 p.m. available for $28. Those purchasing a men's championship game ticket may also use that for the women's championship game.
All-session tickets for the conference tournament are still available. Seats in the lower bowl are priced at $150 (limited availability), for the upper bowl tickets are $125, and seats behind the baskets cost $90. Those may be purchased at the Nevada Athletics Ticket Office between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
VANDALS AMONG NCAA LEADERS Idaho's Leilani Mitchell moved up to second in the nation in steals, averaging 4.0 spg. Mitchell is also 20th in assists per game (5.5).
WAC PLAYERS AMONG NATION'S LEADERS San Jose State's Amber Jackson is 16th in the nation in field goal percentage (.578). Louisiana Tech's Aarica Ray-Boyd is 14th (2.9) in three-point field goals made per game, while Boise State's Nadia Begay is 19th (2.7). Fresno State's Chantella Perera is 27th (.863) in free throw percentage. Hawai'i's Brittany Grice is 13th in the nation in blocks (2.6 bpg).
ESPN TO CELEBRATE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Beginning Monday, Jan. 9, through the National Championship game on April 4, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will count down the 25 most memorable moments from the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament's 25-year history. A 30-second vignette will air during 25 women's basketball telecasts in ranking order, starting with No. 25 during the Big 12/Big Ten Challenge featuring Oklahoma at Ohio State on January 9 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Moments ranked 24-11 will continue to be announced during regular-season women's basketball coverage through Selection Monday on March 13. The moments and rankings were determined by an industry-wide blue ribbon panel consisting of notable players, coaches, journalists and executives from the NCAA and WBCA.
One of the featured moments:
Final Four (Norfolk, Va.) 1982
The Lady Techsters win the first-ever NCAA title, beating Cheyney, 76-62. Janice Lawrence is named first-ever Most Outstanding Player as a sophomore.
IDAHO SETS WAC RECORD Idaho set a WAC and Idaho record with 40 three-point field goal attempts against Oklahoma State. Idaho was 10-of-40 (.250) in the game.
AGAINST THE BEST The WAC won its first game against a ranked team when Louisiana Tech defeated No. 25 Mississippi. Louisiana Tech is 1-1 against ranked teams with a loss to No. 1 Tennessee. New Mexico State is 0-2 with two losses to New Mexico. Fresno State is 0-2 against ranked teams with Pac-10 losses to then- No. 13 Stanford and No. 10 Arizona State. Hawai'i has one loss to a ranked team with a loss to then-No. 22 USC.
WAC JOINS NCAA CELEBRATION OF WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS The Western Athletic Conference has joined the NCAA national office in celebrating the 2005-06 season as the 25th anniversary of NCAA Women's Championships.
The NCAA is encouraging the more that 1,020 member colleges, universities and conferences to recognize the 2005-06 season as the 25th anniversary of women's championships. Recognition can include special campus activities, banners and signage, promotional events, program inserts, the naming of anniversary teams, and special awards. Activation kits were provided to all NCAA Division I, II and III colleges and universities in an effort to assist with the initiatives on their campuses.
Boise State Broncos (14-14, 6-10 WAC)
Head coach Gordy Presnell has had a very impressive first season with the Broncos ... Boise State has already won four more games than last year and two more WAC games, finishing 10-19 overall and 4-14 in the WAC last season ... the last time the Bronc os ended the season at or above .500 was in the 1999-00 season when Boise State finished 14-14, 7-7 in the Big West ... guard Jessica Thompson was named to the all-Freshmen team ... Thompson was 11th in scoring in WAC games (12.1 ppg) and sixth in steals (2.27 spg) ... the Broncos were one of the first teams to secure its seed in the WAC Tournament, earning the No. 6 ... they will face No. 3 seed Hawai'i.
Fresno State Bulldogs (23-6, 14-2 WAC)
Fresno State has earned No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament and will face No. 7 seed New Mexico State on Wednesday, Mar. 8 at 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals ... the Bulldogs have won four-straight and nine of their last 10 .... the win against Nevada last week was Fresno State??s 22nd win of the year, matching the program record for victories in a season ... Fresno State's second-place WAC showing is the best conference finish in school history ... in addition, 17 of the Bulldog's 22 wins have come by double-digit margins ... seniors Mirenda Swearengin and Amy Parrish were named to the all-WAC first team ... Swearengin was also named WAC Player of the Year.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (18-8, 9-7 WAC)
UH finished third in the WAC standings, its highest finish since the 2001-02 season ... Hawai'i was picked to finish fifth in the preseason and has came on strong in the second half of the WAC season, going 7-2 in its last nine games and 4-1 away from home ... Hawai'i has been ousted in its opening WAC tournament game in each of the last two seasons, losing in the first round both times, including a 59-56 loss in the
2004 WAC Tournament in Fresno, Calif. ... the Broncos won on a last second three-pointer in what turned out to be the final game for long-time head coach Vince Goo ... Hawai`i is 8-9 (.471) all-time in nine appearances in the WAC Tournament.
Idaho Vandals (9-18, 5-11 WAC)
Idaho's win over Boise State ended a five-game losing streak and was the second win for the Vandals in the last 12 games ... the Vandals have struggled away from home this season, holding a combined 2-14 record in
games played outside of Moscow ... Mike Divilbiss has never had a season with less than 10 wins in his four previous seasons at Idaho ... Idaho has just nine seasons in 31 years with less than 10 wins. ... Leilani Mitchell is on pace to set the WAC record for single-season steals average ... her current average of 4.00 is third in the nation and higher than the previous record of 3.79 set by BYU's Tomika Young during the WAC??s inagural season (1990-91).
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (23-4, 15-1 WAC)
Louisiana Tech clinched its fifth-straight WAC title, its 14th-straight regular season conference title counting its days in the Sun Belt Conference ... the Lady Techsters are also the top seed in the WAC Tournament ... Chris Long earned WAC Coach of the Year honors ... Long was named the fourth head coach in the history of the program on April 8 ... he guided Tech back into the Top 25 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls after the Lady Techsters fell out in December of last season ...Tech had one player earned first team honors and three named to the second team.
Nevada Wolf Pack (12-16, 8-8 WAC)
Nevada has won nine of their last 13 games and finished with the second-best record in six years as a WAC member ... freshman Brandi Fitzgerald was named the Newcomer of the Year and was joined by freshman teammate Dellena Criner on the WAC all-Freshman team .... Fitzgerald led the team in scoring and steals and was second in rebounding and minutes played ... fifth-seeded Nevada will take on fourth-seeded San Jose State in the quarterfinals ... Nevada is 8-19 against San Jose State ... the Spartans won the meeting in Reno earlier this year, 64-56, as well as last week's 53-48 contest in San Jose.
New Mexico State Aggies (8-19, 5-11 WAC)
The Aggies wrapped up the seventh seed and a bye to the quarterfinals when Fresno State defeated Nevada on March 4 ... the Aggies suffered a pair of 16-point losses to Fresno State this season, falling 68-52 on the road January 12 and 77-61 at the Pan American Center on January 26 ... NMSU is 3-4 all-time against Fresno State and claimed its last win in the series November 26, 2000 in Fresno by a 75-57 score ... last season, the Aggies played in the Sun Belt losing to Florida International in their first game.
San Jose State Spartans (13-14, 8-8 WAC)
Lamisha Augustine scored in double figures in 25 of the 27 games she played during the season ... Amber Jackson and Augustine were both named to the all-WAC first team and Augustine was named to the all-WAC defensive team ... Augustine and Jackson are tied for first in the WAC in scoring average with Idaho's Emily Faurholt ... the trio are averaging 17.4 ppg ... Jackson is first in the WAC in rebounding averaging 9.7 rpg ... the Spartans will take on host school, Nevada in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... San Jose State swept the Wolf Pack in the two previous meetings this season.
Utah State Aggies (3-24, 2-14 WAC)
Utah State enters the WAC Tournament as the ninth seed and will meet eighth-seeded Idaho in the opening round game at Reno, Nev. on Tuesday ... the winner will advance to meet top-seeded Louisiana Tech ... USU is playing in its first WAC Tournament as this is the first year for USU in the league ... Utah State played in the Big West Tournament in each of the past two seasons, losing in the first round to Long Beach State 55-48 in 2004 and 75-63 to UC Irvine last season ... USU and Idaho split the season series this year with Idaho winning 54-51 in Moscow in January and the Aggies posting a 63-53 win over the Vandals in Logan in February.