PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? New Mexico State’s Sherrell Neal has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 1. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor this season for the junior.
Neal, a forward from Phoenix, Ariz. (Alhambra) led the New Mexico State women’s team to a 71-55 victory over Colorado State in the final game of 2006. Neal had her fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. The Phoenix, Ariz., native was perfect from the line, 4-for-4, with three blocks and three assists along with a pair of steals.
Others nominated: Tierre Wilson of Fresno State had 18 points in the Bulldogs’ road win over Pepperdine ... Janevia Taylor of Hawai?i averaged 16.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg ... Dellena Criner of Nevada scored 26 points with four assists and five steals in a pair of Wolf Pack games. She also had nine rebounds and was 8-of-11 from the free throw line in the games, which Nevada split ... Alisha Hicks of San Jose State led the Spartans to a split of two games last week, providing a double-double in San Jose State’s first win of the season at Pacific with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds ... Taylor Richards of Utah State had 11 points and six assists in the Aggies’ 1-1 showing at the Iowa State Classic, earning her all-tournament honors.
WAC ACTION BEGINS THIS WEEK ? The 17th season of WAC women’s basketball begins tonight. Louisiana Tech has won all five regular season titles since joining the league for the 2001-02 season. Louisiana Tech will face San Jose State in San Jose on CSTV on Jan. 4. The Lady Techsters, the defending WAC Champions, will also travel to Hawai?i to start their sixth season in the WAC. Utah State, which has already surpassed last season’s win total, will host Boise State on Jan. 4 before hosting Fresno State on Jan. 6. New Mexico State, which is beginning its second season in the WAC, will travel to Hawai?i and San Jose State.
ON THE TUBE ? The game between San Jose State and Louisiana Tech can be seen live on College Sports Television on Jan. 4. The contest will be televised live on CSTV with Ann Schatz and former Lady Techster All-American Teresa Weatherspoon providing the play-by-play and color commentary.
UTAH STATE PASSES LAST SEASON’S WIN TOTAL ? Utah State surpassed last season’s win total with the Aggies’ fourth win of the year, knocking off Colgate, 58-42, at the Iowa State American Family Insurance Cyclone Classic at ISU’s Hilton Coliseum.The 42 points was the fewest points allowed by the USU defense since 1984 and was the Aggies’ largest margin of victory since 2005. The win improves Utah State to 4-8 on the season, the program’s fourth year back since being discontinued from 1987-2003. Last year the Aggies were 3-24. USU held Southern Idaho to 44 points in a 78-44 Aggie win on Nov. 27, 1984, and then the Utah State beat Southern Idaho again, 96-39, nine days later on Dec. 3, 1984.
HAWAI?I’S TAYLOR REACHES MILESTONE ? With her third point against Chattanooga (Dec. 16), senior guard Janevia Taylor achieved a lofty milestone. The native of Pasadena, Calif., reached the 1000-point mark, becoming just the 15th player in school history to accomplish the feat. Her 1000th point came at the 10:33 mark of the first half. Taylor now stands 13th on the all-time scoring list with 1,046 career points. She needs 12 points to surpass Jade Abele for the 12th spot and 22 points to crack the school’s top ten.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS ? Idaho freshman post Katie Madison had a stellar holiday season. During December, Madison averaged 21.8 points per game, including have four-straight 20 point games. She also averaged 8.8 rebounds per game. She ended the month shooting .564.
Against Eastern Washington on Nov. 29, Madison scored a WAC-high 35 points in the win. Madison is first in the WAC in scoring (20.1) and rebounding (9.6). She is also leading the WAC in field goal percentage, shooting .549.
LA TECH GETS TRANSFER FROM BAYLOR ? Former West Monroe High School standout Whitney Jones enrolled at Louisiana Tech and will join the Lady Techster basketball family, according to head coach Chris Long Monday.
Jones, a 5-foot-5 guard who originally signed with the Baylor Bears and played in eight games this season before suffering a stress fracture, will have three years of eligibility remaining and will be eligible to begin practicing as soon as she is cleared physically. She will be eligible to play Nov. 15.
VANDALS LOSE KEY COMPONENT ? Idaho senior Karly Felton will miss the remainder of her senior season after tearing her 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.
RICHARDS SECOND ON USU CAREER ASSISTS LIST ? Junior guard Taylor Richards now has 240 assists for her career, currently in second-place on USU’s Career Assist List, but closing in fast on the top spot. Pam Shirley (1977-79) holds the Aggies’ career record with 245 assists.
SAN JOSE STATE WINS FIRST GAME ? The San Jose State University women’s basketball team used a 20-0 second-half run to come back from a 14-point deficit and top non-conference foe University of the Pacific, 65-56, at the Alex G. Spanos Center on Dec. 27.
Coming off just one practice following a five-day break for Christmas, the Spartans put their largest run of the season together to close a season-long four-game road stretch with their first win of 2006-07. San Jose State allowed just two points over the final 10-plus minutes of the contest and closed on a 25-2 bulge.
Brittany Powell and Alisha Hicks produced the first two Spartan double-doubles of the year. Powell finished with game highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs, while Hicks contributed 17 points and a career-high 11 boards.
San Jose State improved to 1-12 while dropping Pacific to 6-7. The result gives Spartan interim head coach Derrick Allen the first victory of his coaching career.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS ? The WAC had several key non-conference matchups this season. WAC teams played 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 (9-4, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State is 1-4 in WAC openers since joining the conference for the 2001-02 season ... they have lost two-straight openers entering Thursday’s game at Utah State ... their only victory was on Jan. 2, 2004 at home over UTEP, a member of the WAC at that time, by the score of 69-59 ... the last two-seasons have seen the Broncos open on the road to begin WAC play losing at UTEP in overtime 71-69 on New Year’s Day of 2005, followed by last year’s 75-61 defeat at Louisiana Tech on Jan. 5, 2006.
Fresno State Bulldogs (7-6, 0-0 WAC)
Last season, the Bulldogs won their first six WAC games ... Fresno State had a three-game winning streak stopped at home against No. 12 Stanford ... this week, the Bulldogs start WAC play on the road against Idaho and Utah State ... last season, Fresno State was 4-0 against the Aggies and the Vandals ... junior Tierre Wilson is third in the WAC, averaging 15.0 points per game ... Wilson is also fourth in shooting percentage (.434) ... senior Chantella Perera is first in the WAC in shooting percentage (.877), which places her 27th in the nation.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (6-6, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i caps a six-game homestand with a pair of conference matchups ... the Rainbow Wahine open its WAC season versus New Mexico State on Thursday, Jan. 4, before taking on defending WAC champs Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Jan. 6 ... the Rainbow Wahine, who finished third
in last year’s WAC standings aim for its first conference title since the 1997-98 season ... Hawai?i was picked third by the media and fourth by the coaches in a pair of preseason conference polls conducted in October.
Idaho Vandals (3-8, 0-0 WAC)
Freshman post Katie Madison continues to lead the WAC in scoring, averaging 20.2 ppg, which places her 15th in the nation ... Madison is also first in rebounds, averaging 9.5 ... the freshman sensation also leads the league in field goal percentage (.551) ... Idaho opens conference play as they host Fresno State, Thursday, and Nevada, Saturday ... the Bulldogs come into the game in second place in the WAC after non league play ... Nevada is currently tied for third in the league, with Hawai?i, both of whom have 6-6 records.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (5-8, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech will open defense of its five consecutive WAC regular season champion belts Thursday when the Lady Techsters visit San Jose State ... the contest will be televised live on CSTV with Ann Schatz and former Lady Techster All-American Teresa Weatherspoon providing the play-by-play and color commentary ... Louisiana Tech has won three of its last four games with the lone loss coming Saturday against LSU in a game that the Lady Techsters led the sixth-ranked Tigers at the half.
Nevada Wolf Pack (6-7, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada looks to break a two-game losing streak as it starts conference action ... the Wolf Pack look to get out to a faster start then they did last season ... during the 2005-06 season, Nevada lost its first four WAC games ... Nevada is fourth in the nation in steals, averaging 14.1 steals per game ... sophomore Dellena Criner is leading the defensive charge ... Criner is first in the WAC in steals, averaging 2.85 spg ... she has 37 steals in 13 games this season ... senior Traci Graham is third in the WAC in steals, averaging 2.31 spg.
New Mexico State Aggies (5-7, 0-0 WAC)
The NMSU basketball team ended 2006 and the non-conference schedule on a high note with a 71-55 win against Colorado State, Dec. 29, in Las Cruces ... the Aggies had three players in double-digits with junior forward Sherell Neal leading the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds ... junior forward Anikia Jawara posted 17 points while senior guard Cecilia Russell-Nava was 4-for-8 from 3-point range for 16 points ... Russell-Nava is third in the nation in three-point field goals per game, averaging 3.3 per game.
San Jose State Spartans (1-13, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State begins the 2006-07 WAC season on Thursday, January 4, having gone 5-5 in league openers over the 10 years since it left the Big West Conference to become a member of the WAC ... the Spartans have won their last five WAC openers in a row, with victories at UTEP (73-48), at home against Boise State (69-64), at Nevada (70-63), against Nevada (76-63), and last year at Utah State (63-51). SJSU is 2-2 in WAC openers at home.
Utah State Aggies (4-8, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State opens its second season of WAC action, as well as kicking off a three-game homestand when the Aggies host the top two teams in the WAC standings this weekend ... USU opens the weekend by facing league-leading Boise State (9-4) on Thursday, Feb. 4 ... the Aggies return to the court on Thursday, Feb. 6 to take on second-place Fresno State (7-6) ... both games tip off at 7 p.m. (MT) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270) ... USU junior guard Taylor Richards is within five assists of the Utah State career record.