WAC GOES 3-4 IN SEASON OPENERS LAST WEEK
Teams of the Western Athletic Conference officially opened play last week, picking up four wins with six losses. The WAC went 3-4 in season openers last week. Boise State led the way with a pair of wins over Loyola Marymount and Montana. New Mexico State went 1-0 with a road victory over UC Irvine, and Nevada also picked up a win over Santa Clara.
BOISE STATE’S HARRIS NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Boise State’s Tasha Harris has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 12. This is the first WAC Player of the Week of the season.
Harris, a junior forward from Longmont, Colo. (Skyline), led the Boise State women’s basketball team to an opening weekend sweep with home wins over Loyola Marymount (71-67) and Montana (70-64). Harris started both games at the point for the Broncos where she led the team in scoring each night. She recorded 17 points, four rebounds, shot 50 percent (6-12) from the floor, 40 percent (2-5) from beyond the arc, and 75 percent (3-4) from the foul line against LMU on Friday. The junior guard then recorded a career-high 25 points against Montana on Sunday to go with three boards and three assists while shooting 52.9 percent (9-17) from the field and 66.7 percent from the charity stripe.
On the week, she averaged 21 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and shot 51.7 percent from the floor, 27.3 percent from three-point range, and 69.2 percent from the free throw line in 32.5 minutes of action per game.
Other nominees included: Senior guard Tierre Wilson of Fresno State led the Bulldogs in scoring with 21 points in a near upset of No. 13 California ... Senior forward Sherell Neal became the 16th New Mexico State women’s basketball player to score over 1,000 career points in the Aggies season opener on Nov. 9, when she scored 19 points to lift NMSU to a 66-51 victory over UC Irvine ... Utah State senior guard Taylor Richards led the Aggies with 18 points and six rebounds against Pacific on Friday night.
NEW MEXICO STATE’S NEAL REACHES 1,000 POINT MARK
Senior forward Sherell Neal became the 16th New Mexico State women’s basketball player to score over 1,000 career points in the Aggies season opener Nov. 9, when she led the team to a 65-61 victory at UC Irvine. Neal now has 1,004 points which, ranking her first among active players in the Western Athletic Conference. Neal had 19 points off of 8-of-12 shooting from the field and pulled down 11 rebounds. She made the team’s only 3-pointer in the game and added a block and a steal. Neal currently stands in fourth place on the school’s career block list, two shy of moving into third place and she sits in fourth place all-time in rebounds per game. Neal’s double-double was the 26th of her career and was her 11th consecutive game with 10-plus rebounds and 10-plus points, dating back to last season.
WATCH OUT FOR THE WAC
With six of the top 10 scorers returning from the 2006-07 season, the Western Athletic Conference is set for another exciting women’s basketball season. Katie Madison of Idaho (19.1) and Sherell Neal of New Mexico State (15.7) return as the top two scorers from just a season ago. The WAC has several key non-conference matchups this season. WAC teams could play at least 18 teams that advanced to either the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season. WAC teams will face one team that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen (Arizona State), one team that reached the Final Four (LSU), and Louisiana Tech will face defending national champion Tennessee.
BOISE STATE FAVORED IN PRESEASON POLLS
Boise State, the 2006-07 Western Athletic Conference regular season co-champion and tournament title winner, was selected as the favorite by both the coaches and the media in the WAC preseason polls. The Broncos received seven of the nine first-place votes in the coaches poll and nine of the 15 top votes in the media poll.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED
Along with the preseason polls, the coaches and media also voted on preseason all-WAC teams. Both the coaches and media selected Boise State junior guard Jessica Thompson, the 2007 WAC Tournament MVP, as the WAC’s preseason Player of the Year. Thompson was also selected to both the coaches and media’s first team all-WAC.
In the coaches poll, junior Nevada guard Dellena Criner and Hawai’i senior forward Tanya Smith, 2006-07 first team all-WAC honorees, also earned spots on the preseason team. New Mexico State forward Sherell Neal and Fresno State guard Tierre Wilson round out the first team. Second-team selections include Shanavia Dowdell (Louisiana Tech), Brandi Fitzgerald (Nevada), Tasha Harris (Boise State), Katie Madison (Idaho) and Taylor Richards (Utah State).
The media’s all-WAC team included Thompson, Criner, Neal, Madison, and Wilson.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2008 WAC TOURNAMENT
Lac Cruces and New Mexico State University will host the 2008 WAC Tournament, March 11-15. It will be the second year in a row that the event will be held at the Pan American Center. The tournament features all nine men’s and women’s teams. Boise State defeated host New Mexico State in last year’s tournament championship game, 49-46.
RETURNING STAT LEADERS
Six of the top 10 scorers return for the 2007-08 season, including the top two scorers, Katie Madison of Idaho (19.1) and Sherell Neal of New Mexico State (15.7). Also returning is Nevada’s Dellena Criner who was fourth in scoring (14.6) and Tierre Wilson who as fifth in scoring (14.4). Boise State’s Jessica Thompson, who was seventh in scoring, averaging 13.7 ppg also returns along with New Mexico State’s Anikia Jawara who was eighth (13.1). Seven of the top 10 rebound leaders return. Neal is the leading returning rebounder with a 10.8 rpg average last season (first in the WAC). Hawai?i’s Tanya Smith was second in rebounding last year, averaging 9.2 rpg. Other returning rebounds leaders are: Idaho’s Katie Madison (8.9), New Mexico State’s Anikia Jawara (7.5), San Jose State’s Brittany Powell (6.4), Fresno State’s Tierre Wilson (6.4) and Idaho’s Sara Dennehy (6.4).
LETTERWINNER/STARTER CAPSULE
Nevada returns the most starters, returning all five. Boise State and Hawai?i both return four starters. Idaho returns the fewest with two. Following is a list of teams, the number of letterwinners returning and lost and starters returning and lost.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
The WAC has several key non-conference matchups this season. WAC teams could play at least 18 teams that advanced to either the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season. WAC teams will face one team that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen (Arizona State), one team that reached the Final Four (LSU) and Louisiana Tech will face defending national champion, Tennessee.
Games vs. 2006-07 Postseason Teams:
No. 13 California def. Fresno State, 83-79, Nov. 9
Oregon def. San Jose State, 67-32, Nov. 10
Boise State def. Montana, 67-61, Nov. 11
Washington at Hawai?i, Nov. 16
BYU at Fresno State, Nov. 17
Nevada at Gonzaga, Nov. 17
Louisiana Tech at Western Kentucky, Nov. 20
Nevada vs. Stephen F. Austin, Nov. 23
Oklahoma State at Fresno State, Nov. 24
Louisiana Tech at Tennessee, Nov. 26
Utah State at Idaho State, Nov. 28
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING
A total of six players from both the all-WAC first and second-teams will return. Three players will return from the first team, including Nevada’s Dellena Criner, Hawai?i’s Tanya Smith and Boise State’s Jessica Thompson. There is also a trio returning from the second team, including Newcomer of the Year, Katie Madison, from Idaho, New Mexico State’s Sherell Neal and Fresno State’s Tierre Wilson. There are two members of the all-defensive team returning, Nevada’s Criner and New Mexico State’s Neal. Both bring their defensive skills back for the 2007-08 season.