TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (6-3, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State enters the week at 6-3 overall and are coming off three victories last week ... BSU opened with a solid 73-64 win over Oral Roberts in Boise on Monday; followed by a dominating 88-66 win at home Friday night against Washington; and a come from behind 71-64 win at Washington State on Sunday ... Boise State rallied from a 16-point second half deficit at Washington State to defeat the Cougars on the road. Boise State completes a three-game stretch against the Pacific-10 Conference this Wednesday when they travel to Arizona (4-4), followed by their last pre-Christmas game on Saturday when they host Sacramento State ... The Broncos have won three in a row and two straight over the PAC-10 entering this week ... They continued to be led by junior guard Tasha Harris averaging 17.6 points per game followed by Jessica Thompson at 15.6 ppg.
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-6, 0-0 WAC)
Friday’s win at Long Beach not only gave Fresno State its first win of the season but it was also coach Adrian Wiggins 50th win as the coach at Fresno State ... Tierre Wilson is 24 points away from reaching the 1000 point mark for her career. She has also scored in double figures in 28 straight games ... Five of Fresno State’s next six games are against schools from the state of California.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i did not play last week ... The team returns to action this week, hosting the Island Imaging Paradise Classic Dec. 14-17 ... The team hits the hardwood on Friday, Dec. 14 after having a break of 18 days in between games ... The Rainbow Wahine host the Island Imaging Paradise Classic with Tennessee Tech (1-6) and Oregon State (4-2) opening the tournament ... Hawai?i will face Western Carolina at 7 p.m. HT on Friday night ... UH will take on Tennessee Tech on Saturday ... The Rainbow Wahine will wrap up the classic on Monday against Oregon State.
Idaho Vandals (0-9, 0-0 WAC)
Senior Sara Dennehy had her best game this weekend as she scored 11 points with three assists and a pair of blocks ... She was Idaho’s second-leading scorer last season, but missed much of the team’s early practices with a foot injury ... Idaho is averaging nearly twice as many blocks per game as the team did last season and is on pace for a 100-block season as a team ... The Vandals haven’t done that since head coach Mike Divilbiss’ first season in 2001-02 ... Katie Madison currently leads the WAC with a .518 field goal percentage. She finished last season first in the WAC as a freshman with a .496 field goal percentage.
La Tech Lady Techsters (4-3, 0-0 WAC)
Tech entered the week shooting 44 percent from the field as a team, but hit only .329 percent in the two games ... In seven games, Tech has had six different players lead them in scoring (Nastassja Levingston is the lone player to do it twice) ... Tech is in the midst of an 11-day stretch where it plays five games, including three against SEC schools ... In its 62-61 road win over Alabama, Tech trailed by five with less than 50 seconds to play before scoring the final six points of the game (Levingston 4-point play with 43 seconds to play, Dowdell layup with 8.7 secs to play) ... Senior guard April Williams scored a career-high 14 points in Tech’s 67-62 loss to USM.
Nevada Wolf Pack (6-3, 0-0 WAC)
Freshman Shavon Moore recorded her first career double-double on Sunday at UC Riverside, scoring a team-high 15 points and adding 10 rebounds ... Moore joins Marianne Lombardi as the only two Pack players to record a double-double this season ... Brandi Fitzgerald had made all of her free throws this season going 10-for-10 from the line ... Nevada head coach Kim Gervasoni, who picked up her 47th career victory in Nevada’s win at UC Riverside, is now three wins away from winning her 50th career game with Nevada ... Gervasoni is the second winningest coach in Nevada history and would become just the second coach in history to record at least 50 career wins with the Pack.
New Mexico State Aggies (6-2, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State is off until Dec. 16 when they host Wichita State and later Lamar on Dec. 18, capping off a stretch of 29 days where NMSU plays seven out of nine total games at home ... The Aggies lead the conference in scoring defense, field goal percent defense, 3-point field goal percent defense and blocked shots per game ... Three Aggies are scoring 12 or more points per game and all three rank in the top 10 in the conference in scoring.
San Jose Spartans (1-8, 0-0 WAC)
The Spartans went 0-2 last week, falling 89-66 at Cal State Bakersfield before dropping a 74-51 decision at San Francisco ... Natalie White led the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points through the two games ... White scored 13 points against Bakersfield and 11 more against San Francisco ... White also led the team with 15 rebounds on the week, including seven against Bakersfield and eight at San Francisco ... Two other players reached double digits against Bakersfield, including Sayja Sumler (12) and Emily Nichols (11) ... The team will play just one game this week, traveling to play Washington State on Dec. 16.
Utah State Aggies (2-5, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State women’s basketball picked up its second straight win after defeating Northern Arizona, 65-51, Saturday afternoon at NAU’s J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome ... After winning at Eastern Washington last Sunday, 74-55, USU picked up its second straight double-digit win Saturday, which hasn’t been done since 2005 when the Aggies won at Cal Poly, 71-60, and then defeated Pacific, 67-48 ... Utah State is now 12-4 all-time versus NAU ... Three players scored in double-figures for Utah State, as junior guard Danyelle Snelgro led with 13 points and six rebounds ... Senior center Jenny Gross pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go along with eight points and senior guard Taylor Richards recorded a season-high seven assists ... USU rounds out its current four-game road streak at Utah on Saturday.
WAC NOTES
NEVADA’S CRINER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Boise State’s Jessica Thompson has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 10. Thompson, a junior from Temecula, Calif. (Temecula Valley HS), led Boise State to a perfect 3-0 record last week with wins over Oral Roberts, Washington, and Washington State. Thompson fronted the Broncos in the scoring column in all three contests with 17 points against Oral Roberts, a season-high 21 points versus Washington, and 17 at Washington State. Against the Cougars, Thompson recorded 13 second half points to help the Broncos rally from 16 points down with 14:20 to play to take a 71-64 win. The win at WSU marked BSU’s second win over a Pac-10 team on the week. The third-year guard averaged 18.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 3.0 blocks in 29 minutes per game last week. She is now one of two Broncos to record double figure points in all nine games this season. Thompson also shot 44.2 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from long range, and 75 percent from the charity stripe.
Other nominees included: Fresno State senior guard Tierre Wilson scored a career-high 28 points in a 66-55 road win at Long Beach State ... Louisiana Tech sophomore forward Shanavia Dowdell averaged 13.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the Lady Techsters two games last week ... Nevada junior guard Dellena Criner scored in double figures in both of Nevada’s games last week, helping the Pack to a 1-1 record ... New Mexico State senior forward Anikia Jawara scored a season-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting against UTEP last week. Jawara averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two game for the Aggies ... Utah State junior guard Danyelle Snelgro scored 13 points to help the Aggies to a second-straight win.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
Louisiana Tech senior JoKeirra Sneed leads the WAC with five double-doubles this season. Sneed has recorded her five double-doubles in just seven games so far this season. Hawai?i’s Tanya Smith has four double-doubles in only six games, while LTU’s Shanavia Dowdell and New Mexico State’s Sherell Neal each have two. Ten other WAC players have at least one double-double.
CLUTCH PERFORMANCE
In its 62-61 road victory over SEC foe Alabama, Louisiana Tech trailed by five points with less than 50 seconds to play before scoring the final six points of the game to pull off the win. Nastassja Levingston registered a four-point play with 43 seconds left before Shanavia Dowdell hit a layup with 8.7 seconds to play to seal the victory.
DO I HEAR 30
Only two players in the WAC have reached the 30-point plateau this season. Boise State junior Tasha Harris reached the threshold on Nov. 30 against Portland on the road. Nevada guard Dellena Criner is the only other WAC player to reach the mark, scoring 32 in a win over Idaho State at home on Dec. 2. Criner also leads the league with four 20-point performances this season.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Teams from the WAC rank 50th or better in seven team statistical categories and in six individual categories through Dec. 10. Nevada holds the highest national mark in the WAC, ranking fourth in the country in steals per game at 14.6. Utah State is one of the top free throw shooting teams in the nation, ranking 10th in the country with a 78.4 percent team clip from the charity stripe. Boise State ranks 29th in the nation from beyond the arc, averaging 6.8 threes per game. Individually, Utah State’s Danyelle Snelgro ranks eighth in the country from the free throw line with a 94.7 percent mark. Hawai?i center Tanya Smith ranks 19th in the nation in the rebounds per game category, averaging 10.3 per game.
FRESNO’S SUPER SLATE
Fresno State has not made things easy on itself. The Bulldogs have played four of their seven games against teams that made it to last season’s NCAA Tournament. One of the games that Fresno State has played not against a 2007 NCAA Tournament team was on Dec. 1 against Utah--a team that went to last year’s WNIT and who is currently receiving votes in the Top-25.
NEVADA WINS NUGGET CLASSIC
Dellena Criner scored a career-high 32 points while freshman Johnna Ward added 19 as the University of Nevada women’s basketball team defeated Idaho State 74-66 in the championship game of the Nugget Classic on Dec. 2. The win marked the Pack’s second Nugget Classic title under Nevada head coach Kim Gervasoni as the Pack also won the tournament in 2005. Brandi Fitzgerald and Criner (MVP) were each named to the All-Tournament team.
STREAKIN’
Fresno State’s Tierre Wilson has scored double digit points in 18 straight games dating back to the 2006-07 season. Sherell Neal recently had a streak of 16 straight double digit scoring performances come to an end last week. Neal currently has registered five or more rebounds in 32 straight games. Idaho’s Alana Curtis has connected on 14 straight free throws, matching the WAC’s longest streak this season. Fresno’s Wilson has been hot from long range, connecting on a three in eight straight games.
BACK ON TRACK
Fresno State picked up its first victory of the season with a 66-55 win at Long Beach State. Utah State picked up its second win and second-straight victory with a 65-51 win at Northern Arizona.
NEVADA’S SITTON SELECTED AS CANDIDATE FOR LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Navada senior forward Andrea Sitton has been selected as one of the 30 initial candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for the 2007-08 basketball season. The award ? presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student- Athlete of the Year in eight sports ? focuses on the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition. Lowe’s, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will award the winner with a trophy during NCAA Final Four. This season, Sitton has played in all nine of Nevada’s games, helping the Pack to a 6-3 overall mark. She is a three-time Academic All-WAC honoree and has a 3.68 GPA in elementary education, and was named to the Dean’s List in the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007, is scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2008. Sitton has participated in a number of community service activities including, the X-Treme Ability Challenge (2004), Race for the Cure (2004-07), the Heart Walk (2005-06), Renown Seniors’ Day (2007) and the Girl’s and Women in Sports Day (2004-06). She has also been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since 2004 and is a member of several clubs including Interadversity, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and Champions for Christ. From the list of 30 nominees, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in January 2008. Those ten names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote during the NCAA Tournament in March. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient. Prior recipients of the women’s award include Sue Bird of Connecticut (2002), LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State (2003), Alana Beard of Duke (2004), Kendra Wecker of Kansas State (2005), Seimone Augustus of LSU (2006) and Alison Bales of Duke (2007).
NEW MEXICO STATE ENDS 11-YEAR LOSING STREAK TO RIVAL, DEFEATS NEW MEXICO, COACH SPENCE PICKS UP WIN # 50
Down by two at the half, the New Mexico State women’s basketball team outscored New Mexico by 18 points in the second half to end a 22-game losing streak to the Lobos with a 58-42 victory Sunday at the Pan American Center. The 16-point victory ends the 11-year losing streak to the Lobos, who they face again this season on Dec. 21 in Albuquerque. The win in the Rio Grande Rivalry gives New Mexico State 1.5 points and the Aggies now only trail New Mexico 4.5-3.0 in the series. The Aggie men’s basketball team can tie it up with a victory over UNM on Tuesday, Dec. 4 in Las Cruces. Head coach Darin Spence picked up his 50th career victory Sunday and moved into fourth place on the Aggies all-time win list.
COACHING RECORD SCHOOL MARKS
The number 50 seems to be a common mark among coaches in the Western Athletic Conference. Numerous WAC coaches have either picked up win number 50 or are on the verge of 50 wins during their tenure at their respective schools. New Mexico State coach Darin Spence (50-74) picked up his 50th win as an Aggie by defeating in-state rival New Mexico State on Dec. 3. Fresno State’s Adrian Wiggins (50-31) picked up the milestone win at Long Beach State on Dec. 7. Hawai?i head coach Jim Bolla (47-42) now has 47 wins in just over two seasons with the Rainbow Wahine, and needs only three more wins to reach the 50 mark. Louisiana Tech head coach Chris Long (47-21) needs just three more wins to reach 50, while Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell (45-27) is only five short of 50. Head Coach Kim Gervasoni holds a 47-83 mark at Nevada and is only three wins shy of 50.
NMSU’S NEAL AND UH’S SMITH REACH STATISTICAL MILESTONES, OTHERS ON THE THRESHOLD
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 1,083 points which, ranking her first among active players in the Western Athletic Conference. Hawai?i’s Tanya Smith pulled down 41 rebounds in three games at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic Nov. 16-18, helping her reach the 500 career rebound mark. Smith now has 525 career rebounds and is about to break the UH career top-10 list. The 525 career rebounds ranks her second among current WAC players, behind only Neal, who has 784 career boards. Utah State senior Taylor Richards is now just 69 points shy of 1,000. Boise State’s Jackie Lee needs only 26 more rebounds to reach the 500 mark. Lee is also just 18 assists shy of 200.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
Through five weeks this season, WAC teams have played 17 games featuring a 2007 NCAA Tournament or WNIT opponent. WAC teams have also played eight teams that are either ranked in the top-25 or who are receiving votes in the top-25 polls. No. 13 Cal snuck by Fresno State 83-79 on Nov. 9. Six WAC teams have already picked up wins against 2007 postseason teams. Hawai?i defeated 2007 NCAA Tournament team Washington 80-75 on Nov. 16. Boise State downed 2007 WNIT participant Montana 67-61 on Nov. 11, and Nevada defeated 2007 WNIT team Stephen F. Austin 64-55 on Nov. 22 and NCAA Tournament team Idaho State on Dec. 2. NMSU defeated BYU 54-52 in Provo on Dec. 5. BSU took care of Washington 88-66 at home on Dec. 7.
LOUISIANA TECH HOME TO TOUGHEST PLACE TO PLAY IN THE NATION
Louisiana Tech’s home court, the Thomas Assembly Center, is a tough place to play. The Lady Techsters have won over 93 percent of their games played in Ruston since the program’s inception in 1974. La. Tech currently holds a 445-33 all-time record on its home floor.
WAC TEAMS FIND SUCCESS AT THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENTS
Teams from the WAC competed in six different tournaments over the Thanksgiving break. Louisiana Tech went 2-0 at the Lady Tiger Thanksgiving Classic in Memphis, Tenn. The Lady Techsters defeated host Memphis 82-77 to claim the title. Louisiana Tech’s Jo Sneed was named the Classic’s MVP, while teammate Tarkeisha Wysinger was named to the All-Tournament team. Boise State finished second at the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic in Moraga, Calif. The Broncos dropped a 78-63 decision to host St. Mary’s in the championship game. BSU’s Tasha Harris was named to the All-Tournament team. New Mexico State claimed the title of its own tournament, the Thanksgiving Classic in Las Cruces. The Aggies went a perfect 3-0, defeating Kent State, Northern Colorado, and Texas State. Hawai?i placed third at the Jack in the Box Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. The team went 1-2 at the tournament. Nevada went 1-0 at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic and was unable to play the championship game due to a city power outage. Idaho participated in the Husky Classic in Seattle, where the Vandals went 0-2. Despite the two losses at the Husky Classic, Idaho’s Hannah Wells was named to the All-Tournament team.
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.
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:
California def. Fresno State, 83-79, 11/9
Oregon def. San Jose State, 67-32, 11/10
Boise State def. Montana, 67-61, 11/11
Hawai?i def. Washington, 80-75, 11/16
BYU def. Fresno State, 59-87 11/17
Gonzaga def. Nevada, 55-93, 11/17
Western Kentucky def. La. Tech, 87-76, 11/20
Nevada def. Stephen F. Austin, 64-55, 11/22
Oklahoma State def. Fresno State, 87-73, 11/24
Tennessee def. La. Tech, 81-60, 11/26
Idaho State def. Utah State, 69-60, 11/28
Utah def. Fresno State, 82-58, 12/1
New Mexico State def. New Mexico, 58-42, 12/2
Nevada def. Idaho State, 74-66, 12/2
New Mexico State def. BYU, 54-52, 12/5
Boise State def. Washington, 88-66, 12/7
Nevada def. UC Riverside, 62-52, 12/9
Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech, Dec. 13
Idaho at Montana, Dec. 15
Utah State at Utah, Dec. 15
Fresno State at Arizona State, Dec. 17
LSU at Louisiana Tech, Dec. 20
New Mexico State at New Mexico, Dec. 21
Boise State at Idaho State, Dec. 29
BYU at Utah State, Dec. 29
Fresno State at UC Riverside, Dec. 29