DENVER ? Idaho guard/forward Derisa Taleni has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 5-11. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for Taleni.
The junior from Santa Clara, Calif., averaged 17.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while leading the Vandals to three straight WAC wins for the first time in school history. In a 71-63 win over Utah State, Taleni scored a WAC season-high 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range. She also pulled down seven rebounds. Taleni then scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win at San Jose State. She rounded out the week with eight points, four rebounds and three assists in a 55-52 win at Fresno State, ending the Bulldogs’ 15-game WAC home winning streak.
Other nominees included: Boise State’s Heather Pilcher scored a game-high 20 points in a loss at Fresno State ... Hayley Munro of Fresno State averaged 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds as the Bulldogs went 2-1 ... Louisiana Tech’s Whitney Jones averaged 22.5 points and 6.5 boards as the Techsters went 1-1 on the week ... Cherlanda Franklin of Nevada averaged a double-double ? 12.5 points and 11.0 rebounds ? in a pair of wins ... New Mexico State’s Madison Spence averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds ... Natalie White of San Jose State shot 83 percent from three-point range on the week ... Utah State’s Danyelle Snelgro averaged 12.0 points and 8.3 assists in three games last week and became the Aggies’ all-time steals leader.