NEW MEXICO STATE’S SPENCE EARNS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
New Mexico State guard Madison Spence has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 12-18. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for Spence.
The sophomore from Las Cruces, N.M., averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game while leading the Aggies to a pair of wins. In a win over San Jose State, Spence scored 18 points, dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds. In an upset of reigning champion Fresno State, she just missed a triple-double, finishing with 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Other nominees included: Boise State’s Courtney VanBrocklin averaged 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals ... Marnique Arnold of Fresno State averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as the Bulldogs went 1-1 on the week ... Nevada’s Dellena Criner averaged 17.0 points, 5.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals as the Wolf Pack remained unbeaten in WAC play ... Ana Pares of Utah State averaged 15.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists on the week.
BULLDOGS LEAD NATION IN THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL AVERAGE
In statistics through Jan. 18 games, Fresno State leads the nation in three-point field goals per game, with an average of 9.9 per game. The Bulldogs have had 10 or more treys in 12 of 18 games this season, including a WAC record 16 vs. UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 20.
CRINER BECOMES NEVADA’S ALL-TIME STEALS LEADER
Dellena Criner became Nevada’s all-time steals leader last Wednesday in the team’s win over Utah State. The senior tied Tracy Graham for first place with her 237th career steal at the 9:22 mark of the first half. She took sole possession of the record when she stole the ball from Utah State’s Danyelle Snelgro at the 14:27 mark of the second half. Criner currently has 241 steals, good for ninth in the WAC record books.
NEVADA’S JONES SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
Nevada Brandi Jones became the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau when she hit a three-pointer with 16:59 left in the game at Hawai?i last Friday. Jones is also the seventh player in program history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds as she has 1,001 points and 518 rebounds. This marks just the second time in history the Pack have had two active 1,000 career points scorers on the same roster as Jones joined teammate Dellena Criner (1,417). Chris Starr (1982-86; 2,356 career points) and Kit Larson (1981-85; 1,334 career points) were the other two 1,000 career point scorers on the same roster.
PLAY UP TOUR CONTINUES SUNDAY IN BOISE, HONOLULU and SAN JOSE
The WAC Play Up Tour for women’s basketball continues Sunday in Boise, Idaho, Honolulu, Hawai?i and San Jose, Calif. Boise State hosts Louisiana Tech, Hawai?i hosts Utah State and San Jose State hosts Nevada this Sunday, Jan. 25. WAC staff members will be on site to distribute promotional items. Fans will also have the opportunity to sign up to win a WAC prize pack that includes WAC apparel and other WAC related items. All fans that enter the drawing will be eligible for the grand prize of a WAC Basketball Tournament package. The package includes two tickets to the tournament, airfare and hotel accommodations.
The following are the dates and times of the remaining 2009 Play Up Tour stops. All times are local and subject to change.
Sunday, Jan. 25
Nevada at San Jose State, 2 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Boise State, 2 p.m.
Utah State at Hawai?i, 5 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ? Logan, Utah
Hawai?i at Utah State, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 1 ? Fresno, Calif.
Utah State at Fresno State, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 8 ? Reno, Nev.
Utah State at Nevada, 2 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ? Ruston, La.
Hawai?i at Louisiana Tech, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 15 ? Moscow, Idaho
San Jose State at Idaho, 2 p.m.
Boise State Broncos (9-9, 2-2 WAC)
The Broncos went 1-1 last week, defeating Hawai?i (70-61)before falling 58-44 at Utah State on Friday ... Against Hawaii, the Bulldogs rallied from 11 points down for the victory ... Heather Pilcher had 16 points, while Courtney VanBrocklin finished with 15 vs. the Rainbow Wahine ... Janie Bos posted a double-double ? 10 points and 10 rebounds ? at Utah State ... Boise State averaged just 57.0 points a game last week, 5.4 points below its average heading into the week ... The Broncos rank 49th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (.280) ... Boise State hosts New Mexico State on Friday and Louisiana Tech on Sunday as part of the Play Up Tour.
Fresno State Bulldogs (12-6, 3-2 WAC)
The Bulldogs went 1-1 last week, defeating Louisiana Tech (78-53) before falling at New Mexico State (80-74) ... Hayley Munro and Marnique Arnold led the team with 12 points apiece at Tech ... Arnold led a group of four players in double-digit scoring in the loss at NMSU with 17 points ... Jaleesa Ross, Ashley Walker and LaShay Fears added 15, 14 and 10 points, respectively ... Ross currently ranks fifth all-time at Fresno State in career three-pointers (137) ... Fresno State has hit 10 or more three-pointers in 12 of 18 games this season, including the last five in a row ... The Bulldogs play at Hawai?i on Friday in their only game this week.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (3-14, 0-4 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine went 0-2 last week, falling at Boise State (70-61) and at home to Nevada (69-50) ... Keisha Kanekoa led the team with 18 points against Boise State ... Tara Hittle posted her first double-double of the season ? 10 points and 11 rebounds ? vs. the Broncos ... Kanekoa had a team-high 13 points vs. Nevada ... The Wolf Pack nearly doubled the Rainbow Wahine in rebounds (45-23) ... Hawai?i has won the rebounding battle six times this season, including its three wins ... The Rainbow Wahine continue their three-game homestand when they host Fresno State on Friday and Utah State on Sunday.
Idaho Vandals (6-9, 3-1 WAC)
The Vandals were idle last week ... Idaho is 3-1 in the WAC for just the second time in school history ... The Vandals’ current three-game WAC winning streak is the first in school history ... Prior to this season, Idaho had never won more than one WAC road game in a season ... With three WAC wins, the Vandals have already matched their conference win total from the last two seasons ... Shaena Kuehu has scored in double-digits in five straight games ... The Vandals lead the WAC and rank 22nd nationally with 14.4 personal fouls per game ... Idaho hosts Louisiana Tech on Friday and New Mexico State on Sunday.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (9-9, 2-2 WAC)
The Techsters went 1-1 last week, falling to Fresno State (78-53) and defeating San Jose State (70-53) ... Adrienne Johnson finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. the Bulldogs for her fourth double-double of the season ... Fresno State shot 50 percent against Tech, marking only the 10th time in the last decade that an opponent shot above 50 percent from the field in a game ... Shanavia Dowdell recorded her 10th double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) vs. SJSU ... Tech is 9-0 in games where it shoots 40 percent or better and 0-9 when it doesn’t ... The Techsters travel to Idaho on Friday and Boise State on Sunday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (9-7, 4-0 WAC)
The Pack went 2-0 last week, defeating Utah State (56-49) and Hawai?i (69-50) ... Dellena Criner led Nevada in scoring both games ... Brandi Jones became the ninth player in Nevada history to record 1,000 career points against Hawai?i. She is also the seventh player in program history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds ... Criner became Nevada’s all-time steals leader vs. Utah State. She currently has 241 career steals, which ranks ninth in the WAC record books ... Nevada’s 4-0 start in WAC play marks the team’s best WAC start since joining the conference in 2000 ... Nevada plays at San Jose State on Sunday in its only game this week.
New Mexico State Aggies (6-12, 2-2 WAC)
The Aggies went 2-0 last week, defeating San Jose State (68-51) and Fresno State (80-74) ... Madison Spence averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds ... Spence has scored in double-figures in each of the last five games and has done so 14 times this season ... New Mexico State has forced 62 turnovers in its last three games ... NMSU’s 10 blocked shots against SJSU were the most the team has had in a game this decade ... Niki Holt has blocked five shots in each of her last two games ... The Aggies’ 22 assists vs. Fresno State were a season high ... NMSU plays at Boise State on Friday and at Idaho on Sunday.
San Jose Spartans (2-15, 1-3 WAC)
The Spartans went 0-2 last week, falling at New Mexico State (68-51) and at Louisiana Tech (70-53) ... Against the Aggies, Chasity Shavers had 13 points, while Kelly Blair added 12 ... Blair posted the first double-double of her career at Louisiana Tech, finishing with 17 points and 11 boards ... Shavers also scored 17 points in the loss ... Natalie White was held scoreless in both games last week, going 0-for-9 from the field ... SJSU has had at least one block in every game this season ... Shaunna Ridge leads the WAC and ranks 38th nationally with 2.2 blocked shots per game ... The Spartans play at New Mexico State on Friday and at Louisiana Tech on Sunday.
Utah State Aggies (8-10, 2-3 WAC)
The Aggies went 1-1 last week, falling to Nevada (56-49) before defeating Boise State (58-44) ... Danyelle Snelgro and Ana Pares led Utah State with 11 points apiece in the loss to Nevada ... The win over the Broncos was Utah State’s first since joining the WAC ... Pares scored 20 points to pace the Aggies vs. Boise State ... Nicole Johnson is already fifth in the single season blocks list with 35, four away from fourth place ... The Aggies have played four overtime games this season, the most in the WAC ... Utah State is 6-1 when out-rebounding its opponents ... The Aggies play at San Jose State on Friday and at Hawai?i on Sunday.
NEVADA TO HOST 2009 WAC TOURNAMENT
Reno and the University of Nevada will host the 2009 WAC Tournament, March 10-14. It will be the third time that Nevada has hosted the event. Nevada also hosted the tournament in 2005 and 2006. The tournament features all nine men’s and women’s teams.