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This Week in WAC Women's Basketball - Nov. 10

This Week in WAC Women's Basketball - Nov. 10

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WATCH OUT FOR THE WAC
With seven of the top 10 scorers returning from the 2008-09 season, the Western Athletic Conference is set for another exciting women’s basketball season. Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell (16.1) and Adrienne Johnson (15.5) return as the top two scorers from a season ago. Also returning are Idaho’s Derisa Taleni, who was fourth (14.5) and New Mexico State’s Madison Spence, who was fifth (14.3).

The WAC also has several key non-conference matchups this season. WAC teams will play at least 27 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season.

FRESNO STATE, LOUISIANA TECH FAVORED IN PRESEASON POLLS
Fresno State, the 2008-09 WAC regular season co-champion and tournament title winner, was selected as the favorite by the coaches in the WAC preseason poll. The Bulldogs received five of the nine first-place votes and 60 points to beat out Louisiana Tech for the top spot.

Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech, which shared last year’s WAC regular-season title with Fresno State, was picked to win the title in the media poll. The Lady Techsters received 14 first-place votes, earning 180 points.

2009-10 Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st-Place Votes) Points
1 Fresno State (5)  60
2 Louisiana Tech (3)  58
3 Boise State (1)  53
4 Idaho  39
5 New Mexico State  38
6 Nevada  28
7 Utah State  24
T-8.  Hawai’i  12
T-8.  San Jose State  12

2009-10 Preseason Media Poll
Rank Team (1st-Place Votes) Points
1 Louisiana Tech (14)  180
2 Fresno State (6)  167
3 Boise State (1)  136
4 Idaho  114
5 Nevada  104
6 New Mexico State  100
7 Utah State  72
8 Hawai’i  46
9 San Jose State  26

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 Louisiana Tech senior forward Shanavia Dowdell as the WAC’s preseason Player of the Year.

Joining Dowdell on the first team in the coaches poll was teammate Adrienne Johnson, along with Yinka Olorunnife of Idaho, Jaleesa Ross of Fresno State and Madison Spence of New Mexico State. The second team was comprised of New Mexico State’s Crystal Boyd, Tasha Harris and Jessica Van Hoogen of Boise State, Fresno State’s Hayley Munro and Derisa Taleni of Idaho.

The media’s all-WAC first team included Dowdell, Harris, Johnson, Ross and Spence. Second-team selections included Munro, Olorunnife, Taleni, Van Hoogen and Lydia Whitehead of Utah State.

Preseason Coaches All-WAC Teams
First Team                                                       
Shanavia Dowdell, Sr., F, Louisiana Tech
Tasha Harris, Sr., G, Boise State
Adrienne Johnson, Jr., F, Louisiana Tech
Jaleesa Ross, Jr., G, Fresno State
Madison Spence, Jr., G, New Mexico State

Second Team
Hayley Munro, Jr., G/F, Fresno State
Yinka Olorunnife, Jr., P, Idaho
Derisa Taleni, Sr., G/P, Idaho
Jessica Van Hoogen, Sr., G, Boise State
Lydia Whitehead, Sr., C, Utah State

Preseason Media All-WAC Teams
First Team                                                       
Shanavia Dowdell, Sr., F, Louisiana Tech
Adrienne Johnson, Jr., F, Louisiana Tech
Yinka Olorunnife, Jr., P, Idaho
Jaleesa Ross, Jr., G, Fresno State
Madison Spence, Jr., G, New Mexico State

Second Team
Crystal Boyd, New Mexico State
Tasha Harris, Sr., G, Boise State
Hayley Munro, Jr., G/F, Fresno State
Derisa Taleni, Sr., G/P, Idaho
Jessica Van Hoogen, Sr., G, Boise State

NEVADA TO HOST 2010 WAC TOURNAMENT
Reno and the University of Nevada will host the 2010 WAC Tournament, March 10-13.  It will be the second year in a row and the fourth time Nevada has hosted the event. The Wolf Pack also hosted the tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2009. The tournament features the top eight men’s and women’s teams.

STAT LEADERS BACK
Seven of the top 10 scorers return for the 2009-10 season, including the top two scorers, Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell (16.1) and Adrienne Johnson (15.5). Also returning are Idaho’s Derisa Taleni, who was fourth (14.5), New Mexico State’s Madison Spence, who was fifth (14.3), Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross, who was seventh (13.7), Tech’s Whitney Jones, who was eighth (13.3) and Idaho’s Yinka Olorunnife, who was 10th (12.9).

Nine of the top 10 rebounding leaders from a year ago return. Idaho’s Yinka Olorunnife returns this season after leading the WAC with 11.1 rebounds per game last year. Louisiana Tech’s Dowdell and Johnson were second and third last year at 9.9 and 7.1 per game, respectively. Boise State’s Janie Bos was fourth (6.8), Fresno State’s Hayley Munro was fifth (6.7), Nevada’s Shavon Moore was seventh (6.7), Fresno State’s Joh-Teena Filipe was eighth (6.3), San Jose State’s Shaunna Ridge was ninth (6.3) and Idaho’s Taleni was 10th (6.3).

KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
WAC teams have several key non-conference matchups this season, including at least 27 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season.

Games Against 2008-09 Postseason Teams:
Fresno State at UC Santa Barbara, Nov. 13
Utah at Utah State, Nov. 13
Gonzaga at Idaho, Nov. 16
UC Santa Barbara at Nevada, Nov. 16
Utah State at Portland, Nov. 16
Hawai’i at UC Riverside, Nov. 17
Fresno State at TCU, Nov. 18
Portland State at Boise State, Nov. 19
Arizona State at Hawai’i, Nov. 27
Idaho at Baylor, Nov. 27
Fresno State vs. SMU, Nov. 28
Iowa/West Virginia at Nevada, Nov. 28
East Tennessee State at Hawai’i, Nov. 29
LSU at Louisiana Tech, Dec. 1
New Mexico at New Mexico State, Dec. 2
Louisiana Tech at Baylor, Dec. 5
Utah State vs. Arizona State, Dec. 5
Boise State at Portland, Dec. 6
San Jose State at California, Dec. 9
Portland at Idaho, Dec. 11
Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech, Dec. 12
Idaho at Montana, Dec. 13
Fresno State at West Virginia, Dec. 19
Hawai’i vs. Kansas State, Dec. 19
Hawai’i vs. Virginia Commonwealth, Dec. 20
New Mexico State at New Mexico, Dec. 20
UC Santa Barbara at Idaho, Dec. 28
Stanford at Fresno State, Dec. 30
Louisiana Tech at Texas-San Antonio, Dec. 30

TOP PLAYERS RETURNING
A total of seven players from all-WAC first and second teams will return this season. Three players will return from the first team – Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson and Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross. There are also four players returning from the second team, including Newcomer of the Year Derisa Taleni from Idaho, Fresno State’s Hayley Munro, New Mexico State’s Madison Spence and Idaho’s Yinka Olorunnife. Johnson and Olorunnife are the lone returners from the all-defensive team.

LETTERWINNER/STARTER CAPSULE
Idaho and Nevada return the most starters as each welcome back four. Boise State, Fresno State and Louisiana Tech each return three starters. Hawai’i, New Mexico State, San Jose State, and Utah State each return two starters.
Team LR LL SR SL
Boise State 7 6 2 3
Fresno State 9 2 5 0
Hawai’i 11 3 3 2
Idaho 6 4 4 1
Louisiana Tech 8 4 4 1
Nevada 10 4 2 3
New Mexico State 9 5 4 1
San Jose State 8 3 4 1
Utah State 7 4 3 2

ROSS CLIMBING FRESNO STATE THREE-POINTERS LIST
Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross has 184 three-pointers in her short career, good for fourth place all-time at Fresno State and four away from third place (188). At her current pace, Ross will easily break the Fresno State record of 272.

Boise State Broncos (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State looks to get back on top of the WAC after going 16-15 overall and 9-7 in the league to finish tied for fifth ... Last year, the Broncos lost four starters to various injuries ... Boise State returns two starters, five letterwinners, and two redshirts from last season ... Junior forwards Janie Bos and Melissa Rima are the two returning starters from 2008-09 ... Tasha Harris and Jessica (Thompson) Van Hoogen return for their senior seasons after redshirting in 2008-09 due to injury. Both have scored more than 1,200 career points and are previous WAC Preseason Players of the Year, Harris in 2008 and Van Hoogen in 2007 ... Sophomore Heather Pilcher is the top returning scorer from last season averaging 9.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game ... The Broncos welcomed six newcomers to campus this fall, one junior college transfer and five true freshmen.

Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State returns all five starters from last year’s team that won the WAC regular-season and tournament titles and tied the school record for wins in a season with 24 ... The Bulldogs have made two straight NCAA Tournament appearances ... Jaleesa Ross has hit 184 three-pointers in two years, ranking her fourth on the school’s career list. She needs five treys to move into third place ... Ross earned first-team all-WAC honors last season, while Hayley Munro was a second-team pick ... As a team, Fresno State made the second-most three-pointers in NCAA history last year with 309. The mark was also a school and WAC record ... The eight returning players on this year’s Bulldog team hit 231 of the 309 three-pointers Fresno State made last year ... There are nearly as many players on this year’s roster from Australia (four) as there are from California (five).

Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Dana Takahara-Dias enters her first season as head coach of the Rainbow Wahine. She is the seventh head coach in program history and just the second female head coach for women’s basketball ... Eleven letterwinners, including three starters, return from last year’s team ... Among the returnees are the top four scorers, led by junior Keisha Kanekoa, who averaged 11.0 points per game last season ... The Rainbow Wahine also return senior Dita Liepkalne, who has started 48 games in the past two seasons ... As a team, Hawai’i had the second-highest free throw percentage and third-best field goal percentage among WAC teams last season ... UH adds two recruits to this year’s squad and a transfer who is eligible this year after sitting out last season ... UH opens the season on the road for the first time since 1982, facing UC Riverside, UCLA and Cal State Bakersfield.

Idaho Vandals (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho returns four starters from last year’s team that made a nine-game win improvement and jumped 96 spots in NCAA RPI ... Among the returners are Yinka Olorunnife, who was named second-team all-WAC, and Derisa Taleni, the WAC Newcomer of the Year ... Charlotte Otero led the nation in minutes per game last season at 40.6. She spent a combined 4:00 on the bench during the year and was the only player in the NCAA to average more than 40 minutes per game ... As a team, Idaho attempted 102 more free throws than its opponents and converted 78 more ... The Vandals led the WAC and ranked 15th in the NCAA last season with just 14.1 personal fouls per game ... Shaena Kuehu’s selection to the WAC All-Freshman Team in 2009 marked the third straight year a Vandal has been on the team, as Otero was on the 2007 team and Olorunnife appeared in 2008.

Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Teresa Weatherspoon enters her first full season as head coach ... Louisiana Tech captured a share of the WAC regular-season title last year after winning its last seven WAC games, including an 80-62 win at WAC co-champion Fresno State ... The regular-season title was the program’s seventh in its eight-year membership in the league ... Shanavia Dowdell returns to lead the Lady Techsters after earning WAC Player of the Year honors as a junior ... The Techsters were the only team with two first-team all-WAC honorees last year in Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson ... Dowdell and Johnson are two of four starters returning for the Lady Techsters along with Tiawana Pringle and Whitney Jones ... Louisiana Tech also welcomes three newcomers to this year’s team.

Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada returns two starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s squad that tied the program record for most overall wins (18), most conference wins (10) and made the program’s first-ever appearance in the WAC Tournament title game ... The Wolf Pack will be led by Shavon Moore, who has the most double-doubles (5) of any active player on the roster ... Last year, the Wolf Pack recorded the program’s first-ever win over a Top 25 school with an 85-82 win over No. 7/8 Louisville ... Nevada opened WAC play 7-0, the program’s best-ever start in conference play and the second-longest win streak in program history ... The Wolf Pack also went 6-0 in January, marking the first time a team went undefeated through a month in program history ... Nevada led the league in steals for the third straight season with 325 ... Nevada ended last year going 13-4 at home.

New Mexico State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies led the WAC in free throw percentage last year, shooting 70.4 percent ... NM State returns four starters and 74 percent of its scoring from a year ago ... Madison Spence was the fifth leading scorer in the WAC as a sophomore and earned second team all-WAC honors. She was also named a 2009 Player Making the Buzz by the Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the top point guards in the nation ... Crystal Boyd, a transfer from Texas who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations, has one year of eligibility available for the 2009-10 season and will be a key contributor for the Aggies ... Tabytha Wampler and Kaitlyn Soto return after being named to the 2009 WAC All-Freshman team, marking the first time in school history that two Aggies were named to the team in the same season ... NM State’s 18 home games sets a program record for the most in the regular season.

San Jose Spartans (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last year, led by Shaunna Ridge, who returns for her senior season after leading the Spartans in rebounding with 6.3 per game. She also led the team in blocked shots with 53, tying for the third-highest season total in school history ... Ridge enters the season in 10th place with 53 career blocks and needs three more to tie for ninth ... Chasity Shavers is the top returning scorer after averaging 10.0 points last season ... Sayja Sumler played in all 30 games last season, averaging 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds a game ... Nine players join the team this season, including Alisha Eckberg, who averaged 15.2 points as a senior, Rachel Finnegan, a two-time conference Player of the Year, and Samantha Marez, who won the National Junior College Association of America national championship last year at Central Arizona College.

Utah State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies return three starters and seven letterwinners from last year’s team that went 16-15 overall and 9-7 in WAC action ... The nine WAC wins was the most by Utah State since joining the league in 2005-06 ... Utah State said goodbye to four seniors, Danyelle Snelgro, Ana Pares, Ndoumbe Diop and Shawnta Pope ... With 85 career blocks, junior Nicole Johnson ranks second in the Aggie career record books ... The 2009-10 season marks the 22nd year of women’s basketball at USU, and just the seventh since the program was restarted ... The Aggies had 128 blocked shots last year, 87 of which came from Johnson and Lydia Whitehead ... Last season, USU won its first WAC Tournament game with a 59-58 victory over Idaho ... The Aggies host four teams from the Beehive state this season – Utah, BYU, Weber State and Utah Valley. USU also travels to Portland, San Francisco and Tempe, Ariz.