LA TECH’S JOHNSON NAMED VERIZON WIRELESS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech junior forward Adrienne Johnson has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 21-27. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Johnson and the second of her career.
Johnson, a Franklin, La., native, recorded one of the most complete games of the year in the WAC, registering 23 points, eight rebounds, a career-high five assists, a career-high-tying five blocks and three steals to lead Louisiana Tech to an 86-76 win over Memphis. She shot 64 percent (9-of-14) from the field and 71 percent (5-of-7) from the free throw line on the game. With Tech trailing by 13 points midway through the first half, Johnson spearheaded a 16-0 run, scoring seven of her 11 first-half points. Then, with the Lady Techsters leading by three with less than three minutes to play in the game, Johnson hit back-to-back shots to push the lead out and propel LA Tech to the victory.
Other nominees included: Boise State’s Janie Bos posted her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Broncos’ victory over Seattle … Hayley Munro of Fresno State had 13 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs, in a win over Pacific … Nevada’s Tahnee Robinson scored a career-high 21 points in a win over Washington State … Crystal Boyd of New Mexico State notched her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with four steals and a pair of blocks in the Aggies’ win over Alcorn State … Utah State’s Alice Coddington nabbed a WAC record 13 steals in a win over Weber State and averaged 10.5 points, 8.5 steals and 4.0 rebounds as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week.
CODDINGTON NABS WAC-RECORD 13 STEALS VS. WEBER STATE
Utah State’s Alice Coddington nabbed a WAC-record 13 steals on Dec. 21 against Weber State, one shy of the NCAA record. Nevada’s Cherlanda Franklin had 11 steals during the 2007-08 season and BYU’s Tomika Young had 11 during the 1991-92 season. The Utah State record was 12 steals sets by Carol Garrison against Northern Arizona in 1981. Coddington added 13 points for her first double-double of the season. The record-breaking steal came with 5:24 remaining in the game.
ROSS RANKS SIXTH IN WAC HISTORY IN THREE-POINTERS MADE
Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross is currently in second place on the school’s career three-pointers list with 225 on her career. She needs 273 to own the record. Ross ranks sixth in the WAC record books for career three-pointers, 12 shy of fifth place.
SAN JOSE STATE UPSETS CAL, POSTS FIRST WIN OVER RANKED TEAM SINCE 1983
Chasity Shavers scored a career-high 32 points and made three free throws in the final 34 seconds to give San Jose State a 68-66 upset of No. 22 California on Dec. 9. Shavers finished 11-of-19 from the field and had eight rebounds, while Samantha Marez added 13 points. The last known time the Spartans beat a nationally-ranked opponent was Feb. 5, 1983, when San Jose State upended then-No. 17 Oregon State, 69-56, in a NorPac Conference game played in Spartan Gym.
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.
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.
BOISE STATE BRONCOS (10-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Broncos beat Seattle 57-47 in their only game last week to remain atop the WAC standings ... Janie Bos posted her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds ... Jessica Van Hoogen matched Bos’ point total while adding a season-high nine rebounds ... Tasha Harris finished with nine points as her 12-game streak of games in double-digit scoring was snapped ... The Broncos dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Redhawks 50-31 and outscored Seattle 24-14 in the paint ... Boise State is 9-0 this year when winning the points in the paint ... Harris ranks third on the Bronco career scoring list with 1,478 points, while Van Hoogen is fourth with 1,434 ... The Broncos host Wyoming on Thursday in their only game this week.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (8-4, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs defeated Pacific 63-33 last Tuesday in their only game last week ... Hayley Munro posted her first double-double of the season and the third of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds ... Fresno State forced Pacific into nearly as many turnovers (32) as points (33) in the win ... Jaleesa Ross is in second place on the school’s career three-pointers list with 225. She needs 273 to own the record ... Fresno State currently ranks fourth in the nation in three-pointers made per game with 9.9 average ... Ross is now in sixth place in the WAC for career three-pointers, 12 shy of fifth place ... Ross has 1,085 career points and needs 102 to pass Careana Clay (1981-84) and move into 10th place on the Bulldog career scoring list. She is one of only 16 Bulldogs to surpass 1,000 points ... Fresno State hosts No. 2/2 Stanford on Wednesday and Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday.
HAWAI’I RAINBOW WAHINE (4-7, 0-0 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine have been idle since a Dec. 21 loss to No. 6 Florida State to close out the UNLV Desert Classic ... Breanna Arbuckle and Julita Bungaite both posted their first career double-doubles at the tournament. Arbuckle had 12 points and 13 rebounds against UNLV on Dec. 20, while Bungaite had 11 points and 12 rebounds against Kansas State on Dec. 19 ... Keisha Kanekoa recorded her 200th career assist in the win over Kansas State ... Kanekoa ranks fifth in the WAC with a .814 free throw percentage and seventh with a .466 field goal percentage ... The Rainbow Wahine host Kent State for a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Showdown.
IDAHO VANDALS (2-11, 0-0 WAC)
The Vandals snapped a six-game losing skid with a 47-40 win over UC Santa Barbara Monday ... Idaho missed its first 20 attempts from the field and fell behind 16-1 before Rachele Kloke finally hit a three-pointer at the 7:43 mark ... UC Santa Barbara didn’t take advantage of Idaho’s poor shooting, because the Gauchos committed 19 first-half turnovers 29 total for the game ... Bianca Cheever led the team with 11 points ... Idaho ranks 21st nationally with 14.8 personal fouls per game ... Kloke ranks 10th in the WAC with a 12.2 scoring average, while Shaena-Lyn Kuehu is 14th at 11.4 ... Kuehu also ranks 10th with 6.2 rebounds per game ... Jessica Graham is fourth in the WAC with 1.38 blocks per game ... The Vandals are idle until Jan. 9, when they open WAC play by hosting Fresno State.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (6-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Techsters defeated Memphis 86-76 last Tuesday in their only game of the week ... Adrienne Johnson registered 23 points on 64 percent shooting, eight rebounds, a career-high five assists, a career-high-tying five blocks and three steals in the victory ... In the second half, LA Tech has outscored eight of its nine opponents this season ... Tech is +26 in the first half of games this year and +110 in the second half of games ... The Techsters play in the UTSA New Year’s Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday, where they face Stephen F. Austin and UT-San Antonio, before playing at Southern Mississippi on Sunday.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (6-6, 0-0 WAC)
The Wolf Pack defeated Washington State 75-54 last Tuesday in their only game of the week ... Tahnee Robinson recorded her first career start in her second career game and scored a game-high 21 points ... Kayla Williams and Nicole Williams each recorded their first career double-doubles vs. the Cougars. Kayla scored 10 points and added a team-high 12 rebounds while Nicole scored a career-high 15 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds ... On Monday, the team fell 72-60 to host San Diego at the Surf n Slam Tournament ... Shavon Moore led the Wolf Pack with 20 points for her second 20 or more scoring performance this season ... Nevada committed a season-high 29 turnovers in the loss ... The Wolf Pack face California on Wednesday to close out the tournament, then play at Brigham Young on Saturday.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (8-4, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies defeated Alcorn State 76-54 last Tuesday ... Crystal Boyd notched her third double-double of the season with 13 points and a dozen rebounds to go along with four steals and a pair of blocks ... On Monday, NM State dealt UTEP its first home loss of the year, winning 63-56 to sweep the season series vs. the Miners ... Boyd scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her WAC-leading fourth double-double of the season ... Boyd ranks eighth in the WAC in scoring (13.4), just behind teammate Jasmine Lowe (13.8) in seventh ... The Aggies close out non-conference play by hosting New Mexico Highlands on Wednesday and Kansas on Sunday.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-8, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State fell 86-50 at Colorado last Tuesday in their only game of the week ... Chasity Shavers led the Spartans in scoring with 16 points, 13 of them in the second half ... Samantha Marez came off the bench to score 14 points as San Jose State’s only other double-figure scorer ... The team was 0-for-12 from three-point range on the game ... Shavers ranks fifth in the WAC with a 16.1 scoring average, while Marez is 17th (10.8) ... Shaunna Ridge currently ranks ninth on the SJSU career blocked shots list with 61, one away from a tie for the seventh spot ... The Spartans play at Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday and at Santa Clara on Saturday.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (6-5, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies defeated Weber State (72-51) and Southern Utah (53-44) last week ... In the win over the Wildcats, Alice Coddington nabbed a WAC-record 13 steals, one shy of the NCAA record. She added 13 points for her first double-double of the season ... Tahara Williams scored a career-high 15 points in 28 minutes of action ... Lydia Whitehead added her second double-double of the season for the Aggies with 14 points and 10 rebounds ... Against the Thunderbirds, Amber White’s led the team with 10 points for her eighth double-digit scoring performance in 11 games ... Utah State pulled down a season-low 27 rebounds in the win ... The Aggies host Utah Valley on Thursday and UNLV on Saturday to close out non-conference play.