United Athletic Conference

ALL-WAC HONORS ANNOUNCED
The 2008-09 all-Western Athletic Conference teams have been named, following a vote of the WAC’s head coaches. Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell headlines the awards, earning the WAC Player of the Year honor.

Dowdell, a 6-1 forward from Calera, Ala. (Calera HS), becomes the sixth player in Louisiana Tech history to earn the award. She led the WAC in scoring with 16.0 points on 53 percent shooting, and ranked second with 9.7 rebounds per game. She also tallied a WAC-best 16 double-doubles, including eight in conference games, and was named WAC Player of the Week three times.

First-year head coach Jon Newlee earns Idaho’s first-ever WAC Coach of the Year honors. Newlee led the Vandals to a 10-6 record through WAC play, tied for third place. The 10 WAC wins is Idaho’s highest single-season total since joining the league in 2005, while the third-place WAC finish is the highest-ever for the Vandal women. Entering this year, Idaho had 11 total WAC wins in three previous seasons.

Nevada’s Dellena Criner earned the WAC’s Defensive Player of the Year honor for the second year in a row. Criner, a 5-7 guard from Oakland, Calif. (Fremont HS), averaged 2.25 steals per game in WAC play. Criner was also named first team all-WAC and to the all-Defensive team.

Idaho’s Derisa Taleni is the WAC’s Newcomer of the Year. Taleni, a 5-9 junior guard from Santa Clara, Calif. (De Anza College), becomes the second Idaho player to receive the honor. In WAC play, Taleni ranked third in the conference in scoring with 15.1 points per game, tied for sixth in steals (1.8) and 11th in rebounding (5.8).

Four different schools are represented on the first team, including Louisiana Tech’s Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson, Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross, Nevada’s Criner and Utah State’s Danyelle Snelgro. Criner earns her third-straight all-WAC first team honor, while Dowdell, Johnson, Ross and Snelgro receive the first team honor for the first time. Ross was named to last year’s all-WAC second team.
 
The all-WAC second teamers were Yinka Olorunnife and Taleni of Idaho, Fresno State’s Hayley Munro, Madison Spence of New Mexico State, and Utah State’s Ana Pares. All five are making their first appearance on the team.

The all-Freshman team contains five players from three different teams, including Boise State’s Heather Pilcher and Courtney VanBrocklin, New Mexico State’s Kaitlyn Soto and Tabytha Wampler, and Idaho’s Shaena-Lyn Kuehu.

Criner headlined the all-Defensive team, making her third-straight appearance. Joining her on the team are Jenna Galassi of Boise State, Idaho’s Olorunnife, Johnson of Louisiana Tech and Utah State’s Snelgro.

Player of the Year: Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech
Defensive Player of the Year: Dellena Criner, Nevada
Newcomer of the Year: Derisa Taleni, Idaho
Coach of the Year: Jon Newlee, Idaho

LOUISIANA TECH’S DOWDELL EARNS FINAL WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Louisiana Tech forward Shanavia Dowdell has been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for March 1-8. This is the fourth WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Dowdell.

The junior from Calera, Ala., led the Techsters to a pair of wins last week and a share of the WAC regular-season title. Louisiana Tech, the No. 2 seed in this week’s WAC Tournament presented by Verizon Wireless, have won seven in a row. In an 80-62 win over Fresno State, Dowdell recorded her 15th double-double of the season with 24 points and 16 rebounds. She also blocked three shots. In Tech’s 78-69 win over New Mexico State, Dowdell scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for her WAC-leading 16th double-double of the year. For the week, she averaged 26.5 points on 55 percent shooting, 16.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

Other nominees included: Jaleesa Ross of Fresno State averaged 14.7 points on 52 percent shooting from the field and 47 percent from three-point range ... Idaho’s Yinka Olorunnife averaged a double-double ? 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds on the week ... Cherlanda Franklin of Nevada averaged 10.0 points and 8.0 rebounds as the Wolf Pack went 2-0 on the week ... New Mexico State’s Madison Spence averaged 13.5 points and 3.0 assists on the week ... Natalie White of San Jose State scored 19 points on 78 percent shooting and grabbed six rebounds in the Spartans’ only game last week ... Utah State’s Ana Pares averaged 11.5 points as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week.

Boise State Broncos (16-14, 9-7 WAC)
The Broncos fell 58-56 to Idaho in their only game last week ... Heather Pilcher had a team-high 15 points and four steals ... Jenna Galassi and Janie Bos both posted double-doubles. Galassi had 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Bos tallied 10 points and 13 boards ... Galassi was named to the WAC all-defensive team, while Pilcher and Courtney VanBrocklin were both selected to the all-freshman team ... In 22 years as a collegiate head coach, Gordy Presnell has never experienced a losing season. He has 21 seasons with winning records and one at .500 ... The sixth-seeded Broncos face No. 3 Nevada in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.

Fresno State Bulldogs (21-8, 12-4 WAC)
The Bulldogs went 2-1 last week, falling at home to Louisiana Tech (80-62), before defeating New Mexico State (69-52) and Utah State (67-57) to capture their second-consecutive WAC regular-season title ... Against NMSU, Jaleesa Ross had 23 points, including five three-pointers ... Fresno State has held opponents to 35 percent or less shooting nine times this season ... Ross needs nine three-pointers to break the single-season record ... The Bulldogs have hit a school record 278 three-pointers and have attempted a school record 790 long balls ... The top-seeded Bulldogs face the winner of the opening round game between Hawai?i and San Jose State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.

Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (7-22, 4-12 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine fell 75-57 at Nevada in their only game last week ... Megan Tinnin led Hawai?i with 15 points and eight rebounds ... As a team, UH was 8-of-10 from three-point range for a season-high 80 percent from beyond the arc ... Tinnin has scored in double figures in four straight games and six of the last eight ... The eighth-seeded Rainbow Wahine face No. 9-seed San Jose State in the opening round of the WAC Tournament on Tuesday. The winner will advance to play top-seeded Fresno State on Wednesday ... Hawai?i is looking for its first win in the WAC Tournament since 2003, and is a combined 8-12 all-time in the tournament.

Idaho Vandals (13-14, 10-6 WAC)
The Vandals went 1-1 last week, falling to Nevada (57-39) on Wednesday, before defeating Boise State (58-56) to close out the regular season ... Yinka Olorunnife broke Idaho’s single-season record for rebounds (277) vs. Nevada ... At Boise State, Olorunnife grabbed 14 boards to finish with 186 rebounds in WAC play, a total that ranks fourth in WAC history ... She finished the regular season with 297 and needs just three more to become the first Vandal and 10th player in WAC history to reach 300 in a single season ... The fourth-seeded Vandals face No. 5 Utah State in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.

Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (19-11, 12-4 WAC)
The Techsters went 2-0 last week, defeating Fresno State (80-62) and New Mexico State (78-69) to earn a share of the regular-season title, the team’s seventh in eight years in the league ... WAC Player of the Year Shanavia Dowdell averaged 26.5 points and 16.0 rebounds and recorded her 15th and 16th double-doubles of the season ... Tech has won seven straight games, during which time it has a +14.3 scoring margin, +6.1 rebounding margin and +4.1 turnover margin ... The second-seeded Techsters face No. 7 New Mexico State in the final quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

Nevada Wolf Pack (16-13, 10-6 WAC)
The Pack went 2-0 last week, defeating Idaho (57-39) and Hawai?i (75-57) ... Shavon Moore recorded her third career double-double vs. Idaho with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds ... The 39 points by Idaho is the lowest-ever by a Nevada opponent ... Cherlanda Franklin posted her third career double-double vs. Hawai?i (14 points, 10 boards) ... Franklin became the first forward in Nevada history and the third active player (Dellena Criner, Brandi Jones) with 200 career steals ... Nevada out-rebounded Hawai?i 43-30, the 20th time this season it has either out-rebounded or tied its opponent in rebounding ... The host Wolf Pack, the No. 3 seed, face sixth-seeded Boise State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday.

New Mexico State Aggies (9-21, 5-11 WAC)
The Aggies went 0-2 last week, falling at Fresno State (69-52) and to Louisiana Tech (78-69) ... Tyshae Walton led NMSU with 16 points vs. the Bulldogs ... Madison Spence scored 26 points vs. Louisiana Tech, the second-highest scoring output of her career ... Niki Holt recorded her WAC-leading 59th blocked shot of the season vs. the Techsters ... The No. 7-seed Aggies have a rematch with Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday ... New Mexico State enters the conference tournament looking to advance to the championship game for the fourth consecutive season. The Aggies are one of only three schools in WAC history to appear in three-straight championship games.

San Jose Spartans (2-27, 1-15 WAC)
The Spartans fell 62-51 to Utah State in their only game last week ... Natalie White led the Spartans in scoring with 19 points on 7-of-9 from the field, including a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range ... With two blocked shots at Utah State, Shaunna Ridge moved to fourth on the SJSU single-season list with 52, which also ranks 10th on the Spartan career list. Ridge needs four blocks to tie Brittany Powell for ninth place ... White is currently in seventh place all-time in scoring at San Jose State with 1,229 points, one point away from Shelia Brown (1981-84) in sixth place ... The No. 9-seed Spartans face eighth-seeded New Mexico State in the opening round of the WAC Tournament on Tuesday.

Utah State Aggies (15-14, 9-7 WAC)
The Aggies went 1-1 last week, defeating San Jose State (62-51) on Thursday, before closing out the regular season with a 67-57 loss to Fresno State on Saturday ... Danyelle Snelgro became the sixth Utah State player ever to reach 1,000 career points vs. SJSU. She now has 1,017, four away from fifth place all-time at USU ... Snelgro also became the first Utah State player ever to earn first-team all-WAC honors ... Nicole Johnson currently ranks second in the USU record books in single-season blocks (55) and career blocks (84) ... The fifth-seeded Aggies face No. 4 Idaho in the first quarterfinal game of the WAC Tournament on Wednesday ... The fifth seed is Utah State’s highest ever after posting its best-ever league record.

NEVADA TO HOST 2009 WAC TOURNAMENT
Reno and the University of Nevada will host the 2009 WAC Tournament presented by Verizon Wireless, March 10-14. It will be the third time that Nevada has hosted the event, as the Wolf Pack also hosted the tournament in 2005 and 2006. The tournament features all nine men’s and women’s teams.

FRESNO STATE, LOUISIANA TECH SHARE WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
With identical 12-4 conference records, Fresno State and Louisiana Tech shared the WAC regular-season title. It is Tech’s seventh regular-season title in eight years in the conference and Fresno State’s second in a row. The Bulldogs earned the top seed in the WAC Tournament by virtue of a better record against Nevada, the No. 3 seed.
 
WEATHERSPOON STILL PERFECT
When Teresa Weatherspoon took over head coaching duties at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 10, the Techsters were in fifth place in the WAC standings with a 5-4 mark. In the four weeks since, Weatherspoon has led Louisiana Tech to a perfect 7-0 mark, a share of the regular-season title and the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament.

FRESNO STATE REACHES 20-WIN MARK
For the fifth time since joining the WAC, Fresno State has eclipsed the 20-win mark as the Bulldogs are the lone team in the WAC with 20 or more wins this season. Fresno State has now accomplished the feat in 2009 (21), 2008 (22), 2006 (24), 2005 (20) and 2003 (21).

UTAH STATE’S SNELGRO SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
With a steal and layup at the 1:25 mark in the first half last Thursday against San Jose State, Danyelle Snelgro became the sixth Utah State player ever to reach 1,000 career points. Snelgro now has 1,017 and needs just four more points to tie Pam Shirley (1977-79) for No. 5 on the USU career scoring list with 1,021.

OLORUNNIFE SETS IDAHO SINGLE SEASON REBOUNDING RECORD
With her rebound at the 12:42 mark of the first half last Wednesday against Nevada, Idaho sophomore Yinka Olorunnife broke the Vandal single-season rebounding record of 277, set by Denise Brose in 1980-81. The only player in the WAC to average a double-double, Olorunnife currently has 297 rebounds this season, three shy of 300. If she surpasses the 300 mark, she’ll be the first Vandal and just the 10th WAC player ever to do so. In addition, Olorunnife climbed above 500 career rebounds with 1:45 left in the first half vs. the Wolf Pack on March 4.

BULLDOGS LEAD NATION IN THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL AVERAGE
In statistics through March 5 games, Fresno State leads the nation in three-point field goals per game, with an average of 9.7 per game. The Bulldogs have had 10 or more treys in 17 of 29 games this season, including a WAC record 16 vs. UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 20.

IDAHO CELEBRATING SEVERAL FIRSTS
Idaho has had several firsts this season. The Vandals’ 10 WAC wins are the most since joining the conference in 2005. Entering this season, Idaho had 11 WAC wins in its first three seasons combined. Idaho swept four WAC opponents this season (Fresno State, San Jose State, New Mexico State and Hawai?i). In three previous seasons in the WAC, Idaho had three total season sweeps. The Vandals have also improved by nine wins over last season, seven of which came in conference games. In addition, Idaho’s 64-41 win over San Jose State featured the Vandals’ best-ever winning margin in a WAC game (23) and the lowest point total allowed to a WAC opponent (41).

ROSS CLIMBING FRESNO STATE THREE-POINTERS LIST
Fresno State sophomore Jaleesa Ross has 170 three-pointers in her short career, good for fourth place all-time at Fresno State and 18 away from third place (188). At her current pace, if she played at least 30 games each of her four years, Ross would easily break the Fresno State record of 272.

UTAH STATE’S PEBLEY BECOMES ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH
With the win over New Mexico State Feb. 26, Utah State head coach Raegan Pebley became the all-time winningest coach in Aggie women’s basketball history with 57 wins. In her sixth year at the helm, Pebley passed Fern Gardner for the most wins in Aggie history. A 1993 inductee into the Utah State Hall of Fame, Gardner played and coached basketball, softball and volleyball at Utah State.

ALBRIGHT BECOMES NEVADA’S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST FIRST-YEAR COACH
With 16 wins so far this season, head coach Jane Albright is Nevada’s all-time winningest first-year head coach. She passed Julie Hickey, who recorded 12 wins (12-15 overall) during the 1982-83 season.

NEWLEE EARNS WIN 100
Idaho head coach Jon Newlee picked up his 100th career win at the NCAA Division I level on Jan. 25 when the Vandals defeated New Mexico State. Newlee posted a 93-82 record in six seasons at Idaho State and is 13-14 in his first season at Idaho for a career record of 106-96.

UTAH STATE EARNS FIRST WAC ROAD SWEEP
For the first time since joining the conference in 2005-06, the Aggies won both ends of a WAC road trip when they defeated San Jose State and Hawai?i on Jan. 23 and 25. It was also the Aggies’ 10th win of the season, surpassing last season’s win total of nine.

CRINER BECOMES NEVADA’S STEALS LEADER
Dellena Criner became Nevada’s all-time steals leader in the team’s win over Utah State Jan. 14. 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 264 steals, good for eighth in the WAC record books.

NEVADA’S JONES SCORES 1,000TH POINT
Nevada’s 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 on Jan. 16. Jones is also the seventh player in program history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds as she has 1,081 points and 578 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 (1,553). 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.

SNELGRO BECOMES USU’S STEALS LEADER
Danyelle Snelgro made Utah State history in the first half of the Aggies’ loss to Louisiana Tech on Jan. 10 with her 176th steal, passing Margaret Johns (1980-83) for the top spot in the Utah State career record books.

FOUR PLAYERS SCORE 30 POINTS THIS SEASON
Four WAC players have scored 30 or more points this season. Madison Spence of New Mexico State was the first to do so when she tallied 30 on Nov. 23 at Kent State. Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell followed one week later with 30 vs. Western Kentucky. Derisa Taleni of Idaho scored 31 in a come-from-behind victory over Utah State on Jan. 5. Louisiana Tech’s Whitney Jones rounds out the group with 31 points in an overtime win at Utah State on Jan. 10.

CRINER FOURTH IN CAREER FREE THROWS
Nevada’s Dellena Criner currently ranks fourth all-time in the WAC record books in career free throws made. The senior has 533 made free throws on her career, six away from third place (539) and 64 away from first (597).

WHITE EIGHTH IN FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
San Jose State senior Natalie White currently has a career free throw percentage of .820 (191-of-233), which ranks eighth all-time in the WAC. Julie Krommenhoek, who played at Utah from 1994-98, holds the record with a .851 clip (313-of-368).

FRESNO STATE UPSETS NO. 22 TCU
Fresno State rallied for a 75-71 victory over No.22 TCU Dec. 4 in front of 2,288 fans. The Bulldogs trailed 69-53 with 6:20 remaining in the game before going on a 22-2 run to earn the victory. The win is Fresno State’s first over a nationally ranked opponent since December 1, 2006, when the Bulldogs defeated No. 23 Texas Tech. It is only the third win against a ranked team in the last 16 years. Hayley Munro had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds while Joh-Teena Filipe came off the bench to score 14 points and grab six rebounds.

NEVADA GETS FIRST WIN OVER RANKED TEAM
Nevada recorded the biggest win in program history Nov. 29, beating No. 7 Louisville 85-82. It was the Wolf Pack’s first-ever win over a ranked team and the highest ranked team Nevada had ever faced. The previous highest ranked teams the Wolf Pack had played were No. 8 Louisiana Tech (2003-04), No. 9 Cal (2008-09) and No. 11 Louisiana Tech (2002-03).

SJSU’S WHITE REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU
The Spartans’ Natalie White scored her 1,000th career point on a three-pointer at the 4:27 mark of the second half against Sacramento State on Nov. 28. Making the game even more memorable was the fact that she hit the game-winning basket as time expired to give San Jose State its first win of the season. White is just the 12th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

NEVADA’S ALBRIGHT EARNS WIN 400
In her first year at Nevada and 25th overall, Wolf Pack head coach Jane Albright earned her 400th career win against Northern Iowa on Nov. 28, becoming just the 39th Division I coach to reach 400 victories. The following night, she earned win No. 401 against No. 7 Louisville. Sixteen of her wins have come at Nevada, 48 at Wichita State, 161 at Wisconsin and 188 at Northern Illinois.

BOISE STATE FAVORED IN PRESEASON POLLS
Boise State, the 2007-08 WAC 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 five of the nine first-place votes in the coaches poll and 15 of the 22 top votes in the media poll.

PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAMS
The coaches selected Nevada senior guard Dellena Criner as the WAC’s preseason Player of the Year, while the media tabbed Boise State senior guard Tasha Harris as the league’s top player. In the coaches poll, Criner and Harris were joined on the first team by Louisiana Tech junior forward Shanavia Dowdell, and Fresno State sophomores Hayley Munro and Jaleesa Ross. Second-team selections include Brandi Jones (Nevada), Danyelle Snelgro (Utah State), Madison Spence (New Mexico State), Natalie White (San Jose State) and Tarkeisha Wysinger (Louisiana Tech).

The media’s all-WAC team included Criner, Dowdell, Harris, Ross and Spence.

KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
The WAC had several key non-conference match-ups this season. WAC teams played 26 games against teams that advanced either to the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT last season. WAC teams faced three of the four teams that advanced to last year’s Final Four. Fresno State traveled to Stanford, while Hawai?i hosted the Cardinal. Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech took on both LSU and Tennessee on the road.