2010-11
SEASON SET TO BEGIN
The
2010-11 WAC women's basketball season tips off this Friday night with six teams
in action. Idaho and Louisiana Tech open
their seasons on Saturday while Hawai'i starts a week later when it hosts the
Rainbow Wahine Classic beginning Nov. 19.
In exhibition games, WAC teams are 9-0 with one more game to play
(BYU-Hawai'i at Hawai'i on Thursday).
Some of the indivdiual superlatives in the exhibition games include
three double-doubles as Louisiana Tech's Tavasha Anderson had 10 points and 11
rebounds versus Oklahoma Panhandle State, her teammate Adrienne Johnson had 18
points and 13 rebounds against Arkansas-Monticello and Nevada's Marissa Hammond
had 12 points and 11 boards versus San Francisco State. Three players also scored 20 or more points
in the preseason games led by San Jose State's Ajhanai Newton with 21 versus
Dominican, Utah State's Ashlee Brown with 20 versus the University of Mary and
Fresno State's Hayley Munro with 20 against Fresno Pacific.
ORLEANS
ARENA IN LAS VEGAS TO HOST WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2011
WAC Basketball Tournament will be held March 9-12 at the Orleans Arena in Las
Vegas. It will feature a new format from year's past, rewarding teams based on
regular-season success, giving the top two teams byes into the tournament
semifinals. Under the format, the tournament will begin on Wednesday with two
men's games and two women's games featuring the No. 5 seed against the No. 8
seed and No. 6 vs. No. 7. The winners then advance to Thursday's quarterfinal
matchups to play the No. 4 and No. 3 seeds. The winners of those games then
advance to Friday's semifinals against the top two seeds.
FRESNO
STATE FAVORED IN PRESEASON POLLS
Fresno
State, which won the WAC regular-season title last year with a perfect 16-0
record, was the preseason favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference in
both the coaches and media polls. In the
coaches poll, the Bulldogs received 63 points and seven first-place votes to
beat out Louisiana Tech for the top spot. The Lady Techsters captured second place
with 57 points and two first-place votes.
In the media poll. Fresno State received 14 first-place votes, earning
158 points. Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech was picked to finish second with 146
points and four first-place votes.
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 Fresno State senior guard Jaleesa
Ross as the WAC's preseason Player of the Year.
ESPNU TO
TELEVISE FOUR GAMES IN 2010-11 SEASON
ESPNU
will televise four WAC women's basketball games during the 2010-11 season. The
network will televise three regular-season WAC women's basketball match-ups and
will also air the championship game of the WAC Tournament, held at the Orleans
Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE
MATCHUPSWAC
teams have several key non-conference matchups this season, including as many
as 48 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or the Women's
National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season.
TOP
PLAYERS RETURNING
A total
of seven players from all-WAC first and second teams return this season. Three
players return from the first team - Louisiana Tech's Adrienne Johnson,
Nevada's Tahnee Robinson and Fresno State's Jaleesa Ross. There are four players
returning from the second team, including Fresno State's Hayley Munro, Idaho's
Rachele Kloke, Nevada's Shavon Moore and Utah State's Amber White. Meanwhile,
four members of the All-Defensive Team return in Alice Coddington of Utah
State, Johnson, Moore and White.
STAT
LEADERS BACK
Five of
the top 10 scorers return for the 2010-11 season, including the second and
third scorers last year, Fresno State's Jaleesa Ross (17.4) and Louisiana
Tech's Adrienne Johnson (16.0). Also returning are Idaho's Rachele Kloke, who
was seventh (14.5), New Mexico State's Jasmine Lowe, who was eighth (14.1) and
Fresno State's Hayley Munro, who was 10th (11.7).
Six of
the top 10 rebounding leaders from a year ago return. Idaho's Yinka Olorunnife
returns this season after ranking second in the WAC with 7.9 rebounds per game
last year. Nevada's Kayla Williams and Louisiana Tech's Johnson were third and
fourth, respectively, last year at 7.3 and 7.2 per game, respectively. Boise
State's Janie Bos was sixth (7.0), Nevada's Shavon Moore was seventh (7.0) and
New Mexico State's Tabytha Wampler was 10th (7.0).
LETTERWINNER/STARTER
CAPSULE
Nevada
and Idaho return the most starters this season with five. New Mexico State
returns four starters, while Fresno State, Hawai'i and Louisiana Tech each
return three starters. Boise State, San Jose State and Utah State each return
two starters.
A Look
Back at 2009-10
LOUISIANA
TECH FALLS TO FLORIDA STATE IN NCAAS
Florida
State used a 10-0 run over the final 90 seconds of the game to pull away and
defeat Louisiana Tech 75-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Shanavia
Dowdell, the two-time WAC Player of the Year, scored 22 of her game-high 28
points in the first half. Tech shot 50 percent (16-of-32) from the field in the
opening half while out-rebounding Florida State 23-15, including 12 offensive
rebounds. LA Tech hit only 5-of-30 field goals in the second half for 17
percent. Dowdell recorded her 22nd double-double of the season with 28 points
and 12 rebounds, while Jasmine Bendolph added 11 points and four assists.
FRESNO
STATE LOSES TO BAYLOR IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Brittney
Griner's presence helped keep Fresno State away from the basket as the Bulldogs
fell 69-55 to Final Four team Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs shot just 34 percent (21-of-61) from the field and 29 percent
(10-of-34) from three-point range on the game. Hayley Munro and Emma Andrews
each scored 13 points to lead Fresno State.
NEVADA
DROPS WNIT GAME AT WYOMING
Nevada
fell 74-53 to Wyoming in the first round of the WNIT in Laramie, Wyo. Shavon
Moore led Nevada with 16 points, while Kayla Williams added nine. Amanda
Johnson recorded a team-high seven rebounds. The Pack shot 31 percent
(21-of-67) from the floor in the game. Marianne Lombardi became Nevada's
all-time leader in games played with 125, passing Dellena Criner who played in
124 career games for Nevada.
NM STATE
FALLS AT ARIZONA STATE IN FIRST ROUND OF WNIT
New
Mexico State fell 84-61 at Arizona State in the first round of the WNIT in
Tempe, Ariz. Jasmine Lowe led NM State with 20 points, while Danisha Corbett
posted 12. Arizona State used full court pressure the majority of the game
against the Aggies to help force 22 Aggie turnovers leading to 29 Sun Devil
points. ASU's size in the post led the home team to the line 39 times where the
Sun Devils drained 28 of those attempts. NM State made six of only eight
attempts at the charity stripe. ASU finished with a 38-18 advantage in the
paint and 46-16 margin in bench points.
DOWDELL
DRAFTED BY MYSTICS IN SECOND ROUND
Louisiana
Tech forward Shanavia Dowdell was the 18th overall selection by the Washington
Mystics in the 2010 WNBA draft. Dowdell averaged 18.0 points and 12.4 rebounds
per game as a senior while shooting 54 percent from the field and 66 percent
from the free throw line. She ranked third in the country in rebounding and led
the country with 22 double-doubles. Dowdell adds her name to a long line of Lady
Techsters to be taken in the WNBA Draft as she is the 14th LA Tech player
selected and the 20th to make it to the league since its inception in 1997.
ROSS
NAMED HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICAN
Fresno
State's Jaleesa Ross was named an honorable mention All-American by the Women's
Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), becoming the first Fresno State player
ever to receive the honor. The Bulldogs have had two All-Americans in the last
three years as Tierre Wilson earned honorable mention All-America honors by the
Associated Press in 2007-08.
WIGGINS
NAMED REGION COACH OF THE YEAR
After
leading his team to its first-ever at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament,
Fresno State head coach Adrian Wiggins was selected as the WBCA Region 7 Coach
of the Year. Wiggins led the Bulldogs to a perfect 16-0 record in conference
play and the WAC regular-season title. Fresno State notched its highest RPI in
school history (27) and has posted a school-record 27 wins. The team also won
19 straight games.
WEATHERSPOON
NAMED WBCA ROOKIE COACH OF THE YEAR
Louisiana
Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon was honored by the WBCA as the 2010 Maggie
Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year, given to a WBCA Division I head
coach who has led their team to a successful season during their first year at
the helm. In her first full season at LA Tech, Weatherspoon led the Lady
Techsters to a 23-9 mark, a second-place regular-season finish in the WAC and
the WAC Tournament title. Her team went on to make its first appearance in the
NCAA Tournament since 2006.
DOWDELL,
ROSS NAMED TO ALL-REGION TEAM
Louisiana
Tech's Shanavia Dowdell and Fresno State's Jaleesa Ross were named to the WBCA
All-Region 7 Team. They were two of four honorees in the region and two of 52
honorees nationwide.
LA TECH
WINS 2010 WAC TOURNAMENT
Louisiana
Tech defeated Fresno State 68-66 to claim the 2010 WAC Tournament championship.
The title marks LA Tech's fifth overall WAC Tournament championship and first
since 2006. Shanavia Dowdell was named tournament MVP after scoring a game-high
20 points and pulling down a game-high 19 rebounds.
All-Tournament
Team
Shanavia
Dowdell, Louisiana Tech (MVP)
Adrienne
Johnson, Louisiana Tech
Hayley
Munro, Fresno State
Jaleesa
Ross, Fresno State
Yinka
Olorunnife, Idaho
FRESNO
STATE SETS FOUR WAC TOURNAMENT RECORDS
Top-seeded
Fresno State set several WAC Tournament records. The Bulldogs set records for
three-pointers in a tournament (32), three-pointers in a game (13 vs. Idaho),
free throw percentage in a tournament (.868, 33-of-38) and free throw
percentage in a game (1.000, 13-of-13 vs. Idaho). The team also fell just shy
of the tournament single-game rebounding
record of 60, pulling down 59 vs. Idaho.
IDAHO'S
OLORUNNIFE SETS WAC TOURNAMENT RECORD
Idaho
junior Yinka Olorunnife set the WAC Tournament record for field goal percentage
in a tournament. She was 18-of-25 for a .720 shooting percentage over two
games.
LA
TECH'S DOWDELL BREAKS WAC REBOUNDING RECORD
Louisiana
Tech's Shanavia Dowdell, the two-time WAC Player of the Year, set the WAC
career rebounding record with 975 at the 18:59 mark of the first half in her
team's win over Utah State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament. Three
days later, the senior became the first WAC player ever to eclipse 1,000 boards
with her board at the 5:14 mark of the first half in the championship game
against Fresno State. She closed out her career with 1,025.
WAC
ALL-DECADE TEAM ANNOUNCED
The WAC
conducted an online vote for the All-Decade Women's Basketball Team. More than
300 fans participated and voted on players that had been on at least two
all-WAC teams between 2000 and 2010. Louisiana Tech's Cheryl Ford was the
leading vote getter with 200 votes. Joining her on the team are Techsters Shan
Moore, Tasha Williams and Shanavia Dowdell. Rounding out the group is Fresno
State's Jaleesa Ross.
FRESNO
STATE COMPLETES PERFECT SEASON IN WAC PLAY
After
going a perfect 16-0 in WAC play, Fresno State claimed the WAC regular-season
title and the top seed in the WAC Tournament. The Bulldogs became the fourth
team ever to post an undefeated mark in WAC play. Fresno State's previous best
record in the WAC was 14-2, posted in 2007-08 and 2005-06.
ROSS
BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD FOR CAREER THREE-POINTERS
Fresno
State's Jaleesa Ross set the school record for three-pointers in a career at
the 14:32 mark at Boise State on Feb. 27, giving Fresno State a 64-40 lead.
Ross hit three treys in the game and now has 287 for her career. Ross' total
also ranks second in the WAC record books. At her current pace, Ross would
finish her career right around the WAC record of 365, held by Becky Hammon of
Colorado State.
DOWDELL
TOPS NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Reigning
WAC Player of the Year Shanavia Dowdell led the nation with 22 doubles-doubles,
including 14 of the 16 WAC games. She also ranked third nationally in
rebounding (12.4), 28th in field goal percentage (52.7) and 40th in scoring
(18.0).
HARRIS
ENDS CAREER IN WAC TOP 10 IN CAREER SCORING
Boise
State senior Tasha Harris closed out her career with 1,751 career points, good
for ninth place all-time in the WAC. She also had 483 made free throws on her
career, good for fifth place all-time in the WAC.
VAN
HOOGEN SEVENTH ON WAC STEALS CHART
Boise
State senior Jessica Van Hoogen had 288 steals on her career, good for seventh
place all-time in the WAC career record books.
JOHNSON
BREAKS UTAH STATE CAREER BLOCKS RECORD
Utah
State senior Nicole Johnson recorded her 128th career block at the 19:07 mark
of the second half at Nevada on Feb. 13 when she blocked a Shavon Moore jumper.
In doing so, she took sole possession of the Aggie career record for blocked
shots. Johnson now has 133 career blocks and 48 blocks this season, which
places her tied for third on USU's single-season charts.
BSU'S
HARRIS, VAN HOOGEN NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Boise
State's Tasha Harris and Jessica Van Hoogen were named to the ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-District Team as selected by the College Sports Information
Directors of America (CoSIDA). Harris was named to the District 8 first team,
while Van Hoogen was named to the second team.