IDAHO'S OLORUNNIFE NAMED VERIZON WIRELESS
WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Idaho
post Yinka Olorunnife, a senior from Windsor, Canada (National Elite
Development), recorded two double-doubles to average 19.0 points and 11.0 rebounds
in a pair of wins for the Vandals. On
Wednesday, she had 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds
against Eastern Washington. Saturday at
UC Santa Barbara, Olorunnife scored 17 points and hauled in 12 rebounds. She was 4-of-9 from three-point range in the
double overtime victory. For the week,
she shot 13-of-26 from the field, including 7-of-13 from behind the arc. The award is the second for Olorunnife in her
career and first for a Vandal player this season.
Others
nominated:
Kati
Isham, Jr., G, Boise State -
averaged 17.0 points and was 12-of-19 from the field in two wins last
week. She scored 21 points versus
Southern Utah and added 13 against Eastern Washington. Isham was also 5-of-7 from three-point range.
Hayley
Munro, Sr., F, Fresno State - averaged 14.0 points and 14.0 rebounds in a split of two
games. She had double-doubles in both
games with 10 points and 10 rebounds versus Cal Poly and 18 points and 18
rebounds in a win over UC Irvine.
Breanna
Arbuckle, Jr., F, Hawai'i -
scored at least 13 points in all three games last week, averaging 14.3 points
and 6.0 rebounds to be named the MVP of the Rainbow Wahine Classic. Against Eastern Michigan, she scored 16
points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her third career double-double. She shot 14-of-25 (.560) from the field in
the three games.
Adrienne
Johnson, Sr., F, Louisiana Tech - scored 26 points in a win over Western Kentucky and added 23 at
Arkansas-Little Rock to average 24.5 points last week. She was 18-of-36 from the field and 13-of-15
from the free throw line.
Madison
Spence, Sr., G, New Mexico State - averaged 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.0 steals
in a split of two games. In an overtime
win at UTEP, she scored 18 points and had a career-high six steals to go along
with a half-court buzzer shot at the end of the first half.
Ashlee
Brown, Jr., F, Utah State -
averaged 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in two games. Against North Dakota State, she had a
career-high 20 points and then added 16 points and six assists in a game
against Montana.
IDAHO LAST UNDEFEATED WAC TEAM - Idaho beat Eastern Washington last Wednesday
and added an overtime road win at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday to improve to
3-0 on the season. The Vandals are the
last team in the WAC without a loss after Boise State, Fresno State and
Louisiana Tech all came up short in games last week.
HAWAI'I NAMED RUNNER-UP IN OWN TOURNAMENT - Hawai'i opened its season last Friday in the
Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic with a 66-58 win over Cal State
Northridge. Hawai'i dropped a game
against Eastern Michigan, 83-67, on Saturday night, but came back with a 54-49
win over Oregon State on Sunday. Oregon
State was also 2-1 in the tournament and earned the title on a tie-breaker by allowing
the least amount of points (130) overall.
Hawai'i's Breanna Arbuckle was named the MVP of the tournament while
Keisha Kanekoa was named to the all-tournament team.
SIX WAC TEAMS PLAY IN TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
- A busy schedule is on tap this week. Six WAC teams are participating in
tournaments with three being hosted by WAC schools. San Jose State travels to the Great Alaska
Shootout beginning Tuesday night. On
Friday, New Mexico State hosts the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic, Nevada
hosts the Nugget Classic and Hawai'i hosts the Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown
while Idaho travels to Oregon for the Oregon Tournament. On Saturday, Boise State heads to Fort
Collins, Colo. for the CSU Thanksgiving Classic.
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.
Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches All-WAC
Teams
First
Team
Adrienne Johnson, Louisiana Tech
Shavon Moore, Nevada
Hayley Munro, Fresno State
Tahnee Robinson, Nevada
Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State
Second
Team
Whitney Jones, Louisiana Tech
Rachele Kloke, Idaho
Jasmine Lowe, New Mexico State
Yinka Olorunnife, Idaho
Madison Spence, New Mexico State
Preseason Women's Basketball Media All-WAC
Teams
First
Team
Adrienne Johnson, Louisiana Tech
Rachele Kloke, Idaho
Hayley Munro, Fresno State
Tahnee Robinson, Nevada
Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State
Second
Team
Janie Bos, Boise State
Shavon Moore, Nevada
Yinka Olorunnife, Idaho
Madison Spence, New Mexico State
Amber White, Utah State
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.
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.