DENVER - The 2009-10 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 for the second year in a row.
Dowdell, a 6-1 senior forward from Calera, Ala. (Calera HS), becomes the fifth player in WAC history to earn the award in back-to-back seasons. She led the WAC in scoring (17.9) and rebounding (12.4), and ranked second in field goal percentage (.520) and fifth in blocks (1.29). She also tallied a WAC-best 20 double-doubles, including 14 of 16 conference games, and was named WAC Player of the Week four times.
Fresno State head coach Adrian Wiggins earns WAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Wiggins led the Bulldogs to a perfect 16-0 record in WAC play, becoming the first WAC team since Louisiana Tech in 2002-03 to accomplish the feat. Fresno State has won 17 straight games, dating back to Jan. 2, and has an RPI of 27.
Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross earned the WAC’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. A 5-8 guard from Pinole, Calif. (Pinole Valley HS), led the league with 2.94 steals per game in WAC play. Ross was also named first team all-WAC and to the all-Defensive team.
Nevada’s Tahnee Robinson is the WAC’s Newcomer of the Year. Robinson, a 5-9 junior guard from Fort Washakie, Wyo. (Sheridan College), becomes the second Nevada player to receive the honor. In WAC play, Robinson ranked third in the conference in scoring with 17.8 points per game, third in three-point field goal percentage (.436), seventh in field goal percentage (.485) and 10th in free throw percentage (.732). She reached double-digit scoring in 19 of the 21 games she played, including 15 of 16 WAC games.
Four different schools are represented on the first team, including Louisiana Tech’s Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson, Fresno State’s Ross, Nevada’s Robinson and Boise State’s Tasha Harris. Dowdell, Johnson, Ross and Harris receive first-team all-WAC honors for the second time, while Robinson earns the honor for the first time.
The all-WAC second teamers were Crystal Boyd of New Mexico State, Idaho’s Rachele Kloke, Hayley Munro of Fresno State, Nevada’s Shavon Moore and Amber White of Utah State. Munro is a repeat selection, while the other four are making their first appearance on the team.
The all-Freshman team contains five players from four different teams, including Boise State’s Lauren Lenhardt and Julia Marshall, Fresno State’s Rosie Moult, New Mexico State’s Camila Rosen, and Utah State’s Banna Diop.
Ross headlined the all-Defensive team and was joined by Louisiana Tech’s Johnson and Dowdell, Nevada’s Moore and Alice Coddington of Utah State.
The 2010 WAC Tournament will be held March 10-13, at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. The women’s tournament schedule includes four quarterfinal games on March 10, semifinals on March 12 and the championship game on March 13. Saturday’s title game will be televised live on ESPNU at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.
| First
Team All-WAC |
|
|
|
|
|
| Shanavia Dowdell |
Louisiana Tech |
F |
6-1 |
Sr. |
Calera, Ala. (Calera) |
| Tasha Harris |
Boise State |
G |
5-7 |
Sr. |
Longmont, Colo. (Skyline) |
| Adrienne Johnson |
Louisiana Tech |
F |
6-1 |
Jr. |
Franklin, La. (Franklin) |
| Tahnee Robinson |
Nevada |
G |
5-9 |
Jr. |
Fort Washakie, Wyo. (Sheridan College) |
| Jaleesa Ross |
Fresno State |
G |
5-8 |
Jr. |
Pinole, Calif. (Pinole Valley) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team All-WAC |
|
|
|
|
|
| Crystal Boyd |
New Mexico State |
G |
5-11 |
Sr. |
Little Rock, Ark. (Texas) |
| Rachele Kloke |
Idaho |
G |
5-11 |
Jr. |
Stanwood, Wash. (Stanwood) |
| Shavon Moore |
Nevada |
F |
6-1 |
Jr. |
Riverside, Calif. (J.W. North) |
| Hayley Munro |
Fresno State |
G/F |
6-1 |
Jr. |
Montmorency, Victoria, Australia (Viewbank College) |
| Amber White |
Utah State |
G/F |
5-10 |
Jr. |
San Leandro, Calif. (San Leandro) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| All-Defensive Team |
|
|
|
|
|
| Alice Coddington |
Utah State |
G |
5-10 |
Jr. |
Canberra, Australia (Radford College) |
| Shanavia Dowdell |
Louisiana Tech |
F |
6-1 |
Sr. |
Calera, Ala. (Calera) |
| Adrienne Johnson |
Louisiana Tech |
F |
6-1 |
Jr. |
Franklin, La. (Franklin) |
| Shavon Moore |
Nevada |
F |
6-1 |
Jr. |
Riverside, Calif. (J.W. North) |
| Jaleesa Ross |
Fresno State |
G |
5-8 |
Jr. |
Pinole, Calif. (Pinole Valley) |
| All-Freshman
Team |
|
|
|
|
| Banna Diop |
Utah State |
C |
6-6 |
Dakar, Senegal (Kurashiki Suisho) |
| Lauren Lenhardt |
Boise State |
F |
6-2 |
Eagle, Idaho (Eagle) |
| Julia Marshall |
Boise State |
G |
5-9 |
Wichita, Kan. (Bishop Carroll) |
| Rosie Moult |
Fresno State |
G/F |
6-1 |
Olinda, Victoria, Australia (Vermont Secondary) |
| Camila Rosen |
New Mexico State |
G |
6-1 |
Berkeley, Calif. (Berkeley) |
| Player
of the Year: Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech |
| Defensive Player of the Year:
Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State |
| Newcomer of the Year: Tahnee
Robinson, Nevada |
| Coach of the Year: Adrian
Wiggins, Fresno State |