THIS WEEK IN WAC BASKETBALL - The second week of conference action begins
on Wednesday night with New Mexico State (8-8/2-0) hosting Nevada (12-3/1-1) at
7:00 p.m. MT. On Thursday night, ESPNU
will televise the Louisiana Tech-Fresno State game at 6:00 p.m. PT. Anne Marie Anderson (play-by-play) and Abby
Waner (analyst) will call the action. It
is the second of four scheduled games on ESPNU this year. Both teams opened the WAC season with a pair
of road victories. Fresno State has won
20 consecutive conference games.
FRESNO STATE'S THOMPSON NAMED VERIZON
WIRELESS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Fresno State guard Taylor Thompson, a freshman from Cache, Okla.
(Cache HS), scored a career-high 21 points in Fresno State's 79-69 win at Utah
State on Saturday. The win was the 19th
straight conference victory for the Bulldogs.
Thompson added four assists and four steals while shooting 7-of-11 from
the field (including 5-of-9 from three-point range) in 30 minutes of action. Her previous high had been 13 points and she
had scored in double figures in just two of her previous 14 games. The award is the first for Thompson in her
career and first for a Bulldog player this season.
Others
nominated:
Whitney
Jones, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech - averaged 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in a pair of road wins
last week. At San Jose State, she scored
11 points and then added 18 points two days later at Hawai'i. She was 11-of-24 from the field for the week,
including 3-of-6 from three-point range in both games.
Tabytha
Wampler, Jr., F, New Mexico State - averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebonds in a pair of road
wins. Against Hawai'i, Wampler scored 17
points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Two nights later, she had a double-double
with 12 points and 12 rebounds at San Jose State. Wampler was 10-of-10 from the free throw line
in that game.
Banna
Diop, So., C, Utah State -
averaged 9.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in a split of two games. In the Aggies' conference opener against
Boise State, she tied a school record with eight blocks and added a
double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
For the week, she was 7-of-13 (.538) from the field and made all four of
her free throw attempts.
FRESNO
STATE, LOUISIANA TECH, NEW MEXICO STATE OPEN WAC PLAY WITH ROAD WINS - Fresno State, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico
State each picked up a pair of road wins to open WAC play last week. For the
Bulldogs, it's the sixth time in the last seven years they have opened
conference play with a 2-0 record, while New Mexico State has managed the feat
in four of the last five seasons. For
Louisiana Tech, it's the first time since the 2006-07 season it has opened WAC
play at 2-0.
NON-CONFERENCE - The WAC is 62-57 (.521) in non-conference
games this season to be ranked 14th in conference RPI. Three teams are in the top 100 led by
Louisiana Tech (61), Fresno State (67) and Nevada (73).
WAC TOURNAMENT HEADS TO LAS VEGAS, TICKETS
NOW ON SALE - The
2011 WAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will be held March 9-12 at the
Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will include the top eight teams in the
regular-season standings. Ticket information is available at
www.wacbasketballtournament.com.
WAC ANNOUNCES TOURNAMENT FORMAT CHANGE - The WAC will change its postseason men's and
women's basketball tournament format, effective for the 2011 tournament. The
change was recommended by both the WAC men's and women's basketball coaches and
approved by the WAC Board of Directors. The change will reward 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 and two women's games featuring the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and
No. 6 versus 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. The change also
results in two men's and two women's games being played each day of the
tournament except for Saturday, which will feature the men's and women's
championship games.
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.
The complete schedule:
Thursday, Jan. 6-Idaho at Nevada, 8 p.m. (PT)
Thursday, Jan. 13-Louisiana Tech at Fresno State, 6 p.m. (PT)
Monday, Feb. 28-Louisiana Tech at Nevada, 8 p.m. (PT)
Saturday, March 12-WAC Tournament Championship, 1 p.m. (PT)
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (9-7, 0-2 WAC)
Faces San Jose State on Thursday night and
is 10-10 all-time versus the Spartans ... in its WAC opener against Utah State,
shot a season-low 31.9 percent from the field including 3-of-24 (.125) from
three-point range ... was tied at halftime at Nevada at 26 before being
outscored 42-25 in the second half ... shot 32.7 percent from the field in that
game ... sophomore F Kinzi Poteet played six minutes in that game before
fouling out ... despite the past two games, Boise State is second in the WAC in
FG percentage (.427) ... junior G Kati Isham leads the WAC in three-point field
goal percentage (.438) making 42-of-96 ...
she is fifth in the WAC in scoring with 15.4 points per game ... Boise
State has posted four straight seasons with winning records.
Fresno State Bulldogs (11-5, 2-0 WAC)
Has won 20 consecutive conference games,
three shy of the WAC record set by Louisiana Tech from 2003-05 ... scored a
school-record 18 three-point field goals in the 84-67 win at Idaho on Monday
night ... senior G Jaleesa Ross had 28 points and made 8-of-15 from behind the
arc ... Fresno State leads the WAC in scoring with 74.9 points per game ... has
hit a trey in 115 straight games ... senior G Jaleesa Ross is the school's
career three-point leader with 342 long balls ... she has made a WAC-best 3.4
three-point field goals per game ... with 1,724 points, she needs 55 to become
the program's all-time leading scorer ... the Bulldogs have been to three
straight NCAA Tournaments.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (6-9, 0-2 WAC)
Plays its next five games on the road ... is
0-2 in road games this year and has lost its last 12 WAC road games ...
freshman F Kamilah Jackson leads the WAC with eight double-doubles ... she also
leads the WAC in rebounding with 12.3 per contest and field goal percentage
(.539) ... she is the only WAC player to average a double-double this year with
14.1 points per game and is the only freshman in the top 15 in the WAC in
scoring (eighth) ... Jackson had her second 20-rebound performance when she
pulled down 20 against Louisiana Tech last week ... senior G Megan Tinnin is
the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals with 144 in her career
... Hawai'i is second in the WAC in blocked shots with 4.2 per game.
Idaho Vandals (8-6, 1-1 WAC)
Snapped Nevada's seven-game home winning
streak in last Thursday's 61-56 overtime victory ... all nine of Idaho's points
in overtime came from the free throw line ... senior G Rachele Kloke had her
second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in that game ...
freshman C Ashley Walters leads the WAC in blocks with 1.9 per game ... senior
F Yinka Olorunnife's 878 career rebounds are the most of any active player in
the WAC and fifth all-time in conference history ... the Vandals lead the WAC
in free throw percentage (.738), field goal percentage defense (.376) and
blocked shots (5.1 per game) ... the Vandals are approaching their 500th
all-time victory and are currently 499-497.
Louisiana Tech Lady
Techsters (10-5, 2-0 WAC)
With its win at San Jose State, snapped a
steak of three straight season-opening losses in conference play ... held SJSU
to 34 points, the fewest by an opponent since Nicholls State scored 33 in
November of 2008 ... senior G Whitney Jones became the 40th member of the
school's 1,000-point club last week ... senior F Adrienne Johnson is second in
the WAC and 13th in the nation in scoring with 20.7 points per game ... she has
scored in double figures in 14 of the 15 games this year ... the Lady Techsters
lead the WAC in scoring defense with 60.0 ppg ... head coach Teresa
Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and
Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame this past summer.
Nevada Wolf Pack (12-3, 1-1 WAC)
Its 12-3 record is tied for the best start
in school history ... trailed by nine points against Idaho before going on a
10-0 run late in the second half to help force overtime ... is currently first
or second in the conference in eight statistical categories, leading in field
goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, rebounding offense,
rebounding defense and rebounding margin ... junior G Tahnee Robinson leads the
WAC in scoring and is 11th in the nation with 21.2 points per game ... she has
had a WAC-best eight 20-point performances this season ... Nevada leads the WAC
in rebounding margin (+7.5) ... has a 46-13 record (.780) at Lawlor Events
Center since 2007-08.
New Mexico State Aggies (8-8, 2-0 WAC)
Opens the WAC season with five of its first
seven games on the road ... with its two wins last week, snapped a five-game
losing streak ... is the only team in the WAC with four players averaging in
double figures in scoring ... junior F Tabytha Wampler is first in the WAC in
free throw percentage (.866) ... senior G Jasmine Lowe leads the WAC in steals
with 3.3 per game ... is 7-2 when scoring 65 points or more this season ... the
52-46 win at San Jose State marked the first time this year NM State had won
when scoring under 65 points ... leads the WAC in fewest turnover with 15.7 per
game ... the Aggies' 2010-11 schedule includes a dozen games against teams that
played in postseason tournaments a season ago.
San Jose Spartans (0-15, 0-2 WAC)
Completed a six-game homestand, the
Spartans' longest since playing nine in a row at home in the 2000-01 season ...
in its last game, had a 28-21 lead at halftime, its largest of the year ... its
loss against Louisiana Tech was its fifth straight WAC opener after winning its
previous five WAC openers ... has now lost 19 games in a row, the longest
active losing streak in the country ... is one of five teams without a win this
year (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Centenary, Columbia and Vermont) ... junior G Sara
Plavljanin is the only Spartan averaging
in double figures in scoring (10.7 ppg) ... she scored a career-high 28 points
in the game against New Mexico State last week ... the Spartans will travel
close to 21,000 miles this season.
Utah State Aggies (7-8, 1-1 WAC)
With
her 11 blocks last week, sophomore C Banna Diop moved into the school's top ten
list for career blocks and is currently sixth with 62 ... junior F Ashlee Brown
is the only Aggie averaging in double figures in scoring (13.7 ppg) ... senior
G Alice Coddington leads the WAC in
assists (4.7) and is second in steals (3.0) ... she leads the WAC in assist to
turnover ratio at 2.0 ... has won three road games this year and is two shy of
tying the mark for all of last season ... is 3-3 on the road and 4-5 at home
... is last in the WAC in scoring defense (69.2 ppg) and three-point field goal
percentage defense (.363) ... is second in the WAC in both assists (15.3) and
steals (10.5).