THIS WEEK IN WAC BASKETBALL - WAC play begins this Thursday with four
games on the schedule. ESPNU will
televise the Idaho-Nevada game at 8:00 p.m. PT.
Anne Marie Anderson (play-by-play) and Abby Waner (analyst) will call the
action. It is the first of four
scheduled games on ESPNU this year. The
Wolf Pack are 11-2 on the season and have won five games in a row. Nevada is 7-0 at home on the year.
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 Nevada
(41), Louisiana Tech (46) and Fresno State (88).
LOUISIANA TECH'S JOHSNON NAMED VERIZON
WIRELESS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Louisiana Tech forward Adrienne Johnson, a senior from Franklin,
La. (Franklin HS), averaged 27.0 points and 11.3 rebounds while recording
double-doubles in three games last week.
In the Fun and Sun Classic in Miami, Johnson opened the tournament with
30 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Georgia. In the championship game, she added 17 points
and 10 rebounds versus Marquette to be named to the all-tournament team. On Sunday, she scored 34 points and pulled
down 13 rebounds in a home win over Southern Miss. The 34 points were a career-high and the most
by a WAC player this season. For the
week, she shot 34-of-50 (.680) from the field, 9-of-11 (.818) from the free throw
line and averaged 2.7 steals and 2.0 assists in the three games. The award is
the fifth for Johnson in her career and first for a Lady Techster player this
season.
Others
nominated:
Lauren
Lenhardt, So., C, Boise State - averaged 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in a split of two games
last week. Against College of Idaho, she
scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for her first career
double-double.
Jaleesa
Ross, Sr., G, Fresno State -
scored a season-high 29 points, dished out five assists and grabbed four
rebounds in an 82-78 loss against USC.
Kamilah
Jackson, Fr., F, Hawai'i -
averaged 19.3 points and 16.0 rebounds over three games while being named the
MVP of the Pepsi Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Against Columbia, she had 19 points and 15 rebounds. In the next game against Cal State
Bakersfield, she put up career-highs with 31 points and 25 rebounds. The 25 boards ties a WAC record and was the
most by any player in the country this year until tied two days later by
Central Connecticut State's Leanne Crockett.
Yinka
Olorunnife, Sr., F, Idaho -
scored 15 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a 71-66 win over Portland. She also made seven steals and dished out
three assists in the game.
Shavon
Moore, Sr., F, Nevada -
averaged 20.0 and 9.0 rebounds in a pair of wins. Against BYU, she scored 16 points and had 11
rebounds and then followed that up with a career-high 24 points at Weber State
including the game-winning shot with 6.5 seconds left.
Madison
Spence, Sr., G, New Mexico State - averaged 17.0 points, 4.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in two games
last week. Against UTEP, she scored a
game-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. She had 12 points in the final 4:40 of that
game.
A.J.
Newton, Fr., G, San Jose State - averaged 20.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in two games. Against Mount St. Mary's, she scored a
career-high 22 points, the most by a Spartan player this year.
Ashlee
Brown, Jr., F, Utah State -
scored a team-high 15 points in a loss at Utah.
She also added two assists, two steals and two blocks in the game.
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.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (9-5, 0-0 WAC)
Sophomore F Lauren Lenhardt led the Broncos
in scoring in both games last week with 18 points in each contest ... she had
16 points in the first half of the College of Idaho game ... freshman G Diana
Lee had her first career double-double against College of Idaho with 11 points
and a school-record 13 assists ... the 13 assists are the most by any WAC
player this year and tied for the sixth most in the nation ... Lee leads the
WAC in assist to turnover ratio at 2.04 ... junior G Kati Isham leads the WAC
in three-point field goal percentage (.458) making 38-of-83 ... the 36 point
win over the College of Idaho was the second largest by a WAC team this year
... Boise State has posted four straight seasons with winning records.
Fresno State Bulldogs (9-5, 0-0 WAC)
Sophomore G/F Rosie Moult scored 21 points
and was 6-of-6 from three-point range in last night's 80-57 win over UC
Riverside ... senior G/F Haley Munro missed the game due to medical reasons ...
Fresno State leads the WAC in scoring with 74.0 points per game ... the
Bulldogs enter WAC play having won 18 straight regular season conference games
... has hit a trey in 113 straight games ... senior G Jaleesa Ross is the
school's career three-point leader with 330 long balls ... with 1,684 points, she
needs 95 to become the program's all-time leading scorer ... Ross made a
career-high seven three-pointers in the game against USC last week ... the
Bulldogs have been to three straight NCAA Tournaments.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (6-7, 0-0 WAC)
In its game against Cal State Bakersfield
last week, scored a season-high 84 points and grabbed a season-high 57 rebounds
... freshman F Kamilah Jackson leads the WAC with seven double-doubles ... she
also leads the WAC in rebounding with 11.9 per contest and is second in the WAC
in field goal percentage (.546) ... Jackson broke the school's freshman
single-game scoring record with 31 points against Cal State Bakersfield ... she
was also one rebound shy of tying the school's rebound record with 25 in that
game ... senior G Keisha Kanekoa became the 16th member of the school's
1,000-point club last week ... senior G Megan Tinnin is the school's all-time
leader in three-point field goals with 142 in her career.
Idaho Vandals (7-5, 0-0 WAC)
Snapped a three-game losing streak with its
win against Portland last week ... senior G Bianca Cheever returned to the
starting lineup after missing eight games due to a calf injury ... completes
its second five-game road trip this Thursday with a game at Nevada (ESPNU) ...
freshman C Ashley Walters leads the WAC and is 32nd in the nation in blocks
with 2.2 per game ... Yinka Olorunnife's 859 career rebounds are the most of
any active player in the WAC ... the Vandals lead the WAC in free throw
percentage (.750), field goal percentage defense (.371) and blocked shots (5.33
per game) ... the Vandals are approaching their 500th all-time victory and are
currently 498-497.
Louisiana Tech Lady
Techsters (8-5, 0-0 WAC)
Its strength of schedule is ranked 24th
according to collegerpi.com ... was the only non-conference team to beat
Mississippi State and Tulane at home this year ... senior G Whitney Jones is 11
points shy of becoming the 40th player in school history with 1,000 points ...
senior F Adrienne Johnson is second in the WAC and 11th in the nation in
scoring with 22.7 points per game ... Johnson leads the WAC in both field goal
percentage (.549) and free throw percentage (.848) ... the Lady Techsters lead
the WAC in scoring defense with 61.3 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 (11-2, 0-0 WAC)
Its 11-2 record is the best start in school
history ... in last week's game against BYU, the Wolf Pack had two players with
double-doubles as Shavon Moore had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla Williams
scored 10 points to go along with 12 boards ... Johnna Ward led all scorers
with 17 points ... junior G Tahnee Robinson missed her second straight game due
to the death of her grandfather ... she leads the WAC in scoring and is sixth
in the nation with 22.7 points per game ... she has made a WAC-best 3.09
three-point field goals per game ... junior G Amanda Johnson leads the WAC in
assists with 4.5 per game ... Nevada leads the WAC in rebounding margin (+7.9)
... has a 45-12 record (.789) at Lawlor Events Center since 2007-08.
New Mexico State Aggies (6-8, 0-0 WAC)
Opens the WAC season with five of its first
seven games on the road ... has a five-game losing streak and and has lost six
of its last seven games ... senior G Madison Spence had a game-high 20 points
against UTEP ... she has averaged 15.0 points in the four games back after
missing nearly a month due to a concussion ... junior F Tabytha Wampler had her
fifth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds versus UTEP ... she is
second in the WAC in free throw percentage (.845) ... senior G Jasmine Lowe
leads the WAC in steals with 3.2 per game ... the Aggies' 2010-11 schedule
includes a dozen games against teams that played in postseason tournaments a
season ago.
San Jose Spartans (0-13, 0-0 WAC)
Is in the midst of a six-game homestand, the
Spartans' longest since playing nine in a row at home in the 2000-01 season ...
has now lost 17 games in a row ... against Mount St. Mary's, freshman G AJ
Newton recorded a career-high 22 points, while junior G Sara Plavljanin notched
16 points ... junior C Myesha Broaden produced her first-career double-double
leading the team with 10 boards and adding 14 points ... Newton tallied a
Spartan-high 18 points and freshman F Marisa Williams grabbed seven boards
versus Santa Clara ... the Spartan's leading scorer, Brittany Johnson, did not
suit up against Santa Clara due to a knee injury in the previous game ... will
travel close to 21,000 miles this season.
Utah State Aggies (6-7, 0-0 WAC)
Against
Utah, the Aggies had three players score in double digits for the first time in
the last three games as junior Ashlee Brown netted a team-high 15 points and
sophomores Banna Diop and Devyn Christensen both added 12 points ... senior G
Alice Coddington is second in the WAC in both assists (4.3) and steals (2.9)
... 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 3-4 at home ... opens the WAC seasons
with three straight home games ... has lost three of its last four games after
a five-game winning streak ... is last in the WAC in three-point field goal
percentage defense (.383) ... is second in the WAC in steals with 10.5 per
game.