ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS TO HOST WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2012 WAC Basketball Tournament will be held March 7-10 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. It will be the second year in a row the tournament has been at the Orleans. The tournament features all eight men’s and women’s teams.
LOUISIANA TECH FAVORED IN PRESEASON POLLS
Louisiana Tech, which won the WAC regular-season title last year, was the preseason favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference in both the coaches and media polls.
In the coaches poll, the Lady Techsters received 47 points and five first-place votes to beat out Utah State for the top spot. The Aggies captured second place with 40 points and two first-place votes. Fresno State came in third with 36 points and received the other first-place vote.
In the media poll, Louisiana Tech 13 first-place votes, earning 144 points. Meanwhile, Fresno State was picked to finish second with 129 points and three first-place votes, just ahead of Utah State in third place with 126 points and the other three 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 Utah State senior Ashlee Brown as the WAC’s preseason Player of the Year.
Preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches All-WAC Teams
First Team
Jasmine Bendolph, Louisiana Tech
Ashlee Brown, Utah State
Whitney Jones, Louisiana Tech
Rosie Moult, Fresno State
Kayla Williams, Nevada
Second Team
Devyn Christensen, Utah State
Kamilah Jackson, Hawai‘i
Shawna-Lei Kuehu, Hawai‘i
Taylor Thompson, Fresno State
Tabytha Wampler, New Mexico State
Preseason Women’s Basketball Media All-WAC Teams
First Team
Jasmine Bendolph, Louisiana Tech
Ashlee Brown, Utah State
Kamilah Jackson, Hawai‘i
Rosie Moult, Fresno State
Tabytha Wampler, New Mexico State
Second Team
Shantale Bramble-Donaldson, Louisiana Tech
Amanda Johnson, Nevada
Whitney Jones, Louisiana Tech
Taylor Thompson, Fresno State
Kayla Williams, Nevada
STAT LEADERS BACK
Just one of the top 10 scorers in the WAC from the 2010-11 season returns this year, Utah State’s Ashlee Brown, who ranked fourth with 15.2 points per game.
Five of the top 10 rebounding leaders from a year ago return, including Hawai‘i’s Kamilah Jackson, who led the WAC and ranked fourth nationally with 11.9 rebounds per game. Also returning are Brown, who ranked fifth (8.4), Nevada’s Kayla Williams (6th, 7.6), New Mexico State’s Tabytha Wampler (7th, 7.6) and Hawai‘i’s Breanna Arbuckle (9th, 6.3).
The top two assists leaders, Nevada’s Amanda Johnson (4.48) and Louisiana Tech’s Jasmine Bendolph (4.31) return, while three of the top 10 steals leaders – Fresno State’s Taylor Thompson (3rd, 2.48), Utah State’s Jenna Johnson (5th, 2.15) and Fresno State’s Rosie Moult (8th, 2.03) – return. Six of the top 10 blockers return, led by Utah State’s Banna Diop, who last year led the WAC with 1.88 blocks per game. Also returning are Idaho’s Ashley Walters (2nd, 1.33), Arbuckle (3rd, 1.31), Brown (4th, 1.10), Shawna-Lei Kuehu of Hawai‘i (5th, 0.96) and Williams (6th, 0.94).
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
WAC teams have several key non-conference matchups this season, including games against at least 26 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season.
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING
A total of three players from all-WAC first and second teams will return this season. Utah State’s Ashlee Brown is the lone returner from the first team, while Louisiana Tech’s Jasmine Bendolph and Fresno State’s Rosie Moult return from the second team. None of the All-Defensive Team return, while four of the five All-Freshman Team honorees should return.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs return two starters from last year’s team that earned the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament ... Fresno State has played in the WAC Tournament championship game each the last four years, winning the title three times ... Last season, Fresno State had three all-WAC honorees – Jaleesa Ross, Rosie Moult and Taylor Thompson. Ross was named to the first team for the third straight year, while Moult was a second team honoree and Thompson was named to the All-Freshman Team ... The Bulldogs have been to four straight NCAA Tournaments ... Head coach Adrian Wiggins has been named WAC Coach of the Year twice in the last four years ... Over the past two seasons, the Bulldogs have gone 30-2 in conference games. The Bulldogs’ only two losses during that time were to Louisiana Tech ... Ross is the school’s career three-point leader with 389 long balls, which ranks third all-time in NCAA history ... Fresno State, which ranked first nationally with 9.8 three-pointers per game last year, has hit a trey in 132 straight games ... The Bulldogs open the season this Friday at USC, then host Santa Clara on Sunday.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i returns seven letterwinners, including four seniors and three sophomores ... Last year, the Rainbow Wahine had four players in the top 30 in the WAC in scoring, led by Kamilah Jackson in 15th (11.9) ... Hawai‘i is led by WAC All-Freshmen team players Jackson and Shawna-Lei Kuehu and senior Breanna Arbuckle. Jackson led the WAC and ranked fourth nationally with 11.9 rebounds per game, while Arbuckle ranked third in the WAC in blocked shots (1.3), 10th in defensive rebounds (4.1) and 14th in offensive rebounds (2.1) ... UH welcomes eight newcomers, including four true freshmen and four transfers, three of which are originally from Hawai‘i – Kanisha Bello (Idaho), Janelle Nomura (CS Northridge) and Vicky Tagalicod (USC) ... Hawai‘i carries a diverse roster with players from three different states and three foreign countries ... Last season, Hawai‘i led the WAC in field goal percentage defense, offensive rebounds and offensive rebound percentage, and ranked second in rebounding margin and blocked shots ... The Rainbow Wahine open the season this Friday when they host Hawai‘i-Hilo.
IDAHO VANDALS (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
After graduating five seniors who spent a combined 16 years in an Idaho uniform, the Vandals return just nine combined seasons of Division I experience to the roster ... Idaho features eight new players, including seven freshmen ... The Vandals have just 35 combined career starts returning to the roster – Keri Arendse (25), Alyssa Charlston (6) and Ganeaya Rogers (4) ... Newlee added Jordan Green and Kristi Zeller to his coaching staff. Green was an assistant coach at Idaho State, where he worked under Newlee from 2004-08. Zeller joins the Vandals after playing and coaching at Toledo from 2004-11 ... The Vandals play 15 home games in 2011-12 ... Idaho made its first postseason in 25 years last year when it played in the Women’s Basketball Invitational ... Idaho’s 15 wins in 2010-11 were the most in a season since 2004-05 ... Idaho will play 14 games against nine NCAA and WNIT teams from 2011 ... Idaho’s 2010-11 team picked up the program’s 500th win on Jan. 13 against Hawai‘i in the Cowan Spectrum. The Vandals enter the 2011-12 season with a 506-508 (.499) all-time record ... Idaho opens the season on Saturday when it hosts Corban.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech returns seven letterwinners from last year’s team that went 24-8 overall and 15-1 in the WAC, including second team all-WAC point guard Jasmine Bendolph and three-year starter Whitney Jones ... Tech lost five players from last year’s team, including WAC Player of the Year Adrienne Johnson, who ranks fifth all-time in scoring (1,985) ... Louisiana Tech welcomes five high school newcomers – guards Kanedria Andrews, Courtney Hayes and Laura Owen, and forwards Whitney Frazier and Savanna Langston. Andrews, Hayes and Frazier all led their respective high school teams to state championships as seniors ... LA Tech made its 27th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year when it fell to Rutgers in the first round ... With its win over Nevada in the 2011 WAC Tournament, Louisiana Tech joined Tennessee as the only two programs in women’s college basketball history to win 1,000 games ... During its 10-year membership in the WAC, Louisiana Tech boasts eight regular-season titles, five tournament titles and eight WAC Player of the Year honorees ... The Lady Techsters open the season on Friday by hosting Missouri State.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada is coming off its most successful season in school history, finishing 22-11 on the year and winning its first-ever postseason game in the WNIT ... The Wolf Pack will be a young team, having lost six seniors and seven letterwinners, including WAC first teamers Tahnee Robinson and Shavon Moore ... Nevada will be led by seniors Amanda Johnson and Kayla Williams. Johnson led the WAC in assists per game (4.48) and ranked second in assist/turnover ratio(1.74), while Williams collected eight double-doubles on the season, including a career-high 20 rebounds against Pepperdine ...Dating back to the start of the 2008-09 season, Nevada has out-rebounded or tied its opponents in rebounding in 51 games. Last year, the Pack out-rebounded 23 of 32 opponents ... Nevada has five newcomers this year, all of whom are true freshmen. The incoming class adds two guards, two forwards and a center ... Jane Albright is in her fourth year leading the Wolf Pack and 28th overall. She is tied for 32nd among active NCAA Division I coaches in victories ... Nevada opens the season on Sunday when it hosts St. Martin’s.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
First-year head coach Mark Trakh is the 10th head coach in New Mexico State history and has nearly 30 years of head coaching experience, including 16 at the NCAA Division I level at both USC and Pepperdine ... NM State returns two starters from a 14-win team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament last season ... The Aggies lose the services of a pair of 1,000-point club members in departed seniors Madison Spence and Danisha Corbett ... NM State is a youthful squad with nine underclassmen on a roster of 17 and returns just two players that started more than six games for the Aggies last season ... Jasmine Rutledge earned WAC All-Freshman honors last year to join three teammates also bestowed the honor – Kaitlyn Soto (2009), Tabytha Wampler (2009) and Camila Rosen (2010) ... The Aggies’ schedule includes 12 games against teams that played in postseason tournaments last year ... NM State will host 16 games at the Pan American Center, matching the third-most home contests in the Aggie record books ... The Aggies open the season on Friday at Houston.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Tim La Kose enters his first season at the helm. He is the seventh head women’s basketball coach in San Jose State history ... The first male head coach in SJSU women’s basketball history, La Kose came to San Jose State from Cal State Bakersfield ... Sara Plavljanin was selected as a 2010-11 Academic all-WAC honoree and led the Spartans with 10.7 points and 33.3 minutes per game. Among returning WAC players, she ranks first in minutes played, fourth in three-pointers made (35) and sixth in steals (41) ... Brittany Johnson returns as the team’s top rebounder, averaging 5.8 boards per game last year. She also led the team in blocks per game (0.5) and was second in steals (42) ... In 10 seasons at Cal State Bakersfield, La Kose averaged 21 wins a year and had just one sub-.500 season. His 347 career wins ranks second among active WAC women’s head basketball coaches ... The Spartans play six games against teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament or WNIT last year ... The Spartans return two of their top four scorers from a year ago in Plavljanin (10.7) and Johnson (8.3) ... San Jose State opens the season on Sunday when it hosts San Francisco.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State returns 10 letterwinners, including starters Ashlee Brown, Banna Diop and Jenna Johnson ... USU also returns 75 percent of its offense, including its top three scorers in Brown, Diop and Devyn Christensen ... Brown was the fourth Aggie ever to earn all-WAC honors and just the second to earn first team accolades. She was also named Newcomer of the Year, becoming the first Aggie to earn the honor ... Utah State welcomes six newcomers, including senior transfer Brooke Jackson ... Head coach Raegan Pebley earned WAC Coach of the Year accolades last year for the first time in her career. Pebley was also the first female to earn the award since 2004-05 ... Christensen set the USU single-season record for free throw percentage (.861) ... The Aggies had a program-record 10 WAC wins last season ... Last season, Utah State set two program single-season records – assists (532) and free throws made (478). USU also broke a single-game record when it had 11 blocks against both North Dakota State and San Jose State ... The Aggies open the season on Friday, when they play at Wyoming, then play at South Dakota State on Saturday.