USU’S BROWN NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State senior forward Ashlee Brown has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 6-13. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Brown and the third of her career.
The Chandler, Ariz., native recorded a pair of double-doubles as Utah State went 1-1 on the road last week with a 62-56 win at Wyoming and an 84-73 loss at South Dakota State. In the win against the Cowgirls, Brown scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her 11th career double-double. She also added two assists and a block and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Against the Jackrabbits, a team that has made three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, Brown scored a career-high 31 points on 8-of-11 shooting while adding 11 rebounds and nabbing six steals for her second-consecutive double-double of the 12th of her career. For the week, Brown shot 47 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line, and averaged 24.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game.
Other nominees included: Fresno State’s Ki-Ki Moore averaged 21.5 points, including a career-high 28 against Santa Clara, to go with 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as the Bulldogs went 1-1 on the week ... Kamilah Jackson of Hawai‘i tallied game highs of 15 points and 15 rebounds in a win over Hawaii-Hilo for her 14th career double-double ... Idaho’s Stacey Barr scored a game-high 20 points in her collegiate debut, a win over Corban ... Shantale Bramble-Donaldson of Louisiana Tech finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in a loss to Missouri State ... Nevada’s Kate Kevorken scored a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds and three assists in a win over St. Martin’s ... Tabytha Wampler of New Mexico State scored a team-high 21 points and matched her career high with 18 rebounds for her 10th career double-double in a road win at Houston ... San Jose State’s Sara Plavljanin finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists in a loss to San Francisco.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs fell 65-57 to No. 23 USC in their season opener last Friday, then defeated Santa Clara 83-71 on Sunday ... Against the Trojans, Ki-Ki Moore led Fresno State with 15 points, followed by Rosie Moult with 13 points and a teah-high nine rebounds ... In the win over the Broncos, Moore was 9-of-13 from the field and scored 27 of her career-high 28 points in the second half against Santa Clara ... Blakely Goldberg added 22 points and nine boards ... The Bulldogs forced 27 Santa Clara turnovers ... Moore ranks third in the WAC in scoring (21.5) ... Moult, who drained 98 three-pointers last year, has already hit six this season ... Goldberg, Moore and Moult are all averaging more than 10 points a game ... Four Bulldogs rank in the top 10 in the WAC in three-pointers per game – Moult (2nd, 3.0), Goldberg (4th, 2.0), Moore (7th, 1.5) and Bree Farley (9th, 1.0) ... Fresno State plays 17 games on the road this season, including its next four games ... The Bulldogs play at Pepperdine on Friday and at Cal Poly on Sunday.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (1-0, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i defeated Hawai‘i-Hilo 60-51 last Friday ... Kamilah Jackson led all players with 15 points and 15 rebounds for her 14th career double-double ... Kanisha Bello added 14 points in her UH debut and Rebecca Dew chipped in 10 points and six rebounds in place of Shawna-Lei Kuehu, who sat out with an injury ... Hawai‘i had just eight players see playing time ... UH is now 25-13 in season openers, including victories in their last three ... As a team, the Rainbow Wahine lead the WAC in scoring defense (51.0), field goal percentage defense (.310), rebounding defense (32.0), blocks (3.0) and defensive rebounds (34.0), and rank second in scoring margin (+9.0), free throw percentage (.810) and rebounding margin (+9.0) ... Jackson leads the WAC in defensive rebounds (14.0), ranks second in rebounding and tied for ninth in scoring ... Dew is third in the WAC in field goal percentage (.625) ... The Rainbow Wahine host the Rainbow Wahine Classic this weekend, where they will face Portland, San Diego State and No. 18 DePaul.
IDAHO VANDALS (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Vandals defeated Corban 77-74 to open the season, then fell 84-54 at South Dakota on Monday ... Four Vandals scored in double figures in the win, led by Stacey Barr with a game-high 20 points. Alyssa Charlston added 17 points, Ganeaya Rogers had a career-high 16 points and Krissy Karr had 13 points, six assists and six steals ... The win over Corban featured 19 ties and 17 lead changes, and was a one-possession game for the final six minutes ... In the loss to the Sioux, Rogers led the team with 11 points, while Barr added 10 ... The Fighting Sioux outscored Idaho a combined 48-13 in second-chance points and points off turnovers ... As a team, the Vandals rank second in the WAC in three-pointers per game (6.5) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.227), third in assists (14.0), steals (12.5), assist-turnover ratio (0.78) and offensive rebounds (16.5), and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.421) and three-point field goal percentage (.277) ... Barr leads the league in three-pointers per game (3.5) ... Idaho hosts Gonzaga on Thursday and plays at Montana on Sunday.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (0-1, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech fell 78-65 to Missouri State last Friday to open the season ... Shantale Bramble-Donaldson led LA Tech with 18 points and nine rebounds ... Jasmine Bendolph dished out six assists in the loss ... Missouri State shot 51 percent (28-of-55) from the field for the game, marking just the fifth time in the last 76 games that the Lady Techsters have allowed an opponent to hit more than half of its field goal attempts ... The Techsters lead the WAC in field goal percentage (.364), rank second in rebounding defense (35.0) and blocks (2.0), and fourth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.313), assists (12.0) and defensive rebounds (24.0) ... Bramble-Donaldson ranks sixth in the league in both scoring (18.0) and rebounding (9.0) ... Whitney Frazier leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.750), while Tavasha Anderson is fourth (.600), Bramble-Donaldson is fifth (.571) and Angie Felton is ninth (.500) ... Bendolph is tied for the lead in assists (6.0) and minutes played (40.0) ... The Lady Techsters play at Oral Roberts on Saturday in their only game this week.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (1-0, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada opened the season with a 91-74 win over St. Martin’s on Sunday ... Kate Kevorken led a group of five Pack players in double-digit scoring with a career-high 22 points ... Danika Sharp added a career-high 21 points, followed by Kayla Williams with 13, Amanda Johnson with 11 and Arielle Wideman with 10 ... Williams grabbed 12 rebounds for her 14th career double-double, while Sharp nabbed a career-best five steals ... Nevada forced 24 Saints turnovers ... The Wolf Pack lead the WAC in scoring (91.0), scoring margin (+17.0), rebounding (52.0), rebounding margin (+16.0), assists (17.0), steals (16.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.06), and rank second in blocks (2.0), turnover margin (+8.0) and offensive rebounds (23.0) ... Kevorken leads the league in assist-turnover ratio (999.00), ranks second in scoring (22.0) and field goal percentage (.727), and eighth in rebounding (7.0) ... Sharp is tops in the WAC in steals (5.0) ... The Wolf Pack travel to Minneapolis for the Subway Classic this weekend, where they face North Dakota State on Saturday and either Binghamton or host Minnesota on Sunday.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State edged Houston in its season opener last Friday, 63-62, then fell 59-42 to Idaho State on Monday ... Against the Cougars, Tabytha Wampler scored a team-high 21 points and matched her career high with 18 boards ... NM State was down 53-49 at the seven-minute mark before Wampler scored the next six points to put the Aggies ahead for good. It was part of an 11-0 run ... In the loss to the Bengals, Wampler led the Aggies with her 11th career double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds ... NM State struggled from the field, shooting just 26 percent from the floor ... The Aggies lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense (.132), and rank second in scoring defense (60.5), field goal percentage defense (.379), rebounding (46.5) and defensive rebounds (31.0) ... Wampler leads the league in rebounding (17.0) and three-point field goal percentage (.667), and ranks fifth in scoring (18.5) ... The Aggies host UTEP on Wednesday in their only other game this week. It is the Aggies’ 500th game in the Pan American Center.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (0-1, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State fell 88-77 to San Francisco in its season opener on Sunday ... It was the first time in 43 games that the Spartans broke the 70-point plateau. The last time San Jose State scored at least 70 points was a 75-64 win at Santa Clara on Jan. 2, 2010 ... Brittany Johnson and Sara Plavljanin led the team with 18 points apiece, while Ta’rea Cunnigan added 13 points ... Johnson also grabbed 10 rebounds for her third career double-double ... The Spartans took 34 more shots and the Dons in the loss ... San Jose State leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.364), turnover margin (+12.0) and offensive rebounds (24.0), ranks second in scoring (77.0) and steals (15.0), third in rebounding (45.0) and three-pointers per game (4.0), and fourth in free throw percentage (.722), rebounding margin (0.0) and assists (12.0) ... Plavljanin leads the WAC in steals (5.0), ranks sixth in scoring (18.0), seventh in field goal percentage (.538) and eighth in rebounding (7.0) ... San Jose State plays at UC Davis on Wednesday and at UNLV on Saturday.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State defeated Wyoming 62-56 last Friday to open the season, then fell 84-73 at South Dakota State on Sunday ... Against the Cowgirls, Ashlee Brown scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Jennifer Schlott and Maddy Plunkett scored 12 points each ... Against the Jackrabbits, Brown scored a career-high 31 points while adding 11 rebounds and six steals ... Brooke Jackson added 13 points on 2-for-2 shooting from beyond the arc and 7-of-7 at the charity stripe ... Utah State leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.857), rank second in blocks (2.0), third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.311), and fourth in scoring (67.5), scoring defense (70.0), steals (9.5) and turnover margin (+4.0) ... Brown leads the WAC in scoring (24.5) and blocks (1.0), ranks third in rebounding (12.0) and fourth in steals (3.0) ... Jackson leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.667) and ninth in three-pointers per game (1.0) ... The Aggies host Weber State on Wednesday and play at UC Irvine on Saturday.