LOUISIANA TECH’S JOHNSON NAMED VERIZON WIRELESS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Louisiana Tech senior forward Adrienne Johnson has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 24-30. This is the third WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Johnson and the seventh of her career.
A Franklin, La. native, Johnson led LA Tech to a pair of WAC road wins at Idaho (63-56) and Boise State (93-86) to remain unbeaten in conference play. She averaged 22.5 points on 58 percent shooting and 8.0 rebounds per game in the two wins. Johnson began the week by recording her eighth double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds as LA Tech handed the Vandals just their second home loss of the year. She then scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds in Tech’s 93-86 win over Boise State.
Other nominees included: Lauren Lenhardt of Boise State averaged 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds on the wee … Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross averaged 14.7 points and became the Bulldogs’ all-time leading scorer with 1,802 points as Fresno State went 3-0 on the week … Yinka Olorunnife of Idaho averaged posted her ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season as the Vandals went 1-1 on the week … New Mexico State’s Danisha Corbett averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week … Devyn Christensen of Utah State averaged 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week.
LOUISIANA TECH REMAINS ONLY UNBEATEN IN WAC PLAY - With a pair of wins against Idaho and Boise State last week, Louisiana Tech remained the only unbeaten team in WAC play with a perfect 7-0 record.
NON-CONFERENCE - The WAC is 62-57 (.521) in non-conference games this season to be ranked 13th in conference RPI. Three teams are in the top 100 led by Louisiana Tech (28), Fresno State (67) and Nevada (89).
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 TOURNAMENT FORMAT CHANGE - The 2011 WAC Tournament features a new format that rewards teams based on regular-season success. The tournament begins on Wednesday with two men’s and two women’s games featuring the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and No. 6 vs. 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 61, at Nevada 56 (OT)
Thursday, Jan. 13, Louisiana Tech 94, at Fresno State 92 (3OT)
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 (11-10, 2-5 WAC)
The Broncos fell 87-71 to New Mexico State on Thursday and 93-86 to Louisiana Tech on Saturday ... Against the Aggies, Lauren Lenhardt poured in 30 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. It was her second 30-plus-point game in the last four contests ... Against Tech, Kati Isham led the team with 20 points ... The Broncos hit 10 three-pointers against the Lady Techsters for their fourth game this season with double-digit long balls ... On the year, Isham leads the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game, followed by Lenhardt at 13.7 ... In WAC games, Lenhardt ranks third in the league in scoring with 18.1 points per game ... The Broncos play at Hawai`i on Wednesday and host Utah State on Saturday.
Fresno State Bulldogs (15-6, 6-1 WAC)
The Bulldogs defeated Hawai`i (79-57), San Jose State (65-33) and Nevada (72-51) last week ... Against the Rainbow Wahine, Hayley Munro led the team with 18 points ... Jaleesa Ross scored 18 points against the Spartans to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. She now has 1,802 points on her career ... Against Nevada, Munro led the team with 19 points ... With 222 career steals, Ross needs three more to become Fresno State’s leader in that category ... As a team, the Bulldogs lead the nation in three-pointers per game (9.9), rank 18th in assists (16.8), 20th in steals (12.3), 23rd in scoring (75.4) and 48th in three-point percentage (34.8) ... The Bulldogs play at New Mexico State on Thursday and at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (6-15, 0-8 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine fell on the road to Fresno State (79-57) and Utah State (52-41) last week ... Allied Patterson scored 14 points and Kamilah Jackson pulled down 12 rebounds vs. the Bulldogs ... Against the Aggies, Keisha Kanekoa led the team with 15 points, while Julita Bungaite tied her career high with 12 rebounds ... On Monday, the Rainbow Wahine fell 75-62 to Nevada ... Shawna-Lei Kuehu led the team with 16 points and eight rebounds ...
Hawai`i committed a season-low 12 turnovers vs. the Wolf Pack ... Kamilah Jackson leads the WAC and ranks second nationally with 13.1 rebounds per game ... The Rainbow Wahine host Boise State on Wednesday and Idaho on Saturday.
Idaho Vandals (11-8, 4-3 WAC)
The Vandals fell 63-56 to Louisiana Tech last Thursday and defeated New Mexico State 64-51 on Saturday ... Yinka Olorunnife had her ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season, posting 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Lady Techsters and tallying 16 points and 18 boards against the Aggies ... Olorunnife is now tied for fourth place in WAC history with 936 career rebounds ... Idaho has held three WAC opponents to 51 points or less ... As a team, the Vandals rank 12th in the nation in personal fouls (13.7) and 46th in free throw percentage (73.3) ... Olorunnife ranks 17th nationally in double-doubles (10) and 23rd in rebounding (10.3) ... The Vandals host San Jose State on Wednesday and play at Hawai`i on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (15-5, 7-0 WAC)
The Lady Techsters defeated Idaho (63-56) and New Mexico State (93-86) last week to remain unbeaten in WAC play ... Adrienne Johnson recorded her eighth double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds vs. Idaho ... Johnson led a group of six Techsters in double-digit scoring with 21 points against the Broncos. It was the first time this year LA Tech had six double figure scorers in a game ... The 93 points were the most allowed by Boise State this season ... Tech outscored the Broncos 24-0 on fast break points ... Tech’s RPI is 28, while its strength of schedule is 46 ... LA Tech ranks 31st nationally in turnover margin (4.2) and 41st in scoring (72.3) ... The Lady Techsters host Fresno State on Saturday in their only game this week.
Nevada Wolf Pack (14-6, 3-4 WAC)
The Wolf Pack fell 72-51 to Fresno State on Saturday in their only game last week ... Kayla Williams posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds ... Tahnee Robinson led the team with 13 points, while Shavon Moore grabbed a team-best 11 boards ... On Monday, the Wolf Pack defeated Hawai`i 75-62, snapping a three-game losing skid ... Robinson scored a game-high 27 points ... The Wolf Pack rank 21st nationally in rebounding margin (7.6) ... Robinson ranks 13th in the nation in scoring (20.4) and 31st in free throw percentage (85.7) ... Robinson’s career scoring average of 18.1 ranks fourth all-time in WAC history ... The Wolf Pack host Utah State on Thursday and play at San Jose State on Saturday.
New Mexico State Aggies (10-11, 4-3 WAC)
The Aggies defeated Boise State 87-71 last Thursday and fell 64-51 at Idaho last Saturday ... Against the Broncos, Danisha Corbett had a career-high 31 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including 7-of-9 from three-point range ... Jasmine Lowe posted a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists vs. Boise State ... In the loss to the Vandals, Madison Spence led the team with 13 points, while Jasmine Rutledge grabbed 11 rebounds ... The Aggies are 9-2 this season when scoring 65 points or more ... Lowe leads the WAC with 2.9 steals per game ... Tabytha Wampler ranks second in the WAC with an 86.1 free throw percentage ...The Aggies host Fresno State on Thursday in their only game this week.
San Jose Spartans (2-18, 2-5 WAC)
The Spartans fell at Fresno State (65-33) and at Utah State (72-57) last week ... Against the Bulldogs, Sara Plavljanin led the team with 14 points, while Brittany Johnson pulled down 15 rebounds ... Four players scored in double figures in the loss to the Aggies, led by Plavljanin with 15 points ... The Spartans shot 23-of-57 (40.4 percent) from the field, which tied their season-best ... In conference games, Plavljanin ranks seventh in the WAC in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. She is also third in three-point field goal percentage (.381) and fifth in three-pointers per game (2.29) ... In 20 games played this year, SJSU has used 12 different starting lineups ... The Spartans play at Idaho on Wednesday and host Nevada on Saturday.
Utah State Aggies (10-10, 4-3 WAC)
The Aggies defeated Hawai`i (52-41) and San Jose State (72-57) last week ... Against the Rainbow Wahine, Ashlee Brown posted 21 points and 14 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season ... Devyn Christensen led the team vs. the Spartans with 18 points, followed by Banna Diop with 16 and Maddy Plunkett with a career-high 10 ... As a team, the Aggies rank 39th nationally in steals (11.0) and 41st in assists (15.4) ... Alice Coddington ranks 28th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (1.96) and 44th in steals per game (2.7) ... Christensen leads the WAC and ranks 23rd nationally in free throw percentage (86.4) ... The Aggies play at Nevada on Thursday and at Boise State on Saturday.