HAWAI‘I’S JACKSON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawai‘i sophomore forward Kamilah Jackson has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 16-22. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Jackson and the second of her career.
The Oakland, Calif., native posted a pair of double-doubles to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a pair of WAC wins. For the week, she averaged 16.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals, all above her season averages. In a 61-46 win over Louisiana Tech, which was just Hawai‘i’s fourth victory in 28 meetings, Jackson finished with team highs of 16 points and 15 rebounds. She followed it up with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in a 51-48 win over New Mexico State to put Hawai‘i at 2-1 in the WAC for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Jackson now has 10 double-doubles this season and 23 on her career.
Other nominees included: Ki-Ki Moore of Fresno State averaged 16.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game as the Bulldogs remained unbeaten in WAC play ... Louisiana Tech’s Shantale Bramble-Donaldson averaged 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as the Lady Techsters went 1-1 on the week ... Kate Kevorken of Nevada finished with 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in a loss at Utah State ... New Mexico State’s Kaitlyn Soto averaged 17.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on the week ... Devyn Christensen of Utah State averaged 22.0 points as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week.
SAN JOSE STATE CONTINUES TO MAKE STRIDES
San Jose State, which has finished last or tied for last in the WAC standings in each of the last five seasons, picked up its first win in a WAC opener since the 2005-06 season, and its seven victories already this season are the most since the 2005-06 season, when the Spartans won 13 games. Earlier this year, SJSU swept its first road trip since the 2005-06 season.
WAC STAT LEADERS
San Jose State’s Brittany Johnson currently leads the WAC in scoring with 19.1 points per game. Kamilah Jackson of Hawai‘i is tops in rebounding with an average of 10.6 boards. Nevada’s Kayla Williams leads the WAC in field goal percentage (51.0) and blocked shots (2.13), while Louisiana Tech’s Jasmine Bendolph leads the league in assists (5.63). Utah State’s Brooke Jackson is tops in free throw percentage (87.1), while Fresno State’s Rosie Moult leads the WAC in steals (2.71) and three-pointers per game (2.88). Utah State’s Maddy Plunkett is tops in three-point field goal percentage (49.1), while Taylor Thompson of Fresno State leads the WAC in assist-turnover ratio (2.67).
In WAC games only, Utah State’s Devyn Christensen leads the WAC in scoring (19.0), while Kamilah Jackson is tops in rebounding (13.0). Brooke Jackson and Fresno State’s Veronica Wilson are the leaders in field goal percentage (66.7), while Bendolph leads the WAC in assists (7.75). Alissa Campanero of Idaho is tops in free throw percentage (100.0), while Moult and Thompson are tops in steals (3.0). Thompson also leads the conference in WAC games in three-point field goal percentage (66.7), while Idaho’s Ashley Walters leads the league in blocks (3.0). San Jose State’s Sara Plavljanin is the leader in three-pointers per game (2.67), while Bendolph is tops in assist-turnover ratio (3.10).
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.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (15-4, 3-0 WAC)
Fresno State defeated Utah State 90-67 last Thursday and beat Idaho 72-49 on Saturday to remain the only unbeaten team in WAC play ... Against the Aggies, Ki-Ki Moore led all players with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds ... Against the Vandals, Moore and Taylor Thompson scored 17 points apiece, while Rosie Moult posted her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... Fresno State has now won 115 games by 10 or more points under head coach Adrian Wiggins ... The Bulldogs rank second nationally in three-pointers per game (9.7), 14th in assist-turnover ratio (1.09), 16th in assists per game (16.9) and scoring (75.3), 23rd in three-point percentage (36.3) and turnover margin (5.11), 27th in winning percentage (78.9) and 30th in steals per game (11.6) and ... Thompson ranks fifth in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (2.67), while Moult is 17th in three-pointers per game (2.9) and 44th in three-point field goal percentage (38.3) ... Fresno State leads the WAC in scoring, scoring margin (9.2), assists, steals, turnover margin, assist-turnover ratio and three-pointers per game ... The Bulldogs host San Jose State on Thursday and Hawai‘i on Saturday.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (7-11, 2-1 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine defeated Louisiana Tech 61-46 last Thursday and beat New Mexico State 51-48 on Saturday ... Against LA Tech, Kamilah Jackson posted game highs of 16 points and 15 rebounds ... In the win over the Aggies, Jackson posted her 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 boards ... As a team, Hawai‘i committed just 10 turnovers against the Aggies, its lowest amount since December of 2006 ... Jackson has scored in double figures 15 times and has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 11 games this season ... UH is 2-1 in the WAC for the first time since the 2002-03 season ... Jackson leads the WAC and ranks 10th in the nation in double-doubles (10) and is tops in the WAC and 15th nationally in rebounding (10.6) ... The Rainbow Wahine rank 12th nationally in personal fouls per game (13.1) ... Hawai‘i leads the WAC in defensive rebounds (27.39), ranks second in rebounding margin (1.4), third in free throw percentage (69.3), field goal percentage defense (38.5) and rebounding defense (37.0), and fourth in rebounding (38.4), scoring defense (66.2) and blocked shots (3.6) ... Hawai‘i plays at Nevada on Thursday and at Fresno State on Saturday.
IDAHO VANDALS (5-15, 0-4 WAC)
Idaho fell 72-49 to Fresno State last Saturday and fell 70-76 to Nevada on Monday ... Against the Bulldogs, Alyssa Charlston scored a team-high 15 points, followed by Krissy Karr with 11 ... Against Nevada, the Vandals trailed by as many as 17 in the second half and cut it to five, but that was as close as they would get ... Charlston posted her sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds ... Charlston ranks fourth in the WAC in blocks (1.25), sixth in rebounds (8.1) and seventh in scoring (13.9) ... Karr ranks fifth in the conference in assists (3.65) and assist-turnover ratio (1.19) ... Ashley Walters is second in the WAC in blocks (1.83), while Adrie Shiels is 10th (0.80) ... Stacey Barr is fourth in the conference in three-pointers per game (1.68), while Keri Arendse is ninth in minutes played (31.70) and steals (1.5) ... As a team, Idaho ranks second in the WAC in blocked shots (4.45), defensive rebounds (27.20) and field goal percentage defense (37.5), and third in rebounding (38.5), three-point field goal percentage defense (29.2) and three-pointers per game (5.20) ... The Vandals host Utah State on Saturday in their only other game this week.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (9-10, 2-2 WAC)
Louisiana Tech fell 46-61 at Hawai‘i last Thursday, then defeated San Jose State 70-64 on Saturday ... In the loss to the Rainbow Wahine, Shantale Bramble-Donaldson was just short of a double-double, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds ... In the win over the Spartans, Bramble-Donaldson posted career highs of 20 points and 15 boards ... The Techsters rank 42nd nationally in three-point field goal percentage (33.9) ... Jasmine Bendolph leads the WAC and ranks 19th nationally in assists (5.6) and ranks second in the WAC and 46th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (1.81) ... LA Tech ranks second in the WAC in three-pointers per game (5.53) and assist-turnover ratio (0.87), third in three-point field goal percentage (33.9), assists (14.53) and turnover margin (1.16), and fourth in scoring (66.6), field goal percentage (40.7), three-point field goal percentage defense (30.0) and steals (7.42) ... Bramble-Donaldson ranks third in the WAC in field goal percentage (50.0), while Kiara Young is sixth (49.6) ... Angie Felton is second in the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (43.1) ... The Techsters play at New Mexico State on Saturday in their only game this week.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (5-13, 1-2 WAC)
Nevada fell 69-91 at Utah State on Saturday, then defeated Idaho 76-70 on Monday ... Against the Aggies, Kate Kevorken led all players with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting ... In the win over the Vandals, Kevorken led a group of four players in double-digit scoring with 18 points ... Kevorken ranks 21st nationally in three-point field goal percentage (40.4), while Kayla Williams is 41st in blocks (2.1) ... As a team, Nevada leads the WAC in blocked shots (4.61), ranks second in field goal percentage (42.1), rebounding (40.8), assists (14.61) and offensive rebounds (13.94), third in scoring (66.9), rebounding margin (0.8) and defensive rebounds (26.89), and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (30.7) and assist-turnover ratio (0.68) ... Kevorken ranks second in the WAC in scoring (16.9), third in three-pointers per game (2.17), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (39.8), eighth in field goal percentage (48.8) and 10th in free throw percentage (68.6) ... Williams leads the WAC in field goal percentage (51.0) and blocks (2.13), and ranks fifth in rebounding (8.1) ... The Wolf Pack host Hawai‘i on Thursday and San Jose State on Saturday.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (4-15, 1-3 WAC)
New Mexico State fell 62-67 at San Jose State last Thursday and 48-51 at Hawai‘i on Saturday ... Against the Spartans, Kaitlyn Soto scored a career-high 23 points, while Erica Sanchez recorded a career-best 20 points ... Tabytha Wampler grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds ... In the loss to the Rainbow Wahine, Wampler scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds ... The Aggies are now 2-7 in games decided by five points or less, including a 0-2 mark in WAC games ... NM State has held opponents to 26 points or less in four of the last six halves, resulting in a 1-2 record in those games ... As a team, New Mexico State leads the WAC in scoring defense (62.7), three-point field goal percentage defense (27.1), rebounding defense (35.0) and rebounding margin (2.5), and ranks second in free throw percentage (69.4) ... Wampler ranks second in the WAC in rebounding (9.2) and defensive rebounds (6.95), fifth in free throw percentage (73.0), eighth in scoring (13.3) and ninth in offensive rebounds (2.21) ... Soto ranks eighth in the WAC in minutes played (31.89) ... The Aggies host Louisiana Tech on Saturday in their only game this week.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (7-11, 2-1 WAC)
San Jose State defeated New Mexico State 67-62 last Thursday, then fell 64-70 to Louisiana Tech on Saturday ... In the win over the Aggies, Sara Plavljanin led a group of four Spartans in double-digit scoring with 16 points ... In the loss to LA Tech, Brittany Johnson led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season ... Johnson leads the WAC and ranks 21st nationally in scoring (19.1), while Plavljanin ranks 24th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (40.4) ... Johnson also ranks fourth in the WAC in rebounding (8.5), sixth in steals (1.72) and ninth in blocks (0.83) ... Plavljanin leads the WAC in minutes played (36.44), ranks second in three-pointers per game (2.22), fourth in steals (2.22), and sixth in scoring (14.0), assists (3.39) and assist-turnover ratio (0.91) ... As a team, San Jose State leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense (37.1), rebounding (41.6) and offensive rebounds (15.17), ranks second in three-point field goal percentage defense (28.6) and steals (10.67), and fourth in turnover margin (0.56) and defensive rebounds (26.44) ... The Spartans play at Fresno State on Thursday and at Nevada on Saturday.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (12-6, 3-1 WAC)
Utah State fell 67-90 to Fresno State last Thursday, then beat Nevada 91-69 on Saturday ... Against the Bulldogs, Devyn Christensen scored a season-high 22 points, while Ashlee Brown was just short of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds ... In the win over Nevada, Christensen against had 22 points and was one of six Aggies in double-digit scoring ... The Aggies set the school record for field goal percentage in a game (58.6) against the Wolf Pack, breaking the previous record of 58.3 from 1982 ... Utah State is off to its best WAC start since joining the league for the 2005-06 season ... The Aggies rank 10th nationally in free throw percentage (78.0), 14th in three-point field goal percentage (37.5), 18th in field goal percentage (44.2) and 46th in scoring (71.4) ... Brooke Jackson leads the WAC and ranks 24th nationally in free throw percentage (87.1), while Christensen is 43rd (85.5) ... Brown ranks third in the WAC in rebounding (8.8), fourth in scoring (14.7), fifth in steals (2.0) and seventh in blocks (1.06) ... Maddy Plunkett leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (49.1) ... The Aggies play at Idaho on Saturday in their only game this week.