DENVER - The 2011-12 all-Western Athletic Conference teams have been named, following a vote of the WAC’s eight head coaches. Fresno State’s Ki-Ki Moore headlines the awards, earning both the WAC Player and Newcomer of the Year honors.
It has been a breakout season for Moore, a sophomore transfer from Washington State. In WAC games, she led the league in steals (3.6), ranked third in scoring (15.9), sixth in assists (3.1), seventh in assist-turnover ratio (1.0), eighth in rebounding (8.0) and 10th in field goal percentage (44.4). Moore scored a career-high 28 points three times this season and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds against Idaho. She has recorded six double-doubles on the year and was named WAC Player of the Week four times. She becomes the third Fresno State player to earn WAC Player of the Year and the second Bulldog to be named WAC Newcomer of the Year.
Utah State’s Ashlee Brown earned the WAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, becoming the first Aggie to earn the award, which was added in 2008. The senior forward ranked second in conference games in blocks (1.6), fifth in rebounding (8.7), tied for seventh in defensive rebounding (5.2) and sixth in steals (1.9). She is the anchor of the Utah State defense that ranked second in the WAC with 10.7 steals per game in league games.
San Jose State head coach Tim La Kose, in his first season at the helm, becomes the second Spartan head coach to be named WAC Coach of the Year. He has led San Jose State to nine more wins than last year and the most wins since the 2005-06 season. The nine-game improvement, from two to 11 wins, ranks in the top five in the nation this year. Under La Kose, the Spartans have improved their scoring by 487 points from a year ago and increased their per-game average from 47.7 to 64.5 points. The team’s 1,870 total points this season ranks fourth-best in San Jose State history. La Kose was twice honored as National Independent Coach of the Year (2008-09, 2009-10).
Four different schools are represented on the first team, including Moore and Brown. Idaho’s Alyssa Charlston, Utah State’s Devyn Christensen and San Jose State’s Brittany Johnson round out the first team. Brown receives first-team all-WAC honors for the second time, while Moore, Charlston, Christensen and Johnson all earn the honor for the first time.
The all-WAC second teamers are Jasmine Bendolph and Shantale Bramble-Donaldson of Louisiana Tech, Rosie Moult and Taylor Thompson of Fresno State, and Kamilah Jackson of Hawai‘i. Bendolph and Moult are repeat selections, while the other three are making their first appearance on the team.
Brown headlines the all-Defensive team and is joined by Moult, Thompson, Breanna Arbuckle of Hawai‘i and Louisiana Tech’s Whitney Frazier.
The all-Freshman team contains five players from five different teams, including Frazier, Alissa Campanero of Hawai‘i, San Jose State’s Ta’Rea Cunnigan, Krissy Karr of Idaho and Fresno State’s Madison Parrish.
The 2012 WAC Tournament will be held March 7-10, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The tournament schedule includes four quarterfinal games on March 7, two semifinal games on March 9 and the championship game on March 10.
The complete WAC all-conference teams and additional honors are listed below.
First Team All-WAC
Ashlee Brown, Utah State, F, 6-0, Sr., Chandler Ariz. (UC Santa Barbara)
Alyssa Charlston, Idaho, F, 6-1, So., Sammamish, Wash. (Eastlake)
Devyn Christensen, Utah State, G, 5-6, Jr., Caldwell, Idaho (Vallivue)
Brittany Johnson, San Jose State, F, 5-10, Sr., Tulsa, Okla. (Independence College)
Ki-Ki Moore, Fresno State, G, 5-8, So., San Francisco, Calif. (Washington State)
Second Team All-WAC
Jasmine Bendolph, Louisiana Tech, G, 5-7, Sr., Mobile, Ala. (Davidson)
Shantale Bramble-Donaldson, Louisiana Tech, F, 6-1, Sr., Bronx, N.Y. (Indian River College)
Kamilah Jackson, Hawai‘i, F, 6-0, So., Oakland, Calif. (Sacred Heart Cathedral)
Rosie Moult, Fresno State, G/F, 6-0, Jr., Olinda, Victoria, Australia (Vermont Secondary)
Taylor Thompson, Fresno State, G, 5-5, So., Cache, Okla. (Cache)
All-Defensive Team
Breanna Arbuckle, Hawai‘i, G, 6-0, Sr., Chandler, Ariz. (Chandler)
Ashlee Brown, Utah State, F, 6-0, Sr., Chandler Ariz. (UC Santa Barbara)
Whitney Frazier, Louisiana Tech, F, 6-0, Fr., El Dorado, Ark. (El Dorado)
Rosie Moult, Fresno State, G/F, 6-0, Jr., Olinda, Victoria, Australia (Vermont Secondary)
Taylor Thompson, Fresno State, G, 5-5, So., Cache, Okla. (Cache)
All-Freshman Team
Alissa Campanero, Hawai‘i, G, 5-3, San Diego, Calif. (The Bishop’s School)
Ta’Rea Cunnigan, San Jose State, G, 5-9, Winchester, Calif. (Chaparral)
Whitney Frazier, Louisiana Tech, F, 6-0, El Dorado, Ark. (El Dorado)
Krissy Karr, Idaho, G, 5-6, Orange, Calif. (Orange Lutheran)
Madison Parrish, Fresno State, G, 5-8, Hanford, Calif. (Hanford)
Player of the Year: Ki-Ki Moore, Fresno State
Defensive Player of the Year: Ashlee Brown, Utah State
Newcomer of the Year: Ki-Ki Moore, Fresno State
Coach of the Year: Tim La Kose, San Jose State