LA TECH’S DOWDELL NAMED VERIZON WIRELESS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech senior forward Shanavia Dowdell has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-20. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Dowdell and the fifth of her career.

Dowdell, a Calera, Ala. native, scored 18 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, recorded a career-high three assists and added two blocks and one steal in 28 minutes in Louisiana Tech’s 94-61 win over McNeese State. Dowdell shot 80 percent from the field (8-of-10) and notched her fourth double-double of the season in the victory.

Other nominees included: Boise State’s Jessica Van Hoogen finished with a game-high 19 points in the Broncos’ victory over Santa Clara … LaShay Fears of Fresno State had 14 points and three assists against No. 23 West Virginia … Nevada’s Shavon Moore posted her third double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. Pepperdine … Madison Spence of New Mexico State scored a season-high 22 points in a win over UTEP and averaged 17.0 as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week … San Jose State’s Sayja Sumler finished with a career-high 19 points, a season-high 10 rebounds and a team-high five assists in an overtime win over Sacramento State … Amber White of Utah State averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week.

CODDINGTON NABS WAC-RECORD 13 STEALS VS. WEBER STATE
Utah State’s Alice Coddington nabbed a WAC-record 13 steals on Monday against Weber State, one shy of the NCAA record. Nevada’s Cherlanda Franklin had 11 steals during the 2007-08 season and BYU’s Tomika Young had 11 during the 1991-92 season. The Utah State record was 12 steals sets by Carol Garrison against Northern Arizona in 1981. Coddington added 13 points for her first double-double of the season. The record-breaking steal came with 5:24 remaining in the game.

SAN JOSE STATE WINS BACK-TO-BACK GAMES FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2006
When San Jose State defeated Sacramento State 84-81 in overtime last Friday, it gave the Spartans their first back-to-back victories since the 2006 season. The Spartans had a pair of conference home wins on March 2 and 4, 2006. The last time the team had two consecutive road wins was Jan. 5 and 7, 2006.

ROSS RANKS SIXTH IN WAC HISTORY IN THREE-POINTERS MADE
Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross moved into second place on the school’s career three-pointers list last week. She currently has 224 on her career and needs 273 to own the record. Ross is now in sixth place in the WAC for career three-pointers, 13 shy of fifth place.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS (10-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Broncos defeated Santa Clara 75-67 on Saturday in their only game last week ... Jessica Van Hoogen led Boise State with 19 points ... On Monday, the Broncos beat Seattle 57-47 to remain atop the WAC standings ... Janie Bos posted her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds ... Van Hoogen matched Bos’ point total while adding a season-high nine rebounds ... Tasha Harris finished with nine points as her 12-game streak of games in double-digit scoring was snapped ... The Broncos dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Redhawks 50-31 and outscored Seattle 24-14 in the paint. Boise State is 9-0 this year when winning the points in the paint ... Harris ranks third on the Bronco career scoring list with 1,478 points, while Van Hoogen is fourth with 1,434 ... The Broncos are idle until Dec. 31, when they host Wyoming.

FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (7-4, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs fell 72-52 at No. 23 West Virginia on Sunday in their only game last week ... The game was postponed a day due to the heavy snow on the East Coast ... LaShay Fears scored 14 points and had three assists to lead the Bulldogs ... With three treys in the game, Jaleesa Ross moved into second place on the school’s career three-pointers list with 224. She needs 273 to own the record ... Fresno State currently ranks fourth in the nation in three-pointers made per game with  9.9 average ... Ross, who leads the WAC and ranks 38th nationally with 18.3 points per game, is now in sixth place in the WAC for career three-pointers, 13 shy of fifth place ... Ross has 1,073 career points and needs 114 to pass Careana Clay (1981-84) and move into 10th place on the Bulldog career scoring list. She is one of only 16 Bulldogs to surpass 1,000 points ... Fresno State hosts Pacific on Tuesday in their only game this week.

HAWAI’I RAINBOW WAHINE (4-7, 0-0 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine went 1-2 at the UNLV Desert Classic, defeating Kansas State 71-61 on Saturday, then falling 67-54 to UNLV and 83-39 to No. 6/10 Florida State ... Julita Bungaite had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Kansas State for her first career double-double ... In the loss to UNLV, Breanna Arbuckle had 12 points and 13 rebounds for her first career double-double ... Arbuckle also led the team with nine points and nine boards vs. the Seminoles ... Keisha Kanekoa recorded her 200th career assist in the win over Kansas State ... Kanekoa ranks fifth in the WAC with a .814 free throw percentage and seventh with a .466 field goal percentage ... The Rainbow Wahine are idle until they host Kent State for a pair of games Dec. 29-30 for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Showdown.

IDAHO VANDALS (1-11, 0-0 WAC)
The Vandals fell 65-53 at Long Beach State on Sunday in their only game last week to move their losing skid to six games ... Bianca Cheever and Rachele Kloke led the team with 15 points apiece ... Kloke also pulled down 10 rebounds for her first career double-double ... Jessica Graham had a career-high five blocks in the game ... As a team, Idaho shot a season-high 47 percent (7-of-15) from three-point range ... The Vandals out-rebounded the 49ers 41-34, but were outscored 23-9 in points off turnovers ... Idaho ranks 21st nationally with 14.8 personal fouls per game ... Kloke ranks 10th in the WAC with a 12.6 scoring average, while Kuehu is 12th at 11.6 ... Kuehu also ranks ninth with 6.2 rebounds per game ...Graham is fourth in the WAC with 1.42 blocks per game ... The Vandals are idle until Dec. 28, when they host UC Santa Barbara.

LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (5-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Techsters defeated McNeese State 94-61 last Wednesday ... Shanavia Dowdell scored 18 points on 80 percent shooting, grabbed 13 rebounds, recorded a career-high three assists and added two blocks and one steal in 28 minutes of play. It was her fourth double-double of the season ... Adrienne Johnson scored a team-high 22 points on 8-of-13 (62 percent) shooting ... Tech is having one of its best shooting seasons in more than a decade as the Lady Techsters are shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 71.7 percent from the free throw line. The last time a LA Tech team shot better from the field was the 1997-98 season when it shot 48.8 percent on its way to the national championship game ... The Techsters host Memphis on Tuesday in their only game this week.

NEVADA WOLF PACK (5-5, 0-0 WAC)
The Wolf Pack fell 70-64 at Pepperdine Friday in their only game last week ... Shavon Moore posted her third double-double of the season and the eighth of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... Johnna Ward has scored in double figures in seven of Nevada’s 10 games this season, including two in which she scored at least 15 points and one in which she scored a season-high 21 ... Brittany Woodard made her first start of the season and second career start at Pepperdine ... In each of the team’s five wins this year, the Pack is shooting 42 percent from the floor compared to the 34 percent Nevada is shooting from the floor in its five losses ... Nevada’s bench has outscored or tied its opponents bench in scoring in nine of the Pack’s 10 games this season ... Nevada hosts Washington State on Tuesday in their only game this week.

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (6-4, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies defeated UTEP 67-55 at home last Tuesday, then fell at instate rival New Mexico 81-64 on Sunday ... Against UTEP, Madison Spence scored a season-high 22 points ... Crystal Boyd posted her second double-double of the season with 16 points, including three treys, and 15 rebounds ... Tabytha Wampler also snatched a career-high 15 boards ... Head coach Darin Spence earned his 400th career win in the victory over the Miners ... In the loss at New Mexico, Jasmine Lowe scored a team-high 19 points, including eight consecutive points just before the half ... Spence added 12 points, while Boyd tied her career high with three three-pointers, part of her 11 points ... NM State has a school-record 18 regular-season home games this season, ahead of the 16 it played in 2007-08 and the 17 home games during the 1979-80 season ... The Aggies host Alcorn State on Tuesday in their only game this week.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-7, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State defeated Sacramento State 84-81 in overtime Friday in their only game last week ... Sayja Sumler scored a career-high 19 points, pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists in the win. She hit the game-winning basket with 3.9 seconds left in the extra period to secure the win ... Chasity Shavers scored a team-high 21 points, while Palagi Atoe scored a season-high 15 points ... Shaunna Ridge pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to go with nine points and three blocks ... The win gave San Jose State two victories in a row for the first time since the 2006 season, when the Spartans had a pair of conference home wins on March 2 and 4, 2006 ... The last time SJSU had two consecutive road wins was Jan. 5 and 7, 2006 ... The Spartans play at Colorado on Tuesday in their only game this week.

UTAH STATE AGGIES (5-5, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies defeated North Dakota State 58-46 last Monday, then fell 61-48 to Brigham Young last Friday ... Against NDSU, Amber White led the team with 13 points and seven rebounds ... Nicole Johnson and Banna Diop each blocked five shots as the Aggies posted a season-high 11 blocks vs. the Bison ... In the loss to BYU, White led the team with 12 points, while Lydia Whitehead pulled down 10 boards  ... On Monday, the Aggies defeated Weber State 72-51 ... Alice Coddington nabbed a WAC-record 13 steals, one shy of the NCAA record. She added 13 points for her first double-double of the season ... Tahara Williams scored a career-high 15 points in 28 minutes of action ... Whitehead added her second double-double of the season for the Aggies with 14 points and 10 rebounds ... The Aggies play at Southern Utah on Wednesday in their only other game this week.