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 Jan. 11-17. This is the third WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Dowdell and the seventh of her career.

Dowdell, a Calera, Ala. native, averaged 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, all above her season averages, to lead Louisiana Tech to victories over New Mexico State and San Jose State. She shot 59 percent (16-of-27) from the field and recorded her WAC-leading eighth double-double of the season during the week. Dowdell opened the with 23 points and 16 rebounds in the win over New Mexico State – a team that had already posted non-conference wins over 21st ranked Kansas and Michigan. She then scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the victory over San Jose State.

Other nominees included: Boise State’s Janie Bos posted a career-high 29 points to go with 11 rebounds in the Broncos’ loss at Idaho … Jaleesa Ross of Fresno State averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists as the Bulldogs went 2-0 on the week to improve to 4-0 in WAC play … Hawai’i’s Breanna Arbuckle averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 1-1 record on the week … Yinka Olorunnife of Idaho averaged 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds as the Vandals went 1-1 on the week … Nevada’s Tahnee Robinson led the Wolf Pack to a 2-0 mark with 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game … Lydia Whitehead of Utah State averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds on the week.

JOHNSON SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT, GRABS 500TH CAREER REBOUND IN SAME GAME
At the 8:30 mark of the second half at San Jose State last Wednesday, Adrienne Johnson hit two free throws to become the 39th Lady Techster to ever score 1,000 points in a career. She also pulled down her 500th career rebound in the game.

HARRIS RANKS IN TOP 10 IN WAC IN CAREER FREE THROWS
Boise State senior Tasha Harris currently has 418 made free throws on her career, good for ninth place all-time in the WAC. With a minimum of 13 games remaining in her career, at her current pace, Harris would finish with 472 career free throws, good for fifth place in WAC history.

ROSS RANKS SECOND IN SCHOOL HISTORY, FIFTH IN WAC, IN THREE-POINTERS MADE
Fresno State’s Jaleesa Ross is currently in second place on the school’s career three-pointers list with 239. She needs 268 to own the record. Ross’ total also ranks fifth in the WAC record books, 33 shy of fourth place.

VAN HOOGEN CLIMBING WAC STEALS CHART
Boise State senior Jessica Van Hoogen has 268 career steals, good for ninth place all-time in the WAC career record books. She needs four more to move into eighth place. At her current pace, Van Hoogen would close out her career with 305 steals, good for sixth place in the WAC record books.

FRESNO STATE, LOUISIANA TECH FAVORED IN PRESEASON POLLS
Fresno State, the 2008-09 WAC regular season co-champion and tournament title winner, was selected as the favorite by the coaches in the WAC preseason poll. The Bulldogs received five of the nine first-place votes and 60 points to beat out Louisiana Tech for the top spot.

Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech, which shared last year’s WAC regular-season title with Fresno State, was picked to win the title in the media poll. The Lady Techsters received 14 first-place votes, earning 180 points.

PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED
Along with the preseason polls, the coaches and media also voted on preseason all-WAC teams. Both the coaches and media selected Louisiana Tech senior forward Shanavia Dowdell as the WAC’s preseason Player of the Year.

Joining Dowdell on the first team in the coaches poll was teammate Adrienne Johnson, along with Yinka Olorunnife of Idaho, Jaleesa Ross of Fresno State and Madison Spence of New Mexico State. The second team was comprised of New Mexico State’s Crystal Boyd, Tasha Harris and Jessica Van Hoogen of Boise State, Fresno State’s Hayley Munro and Derisa Taleni of Idaho.

The media’s all-WAC first team included Dowdell, Harris, Johnson, Ross and Spence. Second-team selections included Munro, Olorunnife, Taleni, Van Hoogen and Lydia Whitehead of Utah State.

NEVADA TO HOST 2010 WAC TOURNAMENT
Reno and the University of Nevada will host the 2010 WAC Tournament, March 10-13.  It will be the second year in a row and the fourth time Nevada has hosted the event. The Wolf Pack also hosted the tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2009. The tournament features the top eight men’s and women’s teams.

BOISE STATE BRONCOS (11-6, 0-3 WAC)
The Broncos fell 84-81 in overtime at Idaho on Saturday in their only game last week ... Janie Bos led the team with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season ... Tasha Harris added 19 points, while Julia Marshall tallied 11 points for her fourth double-digit scoring performance of the season ... Boise State ranks 16th nationally in steals per game at 11.9 ... Harris and Jessica Van Hoogen are the highest scoring duo in program history, accounting for a combined 3,031 points to date, as Harris has 1,546 career points, while Van Hoogen has 1,485 ... Harris and Van Hoogen both rank in the top 10 in the WAC career record books as Harris is ninth with 418 career free throws made and Van Hoogen is ninth in steals with 268 ... The Broncos host San Jose State on Wednesday and Hawai’i on Saturday.

FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (13-5, 4-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs defeated New Mexico State 77-67 last Wednesday and routed Utah State 73-46 on Saturday ... Jaleesa Ross led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds in the win over NM State ... Ross posted a game-high 17 points in the win over Utah State ... As a team, the Bulldogs posted a season-high 19 steals vs. USU ... This is the third time in school history Fresno State has started WAC play 4-0 ... Ross moved into 11th place on the Fresno State career scoring list with 1,177 points, 11 shy of 10th place ... With five three-pointers last week, Ross moved her career total to 239, 34 away from the Fresno State record ...  Fresno State has hit a three-pointer in 82 straight games ... Fresno State ranks fourth nationally in three-pointers made per game (8.9) ... Of  Adrian Wiggins’ 108 career wins, 78 are by double digits ... The Bulldogs play at Nevada on Thursday, then host Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

HAWAI’I RAINBOW WAHINE (8-10, 2-3 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine defeated Idaho 62-52 last Wednesday and fell 80-62 to Nevada on Saturday ... Breanna Arbuckle scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in the win over Idaho ... Keisha Kanekoa added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists ... Kanekoa led the team with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in the loss to Nevada ... Arbuckle added 13 points and Allie Patterson scored 11 ... On Monday, the Rainbow Wahine defeated Utah State 69-56 ... Leilani Galdones led four Hawai’i players in double-digit scoring with 13 points, followed by Dita Liepkalne with 12, and Arbuckle and Patterson with 11 apiece ... Galdones pulled down 10 boards for her first career double-double ... The Rainbow Wahine play at Louisiana Tech on Thursday and at Boise State on Saturday.

IDAHO VANDALS (3-13, 1-2 WAC)
The Vandals fell 62-52 at Hawai’i last Wednesday and defeated Boise State 84-81 in overtime on Saturday ... In the loss to the Rainbow Wahine, Shaena-Lyn Kuehu led the team with 13 points, followed by Bianca Cheever with 10 ... Yinka Olorunnife pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds ... Olorunnife tied her career high with 25 points vs. the Broncos. She also grabbed 10 boards for her 14th career double-double ... All five starters scored in double-digits vs. the Broncos, as  Cheever and Rachele Kloke added 18 points each, Kuehu finished with 10 and Charlotte Otero scored 10 ... Idaho hit a season-high 10 three-pointers against BSU ... Saturday’s win broke a four-game losing streak in overtime games for the Vandals ... The Vandals play at New Mexico State on Wednesday and at San Jose State on Saturday.

LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (11-4, 2-1 WAC)
The Techsters routed San Jose State 92-48 last Wednesday and beat New Mexico State 78-64 on Saturday ... Four players reached double-digit scoring vs. the Spartans, led by Shanavia Dowdell with 18 points. Adrienne Johnson added 16 points, Whitney Jones scored 13 and Brietta Thomas finished with 11 ... As a team, the Techsters hit a season-high 10 three-pointers against SJSU ... Dowdell recorded her WAC-leading eighth double-double of the season with 23 points and 16 rebounds against NM State ... As a team, LA Tech pulled down a season-high 58 rebounds in the win over the Aggies. It was the fifth time this season the team has finished with 50 or more rebounds in a game ... The Techsters host Hawai’i on Thursday and play at Fresno State on Saturday.

NEVADA WOLF PACK (10-8, 4-0 WAC)
The Wolf Pack defeated Utah State 69-58 last Wednesday and beat Hawai’i 80-62 on Saturday ... Four Nevada players scored in double-digits vs. the Aggies, led by Johnna Ward with 18 points. Tahnee Robinson and Nicole Williams added 11 points apiece, while Shavon Moore finished with 10 ... Robinson scored a career-high 25 points and Nicole Williams recorded a career-high 21 points at Hawai’i ... Kayla Williams pulled down her 200th career rebound vs. UH ... Nevada posted a season-low 12 turnovers against the Rainbow Wahine ... Robinson has scored in double figures in seven of her eight career games, including six straight, and has scored 20 or more points twice ... Nevada has two active players with at least 500 career points in Ward (640) and Moore (553) ... The Wolf Pack host Fresno State on Thursday in their only game this week.

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (12-6, 2-2 WAC)
The Aggies fell 77-67 to Fresno State last Wednesday and lost 78-64 at Louisiana Tech on Saturday ... Crystal Boyd scored a career-high 26 points against Fresno State ... Jasmine Lowe posted a game-high 26 points at Tech. It was the fourth time this season she scored 20 or more points  ... Boyd has scored in double-digits in 13 straight games, while Lowe has scored in double digits in all but two of the 13 games she has started this season ... With 975 career points, Madison Spence is looking to become the 17th Aggie in program history to reach 1,000 career points and just the seventh Aggie to accomplish the feat prior to her senior year ... The Aggies have won six of their last eight games ... NM State is 8-2 when scoring at least 70 points this season and 10-1 when holding opponents to 70 points or less ... The Aggies host Idaho on Wednesday and play at Utah State on Saturday.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (4-12, 0-3 WAC)
San Jose State fell 92-48 to Louisiana Tech last Wednesday in their only game of the week ... Britney Bradley led the team with 12 points, followed by Marnesha Hall with 10 ... Spartan leading scorer Chasity Shavers was held under double figures for just the third time this season ... With the win, San Jose State fell to 0-17 all-time vs. the Techsters ... Shavers ranks sixth in the WAC in scoring with a 15.3 average ... Shaunna Ridge is 10th in the conference with 6.3 rebounds per game ... Sayja Sumler ranks fourth in the WAC in steals (2.3) and fifth in assists (3.0) ... As a team, the San Jose State ranks fourth in the WAC in both rebounding defense (36.9) and offensive rebounds (14.3) ... The Spartans look to snap a three-game losing skid when they play at Boise State on Wednesday and host Idaho on Saturday.

UTAH STATE AGGIES (10-8, 2-3 WAC)
The Aggies fell 69-58 to Nevada last Wednesday and lost 73-46 at Fresno State on Saturday ... Lydia Whitehead led USU with 13 points vs. the Wolf Pack, while Amber White tossed in 12 and LaCale Pringle-Buchanan came off the bench to net 11 ... In the loss to the Bulldogs, Stacey Howard led the team with a career-high nine points ... As a team, Utah State matched its season low with 27 rebounds at Fresno State and had a season-high 26 turnovers ... On Monday, the Aggies fell 69-56 at Hawai’i ... Alice Coddington led USU with 13 points, while Nicole Johnson grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds ... Whitehead posted her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds ... Johnson has 119 career blocks, just eight away from tying Jessica Freeman as the Utah State career blocks leader ... The Aggies host New Mexico State on Saturday in their only other game this week.