• New Mexico junior guard Caroline Durbin, who scored a game-high 23 points in leading the Lobos to their first MW road win of the season at Wyoming on Saturday, has scored in double figures in 21 out of 23 contests this season, including recording six 20-point games. The league leader in three-point field goal percentage in MW games only (.556), Durbin also ranks third in scoring (17.4 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.508).
• San Diego State junior guard Chelsea Hopkins, who along with Colorado State's Kim Mestdagh earned MW co-Player of the Week honors, logged her third double-double of the season (12 points, 12 assists) in Saturday's win over UNLV. Hopkins' 12 assists matched her career high and are three more than any other Mountain West player in a league contest this season. Hopkins ranks 10th nationally in assists (6.4/g) and is 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1).
• Wyoming junior forward Chaundra Sewell has done it all for the Cowgirls this season. Sewell, the squad's lone returning starter, has either led or tied for team-high honors in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals in six games this season. She has also led or tied for team-high honors in blocks on 10 occasions.
• Air Force junior guard Alicia Leipprandt scored a game-high 22 points against Boise State on Saturday, marking her highest scoring output of the league season. Leipprandt, who shot 8-of-11 from the field, had her best offensive performance since scoring 32 points against South Florida on Dec. 3. It was the fourth 20-plus point game of the season for Leipprandt, who had posted only two 20-plus outings in her previous two seasons.
• One of the key reasons behind UNLV's current three-game losing streak has been the health of senior forward Lenita Sanford. Prior to suffering a knee injury in mid-January, Sanford was averaging 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds and had scored in double figures in five straight games. Since returning in a limited capacity against Colorado State on Feb. 1, she has averaged 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds.
• TCU, which can break a three-way tie for third place when it hosts UNLV, is 19-5 in the final month of the season over the past three years. Since joining the league in 2005, the Horned Frogs, who advanced to their first MW Tournament title game last season, are 34-12 in the month of February.
• The Boise State tandem of senior guard Kati Isham (14.8 ppg) and junior forward Lauren Lenhardt (14.6 ppg) ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, in scoring in the MW. Isham and Lenhardt, who has four 20-plus point games.
Mick McGrane has covered the Mountain West since the league's inception in 1999. He spent 12 years at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where he served as the beat writer for San Diego State football and men's basketball. He currently represents the MW as a member of the Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee and is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. McGrane serves as senior writer to the Mountain West, providing readers with exclusive, in-depth information about the Conference by highlighting its 10 member institutions and contributing feature stories on student-athletes that participate in the league's 18 sponsored sports.
Mark Knudson is a Colorado State journalism school graduate and a 12-year veteran of professional baseball. During his playing career, Mark pitched for three major league teams, including the Colorado Rockies, where he was the first Colorado native to play for the hometown team. He recorded wins over three of the four legendary pitchers who make up the 4,000 strikeout club: Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens. His win over Ryan came for the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day in 1991.
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