San Diego State's Quenese Davis and Paris Johnson
| |
| |
Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Dec. 1
Dec. 1, 2008
MWC Women's Basketball Weekly Release
THIS WEEK'S MWC SCHEDULE
December 1 (Monday)
Barry University at AIR FORCE, 7 pm.
December 2 (Tuesday)
UNLV at Texas Tech, 7 p.m.
December 3 (Wednesday)
Denver at COLORADO STATE, 7 p.m.
December 4 (Thursday)
New Mexico State at NEW MEXICO, 7:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
UC Riverside at SAN DIEGO STATE, 7 p.m.
No. 22/24 TCU at Fresno State, 7 p.m.
WYOMING at Weber State, 7:05 p.m.
December 5 (Friday)
Air Force Classic (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
North Carolina Central at AIR FORCE, 5 p.m.
Seasider Challenge (Honolulu, Hawaii)
BYU vs. Wright State, 1 p.m.
December 6 (Saturday)
Air Force Classic (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Miami (OH)/UT-Pan American at AIR FORCE, TBA
Seasider Challenge (Honolulu, Hawaii)
BYU vs. USC, 4 p.m.
Northern Colorado at COLORADO STATE, 2 p.m.
Contra Costa Times Classic (Berkley, Calif.)
No. 22/24 TCU vs. No. 3/3 California/Princeton/Saint Louis, TBA
UNLV at Loyola Marymount, 2 p.m.
WYOMING at Idaho State, 2:05 p.m.
December 7 (Sunday)
Contra Costa Times Classic (Berkley, Calif.)
TCU vs. No. 3/3 California/Princeton/Saint Louis, TBA
MWC NOTABLES
WEEKEND RECAP
The Mountain West posted an 8-8 non-conference mark last weekend. Six teams saw tournament action as New Mexico posted a 3-0 record in its Holiday Inn & Suites Express Midtown Thanksgiving Tournament. UNLV earned a 1-1 record in its Lady Rebel Round-Up, while Colorado State went 0-2 in its Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. TCU traveled to Cancun, Mexico, for the Caribbean Challenge, where the team fell to Boston College before defeating Eastern Michigan. Utah defeated host Marquette in the WBCA Classic after falling in close contests to Gonzaga and No. 16/11 Virginia. San Diego State earned a 2-1 record in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic, defeating Hawai`i and Prairie View before falling to No. 25/24 Iowa State.
30+ POINTS
San Diego State's Jené Morris, Paris Johnson, UNLV's Shamela Hampton and Utah's Kalee Whipple each scored 30+ points in a single contest last weekend. Morris scored 34 points in an 87-71 loss to No. 25/24 Iowa State. Johnson's career-high 31 points led the Aztecs to a 71-48 rout of host Hawai`i. Hampton also poured in a career-high 31 points despite a 70-69 OT loss to Eastern Washington. Whipple led the Utes to a 79-76 victory over Marquette with her second-ever 30-point game.
UNDERCLASSMEN MAKE BIG SHOWING
Underclassmen account for seven of the top-15 scorers in the league. TCU's Helena Sverrisdottir leads the group, standing in second place in the MWC, averaging 16.3 points per game.
BYU AMONG YOUNGEST TEAMS IN THE NATION
BYU has the second-youngest squad in the nation this season. The Cougars have 14 underclassmen filling out their 2008-09 roster. BYU is the second youngest to Northwestern State, who has 15 underclassmen this season.
TOUGH COMPETITION
Mountain West teams have faced seven nationally-ranked teams after just the third week of non-conference play. TCU defeated No. 3/5 Maryland, 80-68, on Nov. 14. BYU and San Diego State both faced No. 1 Connecticut, while Utah saw action against No. 7/8 Louisville and No. 16/11 Virginia. New Mexico traveled to No. 8 Stanford, while San Diego State faced No. 25/24 Iowa State at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic.
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
New Mexico will take on instate-rival New Mexico State on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.
The Mtn. is available on channel 616 on DIRECTV CHOICE and above packages for the states servicing MWC institutions (Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming) as well as the designated market areas of Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego. Customers throughout the remainder of the country can access The Mtn. with a subscription to DIRECTV's Sportspack.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Mountain West teams are 23-9 at home this season. TCU is carrying an 11-game home win streak, dating back to a Jan. 26, 2008 loss to Utah. New Mexico (6-0), San Diego State (1-0) and TCU (5-0) are all undefeated at home this season. Overall, the MWC is 2,114-956 (.689) at home.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 - TCU's Rachel Rentschler recorded her first two career double-doubles at the Cancun Challenge with a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds against Boston College and 13 points and a career-best 14 boards vs. Eastern Michigan. She also earned her first career start against EMU.
4 - The Utes snapped a four-game losing streak with their victory over Marquette. Utah had not lost four games in a row since ending the 1997-98 season with three-straight losses and losing their first game of the 1998-99 season.
4 - UNLV's Shamela Hampton has double-doubles in four of the first five games for the Rebels this year, the most of any MWC player. She has 14 career double-doubles, just shy of active career leader Kalee Whipple with 15.
6 - TCU's 6-1 start ties for the best in heach coach Jeff Mittie's tenure (also in 2003-04 and 2004-05), while New Mexico's 6-1 start is the best since the 2005-06 season.
6 - The Lobos are 6-0 inside The Pit this season. New Mexico has won two tournaments at home this year and picked up wins over DePaul and Nebraska. The Blue Demons and Cornhuskers were both receiving votes prior to their loss to New Mexico.
6.75 - Utah's last four games have been decided by an average of 6.75 points. The Utes are 1-3 in those games.
10 - San Diego State's 10 three-pointers against Iowa State are a season-best and most since the Aztecs sunk a school record 17 against Utah Valley State in 2005.
10 - New Mexico's Amy Beggin, TCU's Helena Sverrisdottir, Utah's Morgan Warburton and Kalee Whipple have each scored in double-figures in every contest this season. Warburton holds a streak of 40 consecutive games of scoring at least 10 points.
13.4 - Air Force's Kim Kreke is averaging an MWC-best 13.4 rebounds per game. As a senior, Kreke had averaged 2.9 rebounds per game in her first three seasons.
26 - BYU forced 26 turnovers vs. Southern Utah, which the team converted into 25 points in the 70-64 win.
30 - Four MWC student-athletes scored at least 30 points in a single contest last week. San Diego State's Jené Morris scored 34 vs. nationally-ranked Iowa State, teammate Paris Johnson dropped in a career-high 31 vs. Hawai`i, UNLV's Shamela Hampton earned a career-high 31 points vs. Eastern Washington, and Utah's Kalee Whipple matched her career-high with 30 in a win over Marquette.
34.5 - One year after finishing last in the league in field goal percentage defense, UNLV leads the MWC, averaging 34.5 per game.
50 - TCU's 50 first-half points against Houston were its most in the first half of a game since a 106-84 win over North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30, 2006, when the Frogs totaled 51 points before intermission.
50 - Air Force has been held to 48-or-fewer point in its last three contests. It is the first time in school history Air Force has had three-consecutive games of scoring under 50 points in non-conference play.
163 - After losing all five senior starters last season, Wyoming freshmen Emma Langford and Kristen Scheffler have accounted for 163 of Wyoming's 390 total points (42 percent) this season.
